stric

Hello,
I am wondering if anyone has used Campy Chorus group as the base for his or her CX bike. I know that a lot of CX bikes come with 105 and Ultegra parts and some lone wolves with Campy Centaur. But as of late I've noticed that several web sites are offering Chorus based build kits.
I know that Chorus is really good - something like an equivalent of Dura-Ace. But has anyone ever used it on a CXbike? What is your experience if you have? What is your opinion about that set up anyway?
Thanks.

Arsbars

I dont have Chorus on mine, but a good good friend of mine does, and LOVES it. To him it makes more sense, and too me it does too. Unlike Shimano you're shifter insides aren't as exposed when you shift....
He also has Record on his road bike and found it odd to go back and forth between the two..

Hope that helps

velocipedio

i run centaur, and love it. like arsbars says, campy shifters have some distinct advantages. two i'd like to add are how robust they are -- this is tough hardware -- and the fact that you don't have to swing the rake lever to shift. this is not a big deal on the road, but in a tight singletrack descent, i think there is a great advantage to having the shift and brake functions separate.

some other things... the front non-indexed shifting is great if you're running a double. it's very easy to tune your chainline when things get mucky, and the brake-lever brake qr's have saved my butt more than once. you can open the brake on the fly, and still be able to modulate.

the downside to campy? the bb/crank is really unsuited to the sport. the square taper doesn't give you as much stiffness as you'd probably like grinding through the much, and the campy bb's are bit fragile for my taste. the other problem is finding a campy crankset with cyclo-cross gearing. you can always buy an aftermarket 48t big ring, but your small ring can only be 39t.

i would not use 10 speed in a race situation unless you're supported. the cogs are very closely packed, and i would be worried about shifting problems in bad conditions.

one more thing. i beat the piss out of my rig every fall. my own opinion is that chorus is a bit too nice and pretty to undergo that kind of abuse.

Dan Souf

I have Daytona (Centaur?) 9 levers, to a Daytona 9 rear mech (9 chain), onto a Shimano 8 block, which works fine, you just have a 'dead shift' at the high end. Also a 105 38/48 c'set.
It all runs smoothly, I used to have Shimano 8 bar-end shifters & wanting to change to an 'ergo' set-up . I had read somewhere about this sort of conversion and, already having 2 sets of Shimano hubbed wheels, and prefering Campag levers over Shimano, this was the cost effective way of converting.
A small thing, but the cut-out section on the Daytona/Centaur 'down shift' lever gives a bit more of a finger grip in the wet (may just be me with peculiar shaped fingers!)

sistinas

I run a mix of Campy Chorus/Centaur parts on my cyclocross bike with a Specialties TA crankset with a 48/38 ring combination. My bike has been abused, crashed, and raced and ridden through lots of muck and rain, and the parts have held up really, really well. I've always had a mental block with Shimano shifting, so there was really no other option for me, especially in quick-thinking situations like a cross race.

I wouldn't put any of the Chorus carbon stuff on my bike though. It would chip or get damaged way too easily... your best bet for the money would probably be Centaur.

Iffacus

I use lower spec Campag kit on my cross bike, and as I also use Chorus 10sp on my road bike decided to stick with the campag for cross as well.