Simple. My favourite gruppo is Campy SR.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...5/DSC00181.jpg

Funny thing about chains these days? The more expensive they are, the shorter their life. This is even within ten speed alone. Same thing goes for cassettes. Don't get me started on the Sram red "powerdome" before the redesign. The entire thing was machined out of one chunk of metal, where each gear was cut all the way down to the center diameter of the freehub. So, the bigger the cog, the less support it had, and the more likely it would bend and cause shifting problems that couldn't be cured. You couldn't imagine how mad a regular customer of ours was when I cured all his shifting problems, by installing a lowly 10 speed Tiagra cassette, in place of his $350 "powerdome".

Then there's the new Shimano mountain groups, that require you to have the entire setup. RD, cassette, chain, cranks, shifter, FD.. in order for everything to work together properly. It seems after years of companies working together towards interchangeability, they're suddenly all saying nope, sorry. Proprietary BS is once again is the rule, like it used to be way back when. I seriously would not be surprised if one of the big three (Shimano/Sram/Campy) came out with a different threading for a rear derailleur mounting bolt. I realy wouldn't!,,,,BD

This was on my first bike with derailleurs. LoL

+1 for Sugino 75. So cool. I admit that I didn't learn about this groupset until I started hanging out here in C&V.

Back in the day, I remember lusting after Super Record while "settling" for Dura Ace 7400 and Superbe Pro. All the pros had Super Record (and later C-Record), so that is what I wanted. But now, I think differently...


No love for Mavic SSC?
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/ima.../mav_grp1L.jpg


How about Sachs New Success? How could Campy made shifters and Shimano spaced cassette *not* be a "New Success"???
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Sachs-Campagn...7E%7E60_35.JPG

New Success Ergolevers were compatible with Sachs derailleurs and Sachs 8-speed freewheels or Campy (not Shimano) 8-speed cassettes, both of which had 5.0mm spacing.

The Sachs 4.8mm spaced Shimano 8 compatible cassettes and cassette hubs were part of their mountain group. For a year or two the top-end road and mountain groups were both called New Success, but later the mountain group name was changed to Quarz.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8381/8...24382523d0.jpg

Sachs New Success stuff was super high quality and had a finish on par with anything you'd like to name.

Sadly, it was the matched group concept that killed off many of the small French component manufacturers. It was too little too late, but what about this 1980's Spidel-badged last gasp effort from Maillard/MAFAC/Stronglight/Simplex?

http://s17.postimage.org/nywso6vnj/Spidel_Gruppo.jpg

Top of the line stuff - as good as anything out there. Man would I love to have this! :love:

I really love this:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1119/...b13f903d_o.jpg

regarding the Deore M700 stuff (which i gave an "honorable mention" to before) it would be in my top 5 if not for the oversized pedal threading on the cranks. the cranks are so cool, too! it's the same issue I have with the AX stuff as well as old Stronglight cranks... i don't want to deal with components that require extremely specific tools or only work with a very limited set of compatible parts.

Meet shimano direct mount:
http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb8066274/p4pb8066274.jpg

I don't have a full group of anything. since the road bikes is this section's favorite :

Rally RD, Victory Leisure FD, newer Race Triple as a 50,40, 24 <C> friction Bar end shifters
Nut fixed Record brakes , Mavic Pedals . Campag Hi Low 36 hole hubs E2 rims .

Bought new , now I'm Old. :50:

My touring Bike I got the Euclid Derailleurs , on closeout ,
when Campag dropped out of the mountain bike sector entirely.

Vintage Campagnolo was already different from everybody else: 10mm x 26tpi vs 10mm x 1.0mm

Well, I was talking on less than super high end stuff that dreams are made of.. And yes things were different back then..Proprietary was the norm in the old days, but through the eighties, nineties, and early 2000's, thing were pretty much universal to a point. Now everything is branching off into it's own reverse trend thinking. Hey you want this frame, you can only use this derailleur mounting. Specialized is HEAVY into mounting front derailleurs right to the frame via bolts on their upper end mountain bikes, and not clamped or braze on mounted. I am sure Sram is close behind, or already producing such a beast as well.,,,,BD

Lure.....catfish??? Fail

Catfish rocks, especially fried! One weekend soon I am going fishing, hoping for some specks. Tastes so good, baked with lemon and garlic butter, and a few spices. Just looking at the pic below makes me hungry. Some red potatoes and fresh sauteed asparagus on the side.. Oh man my stomach just growled!,,,,BD

http://media.nola.com/outdoors_impac...681fd3344e.jpg

Be nice. Just because they're Campy partisans ridiculing the company that nearly ended them in '86, that's no reason to ridicule them back.
The victors can afford to be magnanimous, and there's no honor in making fun of the short-bus kids. :)

You guys don't like catfish? The bigger ones live down deep, that's where those off cast Tourneys help a bunch. Kind of a matching set, don't you think? Shimano Reel, shimano fishing weight? It just doesn't get any better than that :thumb:

Love catfish, calamari, and crawfish, even tried aligator a couple of times. Oysters though, doesn't matter how they're cooked. They taste like mud to me.:lol:,,,,BD

I love my ultegra 6500, it fells comfortable in my hand shifts well and it pretty darn tough for a road group.

C Record
1. Delta brakes
2. Hidden arm crankset
3. Rear der. with faired pulley
4. High flange "sheriff" hubs
The pedals and seatpost are nice also.

Adding a new group, no one said road only, and if they did I missed it. Black and silver Late eighties Deore XT. The rear derailleurs always catch my eye, especially when all polished up. Function is excellent, as with anything Shimano back then.,,,,BD

This stuff, only not as rough. Hard to find a good image of one, so I may take my own later;)

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...jLJPvX2juzXqPA