nitropowered

I believe Zabel won most or all his green jerseys with campy

If the Centaur is 06 or older, I'd grab that right up.

I really can't see Campy's justification in using the escape mechanism for Centaur this year other than to lower costs and hit a price point. I could see Centaur for 08 be back to the original mechanism and have the lower models still using the escape.

I just built up my 07 Record group (sans crank, still on backorder) and its amazing. Still getting used to the shifting but i think its better than shimano.

michaelmc

EDIT: I defer to Botto's photomontage. With captions!

Jared88

Wow i didn't know the campy lever could do that. Are you downshifting or upshifting in that pic?

dekalbSTEEL

I could be doing either...

goldfish

botto that was a pretty kick-ass photo montage!

botto 

DrPete 

Hehe... I think I'm a couple hundred watts short of even worrying about whether my brifters lost me the sprint.

But it's good to have something else to blame for saving face at the pub.

Jonathan Drake

Surferbruce

yeah and look at how ugly all those cables are all over the front of those bikes.

flythebike

I switched from Ultegra 9 speed to Campy Centaur (06 - NOT THAT I CARE) 10S and I am much happier with the Centaur.

skukta

I have a bike with Centaur 10 and one with Ultegra 10, both 05. I like having the Campy stuff and I appreciate having something with the Campy lineage. That said, I'll admit that the Shimano feels like it shifts better to me. (I guess I'd describe it as more refined/smoother). To be fair, however, I also think of Centaur as sitting a half notch below Ultegra. I'd advise you to make the decision based on your own perception. Join us in the the Campy cult if you like the feel of the Centaur, but don't make the decision based on anything else.

flatlander_48

The guy who runs my favorite shop here in Taichung showed me the full '07 Chorus package. It will be used on a Colnago that he is building for a customer. Great Stuff!! Love those Skeleton Brakes and the beautiful carbon work on the crank. I asked him about triples as there are none listed with the Ultra-Torque. He said his distributor said they would be out in the Spring. A triple would sure help getting up some of these steep hills...

cs1

+1

Once you figure out that the chain moves whatever direction your hand does, you'll never go back to Shimano style. A case in point: How many posts do you see asking if you can adapt Shimano brifters to a Campy drivetrain? The board is full of the Campy brifters on Shimano drivetrains.

I have a last year Daytona, same as Centaur, 10 speed. I couldn't believe how nice it shifts. The group is really a pleasure to use. You won't regret Daytona/Centaur.

Tim

cs1

Shimano was always a better buy for the money than Campy. That is until they went 10. Now comparable Shimano groups cost as much as Campy. Shimano still had the better BB/Crank. Now that Campy went to an outboard bearing BB/Crank and is using lighter brakes, the differences disapearred. Even without the multiple up/downshift, Campy has leveled the playing field.

If Shimano didn't have the Microsoft like strangle hold on the industry, you would see a lot more new bikes with Campy for 2007. It is a clearly better group. Too bad Sram is grabbing all the headlines.

Tim

brundle_fly

true.Looking through the new Bianchi range I saw a lot more Shimano equipped than previously.

skuktaThat's how good gearing should be.light,refined and smooth.You wouldn't go for a car gear box if it was clunky and made a loud racket would ya hahahahaha

flatlander_48

That makes all the difference!!

By the way, for those who say shifting from the drops is easier with Shimano, consider that Jimmy Casper, Freddie Rodriguez, Robbie McEwen and Tom Boonen all ride for teams that run Campagnolo. Whatever the shortcomings are, they seem to be able to deal with it.

michaelmc

I don't think anyone was saying that shifting in the drops is easier with Shimano, just that component choice doesn't really matter with regard to top sprinters. If Boonen were picked up by Disco, he'd use Shimano and still be a killer sprinter.

nitropowered

When those guys bust out of the pack and go head to head, they are all going fast enough that they are already in their 11's. So really they don't and can't shift. Its all about leg speed then

c4s6

One other point is that Ultegra shifts much more quietly. As someone I ride with once said, "You aren't going to launch a sneak attack using Campy".

sogood

Yeah, 105s to bring the price point of the package down. That's one reason why for my next bike, I'll build it up from a frame and decide on the components myself... Campagnolo.

Stert

i dont know if that is a good analogy. any transmission designed for performance is NOT a smooth shift. automatic transmissions is mini vans are slipping when they shift, thats what makes them smooth. a drag car will have your head jerking around in shifts, because it does not slip.

its apples and oranges tho, because neither shimano nor campy is slipping when it shifts. a transmission on a car and a derailleur are very very different from one another.

cs1

Actually they were. Hardcore Shimano riders just can't seem to get the hang of the Campy thumb levers. That is one of the reasons Shimano guys don't like Sora, thumb shifters. If you have smallish hands the thumb levers can be difficult, not impossible, to shift.

Tim

3MTA3

while working in a shop that carried mostly trek, a (fairly) noob came in & was asking the typical questions. we had a parlee & a seven show bikes on the floor with record/chorus groups on them. he asked about campy & i was telling him how record was the most expensive (& some think best group out there). he looked around at the treks & said "well if campy is such good stuff, why isn't it on most of the bikes in here?" i was thinking "well if fararris are so good, why aren't there many on the road?"

i have both japanese & italian transmission bikes. i like them both. i can't wait to get my new bike paid off so i can get one with sram & complete the hat trick.

cuda2k

I've talked myself into spending the extra $$ on Centaur over Veloce. I've already "upgraded" a step or two on most of the parts going into this current build, so might as well go up a step from the original plan here too.

flatlander_48

Hmmm. Sort of sounds like you are referring to an automatic transmission and my guess is that _fly was refering to a manual. That would definitely be Apples and Oranges...