Originally Posted by
mrblue
I apologize if I am steering this thread in the wrong direction, but... FBinNY, I always enjoy reading your posts as they are succinct and very informative, and now that I've read you have never owned or rode Shimano, I am curious: What components do you prefer, and why? Thanks.
My personal choices of hardware are as much accidents of history and convenience as they are judgments of quality. I started riding seriously before Shimano was in the road bike business other than the low end, so as I moved up I ended up riding Campagnolo. Later on I was distributing SunTour so I tended to lean that way. I might have gone Shimano, but I keep bikes a long time and so was late to move to index, and by then SunTour was out with theirs. Then Campy came out with Ergo, so I could stay with what I was used to when I built my newest bike in 2001.
A & B level components are comparably good regardless of brand, so decisions are often made based on side issues, ie. the fit and comfort of the brake/shift levers and/or field serviceability. If you've read my posts you might have noticed that I avoid brand recommendations, and prefer to speak to specific features or problems/solutions.