AusTai

I get the impression from reading Cycling magazine that Shimano is much more dominant in the road bike market than Campy. The ads and reviews seem to show bikes with Shimano gear 90% of the time. Only really, really expensive models have Campy gear. All this led me to think Campy is a minor niche player.

So imagine my surprise when I was in Europe and caught a race on TV. *ALL* of the cyclists in the lead had Campy. So is this a European vs. US thing? American companies and teams prefer Shimano and European brands go with Campy? Or is it a pro thing? Pros use Campy and consumer bikes get Shimano?

Just wondering...

AusTai

I forgot to mention that when I go out riding, at least 80% of the bikes I see have Shimano.

michaelmc

Europeans have smaller hands, and thus prefer Campy shifters to Shimano's... not really.

American bikes do tend to skew to Shimano, but the Pro-Tour teams are pretty mixed in Campy vs. Shimano, and some teams (Saunier-Duval, for example) are even using SRAM now. CSC, Discovery Channel, Gerolsteiner, Credit Agricole, T-Mobile, and others do use Shimano. I also read elsewhere here on BF that there's a pretty even split between the brands this year. CyclingNews.com has good features on pro bikes; you should check them out: https://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/#pro

ElJamoquio

Yup. Campy has to pay people to use their stuff.

I KID! I KID! I don't even like Shimano...

AusTai

I have Campy Mirage (the low-end group) and it gets lonely out there.

Surferbruce

its mostly a dollar vs. euro thing.

bianchiboy71

All of my riding buddies except one has Campag here in the UK, he's got Ultegra. I think it's a bit of a fashion thing in the UK, when Armstrong started winning the tour lots of the LBS's got rid of their Campag - equipped Bianchis and Colnagos and got every Trek / Shimano combo known to man in stock.
So now we can spot the new roadies from their Discovery kit when all the lifelong guys wear Kelme jerseys and ride Campy.

DocRay

I know pro climbers prefer Campy for the weight savings, and pro sprinters prefer Campy for the multi-shift capability.

Shimano does much more aggressive marketing in the US, and has more aggressive deals with bike builders to sell their groups. Shimano is a much bigger company, with a larger established base of MTB and fishing equipment.

vpiuva

Shimano hadn't won a Tour until (and except) Lance, and they rode his wins in a big way here in the US.

DogBoy

I prefer Campy for the trimming nature of the FD and the ergo shifters fit me better than the shimano shifters. On local group rides, its more like 70/30 shimano. I suspect that a lot of it is the cost of campy in the US.

query

I have no problems with the trim of my front derailleur. I guess that is because Shimano knew how to design one without having to cover their mistakes like Campagnolo.

AusTai

So in Europe, even outside of the pros, Campy is more common than Shimano?

sogood

I still remember when I was a teenager and lusted that Campag logo stamped on their components. Well, now I can afford them and love them. Fortunately their brifters fit my hands well.

Fox Farm

Marketing, price point, etc. Just returned from Italy, and well, I saw much more Campy on the road bikes there. Not mainly Record, lots of Centaur.

rdk

There's a lot of residual feeling in Europe that Japanese products are still somehow inferior. When my wife came here (from Belgium) she was surprised that Toyota = quality, whreas for her it was Toyota = Japanese, so inferior to VW, Renault Citroen etc. I think the same feeling applies to Shimano/Campy.

As for pro-tour teams - sponsoring is about money, not what's "best". They even put sponsors stickers/paint jobs over rival equipment.

gcl8a

Not really. Not Denmark at least. Shimano is definitely the majority, but not the overwhelming majority like in the US.

ElJamoquio

Oh man. I've never used an emoticon in my life, but this makes me want to use the rolling on the floor laughing one.

VW is a perenial bottom-five brand in quality... don't know much about Renault and Citroen, as they aren't sold here.

Ryleeryno

I have yet to see another rider use Campy in my area which is why my next build will be Campy. I like being unique.

cyclezealot

bikes used by pro cyclists don't count. But, going thru the bike shops in Europe. Looks predominantly Shimano. Price rules everywhere, I think . Particularily when the manufacturer might save a buck or euro as the case may be. Maybe slightly more Campy than the US, but not much more.

oilman_15106

Would you expect to see lots of Shimano in Italy?

DocRay

Check any reliability standards like consumers reports, which tell you how a car lasts (not that JD Powers BS), and you'll find all Japanese cars on the top of the list, all German manufacturers on the bottom, including VW and Mercedes. German auto industry is functioning on myths for years.
VW has the single largest rate of lemon-law returns in the US, and they were caught in the late 90s re-selling the lemons as new cars in other states.
Most Japanese cars are actually assembled in North America, and Lexus, the most reliable car company, is all American assembled.

Canada used to import Renaults-what a joke.

DocRay

you wouldn't be "unique".

VT to CA

Worse, if you can believe it. The French should be barred from building cars.

"I want to make a car zat weel go as fast as ze wind!"

"Shut up and cook something."

ElJamoquio

Two decades or more.