Are there any known issues with the Campagnolo Centaur 11-speed drivetrain? I am considering gathering the bits now while still available, for an upgrade from Veloce 10-speed a few years down the road. I won't want the chain or the crankset (I have preferred alternatives) and it looks like the brakes are the same anyway, so it's cassette, derailleurs, and Ergos I will need.

oldschoolbike

No issues with Centaur 11 that I’m aware of. But if you’re buying the parts piecemeal and you’re not planning to convert any time soon, why would you not future-proof your setup as much as possible and start prepping for conversion to 12sp? I suspect that Chorus 12 is going to be the last mech groupset.
For myself (currently using Chorus 10 and in no hurry to change) I’m waiting to see if Campag come out with a reasonably-priced rim-brake electronic groupset. If future offerings are disc-only, as I suspect they will be, I’ll be shopping for Chorus 12 mechanical (I’d consider doing it now, but I have yet to warm to all-black components - my current all-silver groupset is a thing of beauty)

I switched to Centaur 11 speed groupo early last year on my old steel Bianchi.. It's been a solid performer last year and haven't had any issues . It was a nice upgrade on the original Campy 9 speed group on the bike. I prefer the all black components which modernized the old bike but still have the silver Chorus headset which doesn't bother me. Got the group from CRC when It was on sale, glad I did back then with CRCs current financial problems and they suspended sales to the US.

There are no issues with Centaur 11s as far as I know.

That said, think long and hard before spending real dough to upgrade 10s to 11s. 11s is b already ending its prilo**** life cycle, so I'd wait until I was ready then upgrade to whatever is current at that time.

Centaur 11 is very solid stuff. Shifting is crisp and reliable. For some reason, the nondescript brakes are outstanding.

Note that according to Campagnolo, Centaur 11 is stand-alone, as in the shifters in this groupset have to be matched with the rear derailleurs. I once checked the cable pull of Potenza 11 versus Centaur 11, and could not find any measurable difference, but Centaur 11 is inexpensive enough so as to not justify futzing around with mixed drivetrains.

Since Centaur 11 is Powershift, Ultrashift rear derailleurs are not a good match either, if for no other reason that the Powershift shifters are overpowered by the stronger springs in the upper-end derailleurs. I have not measured the cable pull of post and pre-2015 Campy 11-speed Ultrashift shifters to compare against Centaur 11, but again, I felt no point in mixing and matching these components.

Thank you for the feedback and thoughtful advice. My continued confidence in Campagnolo appears to be well-placed.

I don't want to make the leap to Chorus 12 for several reasons:
1. Cost, especially of the consumable cassette
2. Not convinced of the benefits of 12-speed in my case
3. Chorus deraillers are IHMO ugly, like a modern "naked" motorbike is.

As for compatability, I would buy matching Centaur RD, FD, cassette, and Ergos, and use a KMC X11 chain. I will hold it at 11-speed on that bike because it uses a Chorus 10-speed triple square taper crankset with TA rings in doublized triple mode (currently 46-30 with the chainrings rings in my cupoard to go to 44-28 and 42-26 in time), and I think it can handle an 11-speed chain but likely not a 12-speed chain.

By the way, Veloce 10 brakes since 2015 are identical to the current Centaur 11 brakes. They are indeed excellent. Don't tell anybody, but they are both made in Taiwan and seem to come from the same mechanical parts bin as the also excellent Dia-Compe BRS-100. I am good for brakes on all my bikes.

oldschoolbike