Originally Posted by
smashndash
For the Phil Wood/WI comment, I don’t see a straightforward way to get a campy hub on its own. Shimano does the same thing, sadly (thankfully, mavic does too). This is why WI, CK, DT and i9 are so popular. They offer standalone hubs.
I personally went DT for my chinese carbon wheels. They were way cheaper than many western brands and I personally know 5 other people who have bought wheels from that exact company. Many other people have bought other chinese carbon or rebadged chinese carbon wheels. If campy cares about being more popular, they should offer hubsets. I actually really wanted a cup and cone rear hub and would have considered campy if they offered a reasonable hub.
I personally think that Campagnolo hamstrings their wheels with their brand name, because when I think Campy, I think “pompous prick with no personality who tries to compensate by buying rare/unique bike parts”. No offense to anyone who actually rides campy, of course. But as a younger cyclist, some people’s fetishism over “italian heritage” or whatever makes me want to puke. Same reason why Bianchi’s inane “Handmade in Italy” stickers make my blood boil. I’d like to flip the question on you (in regards to drivetrains). Why would anyone pick a campy groupset over Shimano?
To be fair, I think americans’ view of european brands is very different from that of europeans’. It’s possible that campy is very popular in europe/italy. I wouldn’t know.
Some interesting thoughts. Regarding the stand along hubs, you probably do know that individual Record hubs (cup and cone, steel bearings) can still be purchased, but I would assume that only overing a 32 spoke option is severely limiting for most modern rims. So point taken.
And I actually felt the same what that you did at first, that Campagnolo was to be associated with "pompous pricks," but then my mind slowly started to change. First and foremost, because I so rarely actually came across someone riding their stuff! Second, because the anti-Campagnolo crowd seemed to be equally pompous and pricky, and third because I just grew to appreciate the nature of their company and products.
The perception of the brand actually makes me think about a similar situation with Ducati and Harley. As an admirer of Ducati, I was also put off by some of the (American) jerks purporting to be something they aren't, and pretending their products are something that they aren't, simply because of the name. If I had a dollar for every time that someone said, "the Ferrari of motorcycles" and nearly made me puke... And of course there are the naysayers that consider the brand to be overpriced junk.
Then you go to Italy and find out that Harley is to Italians what Ducati is to Americans. Largely ridden by kool-aid drinkers that think the name makes them cool, unique and un-Italian (which is good in their mind). There is actually quite a bit of anti-Ducati sentiment in Italy as well, and over there it's generally a brand for hardcore riders who don't really care about more than their image and the perception of others. But I digress...
Campagnolo groupsets are definitely a different story to their wheels in terms of pricing, and that is why this post was specific to wheels. That said, I could see someone selecting them for their quality, their functionality, their ease/possibility of maintenance and repair, and even for their looks. Most of those points are debatable, but I think they are legit.