Roadies_Rok

Well folks I have finally decided to drop the hammer and do a very much needed upgrade to the Litespeed Arenberg I bought 2 years ago. The entire problem that I have been putting up with for the past 2 years is the groupset. The bike came with Campy Centaur 10-speed and it is pure garbage. Crapanelli Elitist garbage but garbage just the same. I enjoy riding my bike but riding this bike with that crap group has been a nightmare and I am done with it. Campy is garbage plain and simple and needs to be put where garbage belongs in the trash bin. The only time Campy was ever viable and not crap was back in the friction shift days. Once Campy made the ill-fated decision to move into brifters it was game over for those bozos. I have never in 2 years been able to get the shifting on my bike to work right no matter what I tried and no matter how hard I tried and last week was it. I was out for a ride on a 75 degree day which we don't get many of here this time of the year and again as always it was the same old nonsense, crap Campy shifting. I got so pissed off with the junk that Campy calls gear shifting that I came close to throwing my bike into a dumpster and walking the rest of the way home. When I finally got back to my condo I was positively enraged and I went out to my workshop, got a 5 lb hammer, and thought seriously about working my bike over starting with the Campy crap but then I had the thought that if I did that Campy would win and that will never happen so I am pulling all of the Campy shifting garbage off of my bike and replacing it with stuff that actually works. I have been looking at and sourcing parts and I am going to go with a 10-speed external cable shifting setup that will actually work the way it was supposed to. I don't know who the idiotic moron was who dreamed up the hidden cable fiasco but he really needs to be strung up by his balls and used as a pinata. Hidden cables was the beginning of the end for anything even remotely resembling good shifting.

As I said I have been looking around and sourcing parts and I am going to go with a hybrided system of Shimano and Microshift and I am actually quite excited about it. I am thinking about a set of 2x10 Shimano ST-5600 or the Microshift R10 and of course the appropriate rear and front derailleurs. I'll also need a cassette and the proper rear wheel and I will be set. I am thinking I can get it done for less than $250 and I will have a bike that actually works and I can enjoy riding rather than that Crapanelli garbage. It is no wonder that Crapanelli is the bad joke of the cycling industry with the garbage that those **** bags put out. The good news is that if I don't decide to smash the Crapanelli junk to tiny pieces I can sell it and take money from some poor stupid fool who is stupid enough to believe that Crapanelli is good. What a sad, pathetic joke they are. No one takes them seriously and they would be doing the world a favor if they just went out of business. Crapanelli are you listening??

I'll put up another message in a few weeks once I have everything put together and running like a Swiss watch.

SoSmellyAir

[initial period of stunned silence ...]

1. Campagnolo is garbage? (I only have Shimano so I guessed I dodged a bullet?)
2. An entire 10x drivetrain plus rear wheel for < $250? Is that U.S. dollars or BitCoin?
3. Internally routed cables = crap shifting? Mine seem to shift fine; maybe you are just way much more powerful than I am? (Who isn't?)

Litespud

I’m assuming that this isn’t a serious post. “Crapanelli”? Surely it’s “Crapagnolo”. 🙄
If you can’t get Campag 10sp to work, it’s user error. Properly set up and maintained, it’s bulletproof. I’ve been running Chorus 10 for ~19 years and >60,000 miles. Apart from consumables and one shifter rebuild, still using the original derailleurs - and it still operates like the aforementioned Swiss watch.
What exactly was the problem with your shifting?

Rolla

Same here -- Chorus is unfailingly reliable and durable. Plus, the brifters have the most buttery shifting feel of any group I've ever used -- and it just gets better with age.

alcjphil

Anyone who is unable to make 10 speed Campagnolo components work well will eventually have similar problems with Shimano components. My own 10 speed Campagnolo drivetrains on 3 different bikes have been working very well for over 15 years. I just bought a gravel bike with an 11 speed Shimano GRX drivetrain. It works fine, but I would prefer to have Campagnolo shifters. They make more sense to me. I have no complaints with Shimano, their components work just as well as Campagnolo, but not really any better

bboy314

Have you tried paying a mechanic to work on your bike? I assume you bought it used 2 years ago, have you checked components for wear, etc?

Roadies_Rok

To those who responded with their thoughts and ideas thank you and I assure everyone that this is not a joke post, it is very serious. Campy or Crapanelli as most people in the know refer to it as is garbage plain and simple and anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded. The glory days of Crapanelli ended when friction shifting went the way of the Dodo and that was long ago. The only reason I have a bike with that crap on it is because it was a package deal and at the time I thought “how bad can this crap really be” and now I know. Crapinelli is trash plain and simple.

I am old and I am old school and I use things that have been proven and stand the test of time not like Crapanelli which only belongs in the rubbish bin. As I mentioned I am going old school to fix the problem, a hybridized system of Shimano and Microshift with exposed shifting cables (or I may decide to go with Microshift entirely) and that alone will fix 90% of the problem. If anyone here wants the Crapanelli trash I am pulling off my bike let me know and give me a price that you think is fair realizing that what you are getting is garbage fit only for a trash can. Basically I will be selling the Crapanelli 10-speed brifters, the front and rear derailleurs, and the rear wheel which is a Spinergy SR-3 in good shape.

As far as doing it for $250 that is a walk in the park. I just ordered a Microshift R10 rear derailleur for $35 so I am on my way. The Microshift R10 front derailleur is $30 and I will order that in the next day or so. The Microshift brifters are approx. $150. I already have a KMC 10 speed SL chain so the only thing left for me to get is a 10-speed SRAM spaced cassette and they are dirt cheap. I can get a 10-speed SRAM rear wheel for $50 to $75 and I will transfer my current tire and tube to the new wheel.

I figure it will take me a week or two to get the parts delivered and then an hour or so to get everything installed and dialed in and I’ll be set to roll on a bike that actually works. I’ll make a follow up post with pics once I get everything sorted. Cheers guys and have fun pulling your hair out while you put up and struggle along with your Crapanelli garbage.

KerryIrons

It appears there is no point in trying to disagree with you, as you will not be dissuaded by fact. I will simply note that many thousands of people ride various Campy groups and none of them seem to have the problems you do. By your analysis, that is their problem, not yours. Just saying.

Leisesturm

Pics? Of what? The pics that matter are the ones you could easily take right now of your Campy equipped road racer. Why do you imagine anyone here would care to see a $250 groupset?

Rolla

I guess we're witnessing the "glory days" of Microshift and $50 wheels that run like Swiss watches. Who knew?

JanMM

I used a couple of campy cable housing clamps several decades ago and they were perfectly ok.

Roadies_Rok

It is frightening and amazing at the same time to see how naive people like you there are with your willingness to blindly follow wherever you are lead and believe anything you are force fed. Attitudes like yours are the exact reason why Jim Jones was able to pass out as much Kool-Aid as he did. I truly worry for the fate of mankind with as many sheep as we have in the world :-)

blacknbluebikes 

thanks for sharing

icemilkcoffee 

What exactly was wrong with the Campy groupset now? I mean- I kind of agree that having to shift twice to shift from one chain ring to the next was weird. But that is something you'd get used to in 5 minutes. And let's face it- trimming is annoying any way you do it. The only good solution is/was SRAM's YAW FD which gets rid of trimming.

What exactly was you issue with the 10 sp Centaur?

squirtdad

no blindness just actual experience of thousands of people vs one person, just because you have issues does not make it generically true, true for you perhaps but user error has not been ruled out yet

Mr. 66

Probably will work as well as my bell upgrade.

dedhed

I'll pay for a medium flat rate box Ship me your old parts

bboy314

I have no problem with Microshift, but I’m thinking that you spending an hour replacing all of your Campagnolo with Microshift + a budget rear wheel might not give you the satisfying results you hope for.

But since the crapanelli is such garbage I’ll happily take it off your hands for the cost of shipping

Leisesturm

There has got to be a story here ...

veganbikes

I am in the know I work in the industry and have worked in the industry for a number of years now and know quite a few folks who run Campagnolo (new stuff) and haven't had issues or think it is garbage in fact I have a friend who had campy ergo power levers that sort of died but he could still shift it as basically a friction shifter for years before we finally helped him replace it (I tried to get him to fix them up but he has his issues)

I think maybe you don't know what you are talking about and you must be joking or are doing something wrong. I have a co-worker who has had a mostly Super Record EPS 11 speed gruppo he has had for at least 5 years now and hasn't had a lick of issues, it is sexy, shifts nicely and unlike Di2 (which I do love) you can actually essentially turn the system off so it doesn't accidentally get shifted when you don't want it to without much work.

If stuff was in stock (and had a little extra cash laying about) I would probably build up an Ekar bike this year without hesitation.

I really gotta wonder how Campagnolo hurt you? Or do you work for MicroNew or Sensah?

BikingViking793 

I just built a bike with Microshift r10. Everything went together nice. Weather not good here yet so no real miles on the bike yet.

TiHabanero

Microsoft works very well. In a few years I am sure you will be calling it Micro**** as it wears. Please follow up then and let us know how it goes.

I run Campy 11 speed mix with Record drifters and Chorus Der. I also ran it for a summer using a Suntour Superbe crank mated to 10 speed rings. Worked flawlessly. If I can mix that crank in with those shifters I am fairly certain that something is worn out in the drive train or the set up is incorrect.

KerryIrons

Wow. Just wow. I've been riding all Campy groups since 1969. Amazing that I have not shown up in a tall building with a rifle or on a subway with sarin gas. Time for you to reflect that maybe when nobody else is having the problem you are having, that it is your problem. Just saying.

Roadies_Rok

Well folks, you are looking at a very VERY happy guy. That crapinelli garbage is off my bike and replaced with stuff that actually works and will hold up over the miles. I had a bit of trouble sourcing some of the parts due to this "plan" demic and that set me back about two weeks but my road bike is now fully up and running and I couldn't be happier.
I was going to set the bike up as a hybridized Microshift/Shimano but I wanted to get away from the poser crap totally so I went 100% with Microshift for the drive line. I had to use a SRAM cassette since Microshift did not have the toothing I wanted but it is all together and working like a dream. I decided if I was going to upgrade my Litespeed into a real bike I should also get new wheels as well so I got the parts and built up the wheels. I did the initial truing on an old fork I have them took them to my LBS for the final true and they are SWEET. A set of Chris King hubs mated to a set of Alex 500 aero section rims front and rear with DT double butted spokes. I went Radial on the front and 2X on the back and it rides like a magic carpet but still carves the turns like a laser and it extremely responsive.
I have ordered a set of the Cane Creek rim brakes and once they get here I will pull the crapinelli brakes off and replace them with real brakes. I am thinking of going with a first or second generation FSA Carbon/Aluminum ISIS crank but the crapinelli square taper crank is doing OK for now.
The driveline install and setup went smooth as smooth can be. I used the new KMC chain that I put on the crapinelli stuff a month ago since it only has 20 miles on it and I was able to get the new bar tape off with no hassle at all.
I have been out on a couple of rides and I feel like I have been reborn. The shifting actually works and is as smooth as glass and as precise as a surgeon. I have gone on two shop rides and the guys just stare especially the younger ones who grew up with the hidden cables and never knew what good parts or good shifting was. I have let a couple of them ride my bike around the block and they all come back with major woodies and huge smiles on their faces. I think I have started something.
I was going to put the garbage parts up for sale here but I really don't want to stick it to anyone so I took a hammer to the junk I pulled off and tossed the pieces into the trash can. If anyone here reads this and wants to do a serious upgrade to their shifting a strongly recommend looking at Microshift. You will not regret it. Caio everyone :-)

Koyote

It actually IS a "joke post," though you don't realize it.

Yep, that confirms that the issue was most likely user error.


Anyone who recommends Microshift over Campy is not to be taken seriously.