Campagnolo vs. Shimano
 

Every bike I have ever had was Shimano based. Can someone tell me what the deal is with Campagnolo? Are these parts higher end than Shimano parts? This is only a point of interest. I am not going out and purchasing.

Price, status and name.....

Campy is an Italian manuf. and Schimano is Japanese. Campy does make some great hubs, wheels and dérailleurs though!

Beware the box to which that question be the key..........

precisely why I kept it middle of the road!

Campagnolo voids warranties if you are 1 gram over 70kg.

Campagnolo was founded by Tullio Campagnolo (1901-1983) an Italian bicycle racer, in the 1920s Mr. Campagnolo invented the quick release skewer and the derailleur, founding his company in Vicenza Italy, in 1933. Campagnolo is often endearingly refered to as Campy, which you often see in forums, mailing lists and news groups . Some people swear by Campy, and some people swear at Campy, they have some nice products.

Shimano is a large Japanese headquartered manufacturer, like many Asian companies, they have various subsidiaries operating all over Asia, under the same corporate name and brands. Bicycle components are their biggest product line, and fishing tackle is next, with a variety of other stuff thrown in.

There used to be several European bicycle component builders, in the 1970's when the bike boom occurred, the bike manufacturers switched to Japanese made components, which were a lot cheaper. Campy seemed to have retained a cult following, and survived when many others did not. I think Rohloff and SRAM, both in Germany are the only other European manufacturers still in business today.

There is a debate about whether Campy products and Clydedom can mix, some people say that riders over 175lbs need not bother obtaining a Campy catalogue.:( Not sure though if this applies to all products, or just certain lines, where weight is an important factor.

Campy routes cables internally as far as shifter cables going under the handlebar wrap. Shimano routes external. That's all I figure that matters. One is OCP (Campy). The other is Fred (Shimano). I personally like to have Fred shifters. It gives me a place to rest my helmet when the bikes being stored. Makes a nice shelf of cables.

Shimano v. Campy?

In the video card world it's ATI v. nVidia?
CPU world, it's Intel v. AMD?
Redneck world, Chevy v. Ford?
Programming world, OO v. Procedural?
OS world, Windows v. Linux?
Internet Search world, MSN v. Google?

Ya getting what I mean yet?

I finally rode campy the other day after many thousands of shimano miles....I only noticed an adjustment to thumb shifting...picked up rather quickly...much ado about nothing...ride what you like.

Campy can also be rebuilt, Shimano you trash and buy new.

Yeah, I was going to mention that, too. The shifters are totally rebuildable with Campy, where Shimano you replace them and use the old ones for fishing weights. Also, the cassettes can be customized, as each individual cog comes off seperately. I also like the cleaner look of the cable routing. Campy is spendy, though, and they don't support their older stuff. I have an 8 speed group on my daughter's bike and cassettes will become difficult to find, I'm sure.

Mark

For some, this debate is second only to religion or politics. I have the 'second-level' groups of both (Ultegra and Chorus), and both work just fine. I prefer the thumb-shifting of the Campagnolo and the fact that you can drop several cogs at once. I seem to be developing a preference for the hood shape of the Chorus as well, but that could be because most of my riding is on the Chorus-equipped bike. Campy is a few percentage points more expensive than the comparable Shimano group, but I will still go for Chorus or Record for my next build.

Oh, and one small correction to wogsterca's post - SRAM is actually an American company, based in Chicago.

Wogsterca may have been thinking of sachs, which was a german/european company bought by SRAM

What are Campagnolo's MTB sets called? I don't think I have ever seen them on one. Of course, they may just not be in the price level I look at. lol

You can do the best of both, campy brifters with shimano derailleurs.

Google jtek shiftmate.

I've ridden both. I think that Campy wheels are better than any Shimanos or Dura-Aces that I've ridden. I think that there's no significant difference in shifters, brakes, or other parts. To some, parts brand is religion. To me, it's just what works. I've no more investment in it than whether I get a Maytag or Amana washing machine.

20+ years ago before we had remedial indexed shifting, campy would shift way better under load and in all conditions than anything coming out of Japan. It lasted forever, and with the exception of their indexed headsets (think brinneling), was insanely good. It felt different and better than the japanese gear of the time, and not by a small margin.

In the last 20 years, it appears the the Japanese have reeled all other bike parts companies in, and have passed them in many key areas.

Sheldon

I've ridden a Campy Chorus group for years. I know they have a weight limit on their stuff, but I've never had a problem.

The Campy v. Shimano begins and ends with pure preference. Do you like chocolate ice cream or vanilla? If I like chocolate and you like vanilla so be it. The two things I prefered about Campy over Shimano are:
1. Multiple gear shifting in a single shift. 2. You don't touch the break when you shift.
For what it's worth I'm 100% SRAM these days. Love the brifters.

There is little doubt in the cycling world the mystique behind Campy is far greater than the mega corporate likes of Shimano. The fact of the matter is they both perform their given functions.

go to the road section and ask this question....it is a never ending debate over there....on second thought don't bother, they will probably be rude

I've been riding with Campy components since the 1st bike boom although I have a Shimano Ultegra bike I bought used. I think Campy works better and lasts longer than Shimano. I'm essentially a frugal person so that's why I choose Campagnolo.

I can't imagine that weight limit being serious. Campy's parts are much more robust.

Status have nothing to do with my selection.

They make a great corkscrew, too.

Do you like the Mets or Yankees??? That is the level of the discussion. Almost all bicycle gruppos are the highest art of the machinist and engineer. All are good. All have pluses and minuses. Most discussions are centered around marketing hype.
The weight issue (I am 205 but have ridden for years at 235lbs): I have never heard on weight being an issue on a broken campy part. I bought my first bike in 1955 (Allegro Special Campy/stronglight/Weimann) and for all of my years (and miles) of riding Campy equipment I have never broken any components. When things get loose you can buy a spring, bushing, idler wheel, indexer, new chain rings, cassettes, or ball bearings for the campy gear. I have converted 8 to 9spd and 9 to 10spd without any problems. I have heard that you are more limited with Shimano in your options. I have ridden the new Dura Ace 10 spd components on a friend's bike. The ergonomics of the campy are a better fit for me. Other than that the Shimano group was alright...I wouldn't switch. I have a set of record hubs with over 25K miles that are still going strong. This and the topic of "Triple or not to triple" seem to garner the most Bloviating of any issue.
I prefer Campy because...probably it is because all my tools are Campy.

vaporware....

Campagnolo's MTB line was short lived, and I think it was called 'Euclid' if I'm not mistaken. Think it was in the early 90's when they had that.

I've had road bikes all my life and Shimano makes some real junk in their low end components. Their higher end components like "600' and later 'Ultegra', and of course 'Dura-Ace' was some really good stuff. Nothing like their low level parts. On the other hand Campy's lowest level components were significantly better than Shimano's low level components. I still have a set of Shimano '600' hubs and they look like bike jewelry. Today Im using campy 'Record' hubs, and they are works of art, as well as the 'syncro 2' DT shifters I have on my bike.

IMO campy will always be better because road bike parts is all they make, right there in Vicenza Italy. (I use to live nearby in Verona.)

Shimano makes fishing reels, so the "passion" will never be on the same level as campagnolo.