I bought my bike last year, used, from Craigslist. It was built up by the guy I bought it from and has a record/chorus 10 speed mix. Record shifters, hubs, FD. Chorus crank and RD. I was thinking about this yesterday and was wondering what might have been the purpose of mixing it? Was there not much to gain by making the crank and RD record also and therefore not worth the extra cost? Is there no obvious reason? What might the guy have been thinking when he built it?

I am sure the original owner was saving a few dollars, perhaps assembling a group via Ebay or similar. Nothing for you to worry about. I have Record 10 on one bike and it is a very solid and dependable group. If you covered the logos, you could not tell the difference between Record or Chorus.

Cost/benefit probably. Also there may something to argument that chorus can have more longevity or durability than lighter weight Record (eg especially rear cassette -- not sure which cassette your bike has).

If you ride a Campy Centaur bike versus Super Record, shifting and lever feel is virtually identical. Biggest difference is weight which to even a moderately strong amateur...the few gram difference is pretty negligible. In fact, I prefer a Centaur 10s bike to a DuraAce9000 11s bike any day of the week.

Virtually all my Campy bikes are mixed and matched...one having a Shimano crank...and I prefer Shimano brakes for example.


Reason for the mix is cost as stated..or in my case function with Shimano brakes and cranks I really like and the smart consumer will mix either different brands or model within the same brand and save a boat load of money for virtually transparent performance difference.

A side bar is....I find it silly to match the same brand of components. This includes, wheels, seatposts, handlebars stems, etc. Ride the best stuff you can find for best price. Shimano brakes and cranks from 105 to DA are hard to beat. Their derailleurs are solid as well. Too bad their shifters are so ergonomically poor and really where Campy dominates.

Maybe with older year models the shifting would be the same. But isn't it only at chorus level where Ultrashift becomes available?

I have a 2010 Centaur 10s group which is Ultrashift and not Powershift. To me Powershift isn't that big of a give up honestly...and little different from Sram Red or DA9000 for that matter. But yes, I do prefer UT. But if you don't perform a big cog dump in back, the difference in feel between Centaur 10s and Super Record 10s is negligible. I will bet in a blind test no difference can be felt. Campy took Chorus thru SR groupsets for 2015 to a different level because of pull ratios and derailleur design and would be an interesting comparison indeed if riders could even feel a difference between say 2014 Centaur and the newest redesigned 2015 Super Record.

There has been such a design evolution of groupsets, really the only thing that separates groupsets now is:

no. of speeds...10 or 11...almost no different to live with on the road in my experience.

price...a high end groupset can cost 2x's more than a lower level like Centaur...and for what?

weight...how much does a few grams really matter

aesthetics...the highest end stuff is nicer jewelry....SR is quite elegant...but Centaur and Athena are still very nice

ergonomics is the big game changer between brands. This matters more or less to different riders gaged by the response on the 41 who are say happy with Shimano.

As to shift quality...even low level Tiagra shifts beautifully. Shift quality is more choice than good versus bad. It all shifts very nicely. I like the 'snap' of Campy versus click of Shimano because of greater tactile feedback on the road.

As others have said, the Campy 10-speed groups all work together really well. I did a neo-retro build of a Gazelle with Chorus levers, Record crankset, and Centaur everything else. Works beautifully, looks great, and is now on my son's race bike.

Without going retro how did u get chorus shifters to work with 10 speed cassette?

I feel you are neglecting the possibility that lever ergonomics matters to those folks who are happy with Shimano, but who have very different hands than you do. You are a big guy, what 6'2" or 6"3', and maybe have big hands. I dunno. But supposing that is the case. Now if someone the same amount on the other side of average size has tiny hands, perhaps the Shimano is better for them. Just because someone likes something that you don't doesn't mean they are necessarily indiscriminate. That is one explanation for sure, but not the only one. It makes more sense to me to believe that the Shimano shape is right for lots of people. True that I have never heard anyone complain about the Campy ergonomics, but very, very few Shimano riders have ever experienced Campy like you have. Not too many folks have as much experience on multiple brands and models of gear as you do.

Here is another example. It is the same for bibs vs. standard shorts. Just because some folks complain about how uncomfortable standard shorts are for them, it doesn't mean that others who don't mind shorts have the problem but just can't feel it. In most cases I would say that for them the problem simply doesn't exist. I know that is the case for me. In fact I find that the bibs are the uncomfortable choice. So I can feel a difference; it just swings the other way.