ericlowney 

I have a steel frame Colnago that I like, and am entering into the possibility of doing a wheelset/drivetrain upgrade. I want to stick with Campagnolo, but know little about Campy in general and it seems it's not as widely available as Shimano. Where are good places to explore if I wanted to try to start pricing out/piecing together a groupset and wheelset? Obviously the easy answer, and most expensive, would just be to buy a new mechanical 12sp group with some Bora WTO wheels but if I want to be thrifty are there good places to look for deals, etc.? Should I be wary of buying used?

13ollocks

I would look at Zondas rather than WTOs - reasonably priced (~$400), reasonably light (mine are 1560g/pr, but weight isn't going to be a priority for a steel Colnago in any case), look great (radial F, G3 R) and in my experience (180lb, ~20,000 mi so far), bulletproof.
If I was putting together a Campagnolo-equipped bike today, I would look as Chorus 12 - can be had for less than $1200 for a rim brake groupset, although options are limited at that price range. If Shimano's "disc-only" moves are anything to go by, this may well be Campag's last rim brake groupset. I don't know of any specifically cheap sources. I would simply Google "Chorus 12sp groupset" and see what pops up. Chain Reaction Cycles is pretty good for the moment. I currently run 20-year-old Chorus 10sp, so I look at sources that offer "vintage" Campagnolo, like Sprockets UK, but Amazon and Ebay are also useful. While consumable parts (cassettes, chainrings etc) for 10sp and 11sp are still readily available, certainly for 10sp they're gradually diminishing in terms of availability and options - that's why I would advise buying new now to "future-proof" your Campag riding as much as possible.

DCU1984

I’m in the same boat as the OP. I just bought a 1995 Colnago with 8 speed Campagnolo. I want to keep it original as much as I can, but I feel like one day I will put a newer group set on it. Following.

aliasfox

Bike24 has Campy drivetrain kits available, might be worth checking them out. Chorus works out to about EU900 shipped to the US. May need to purchase the correct BB for your frame separately (not sure what you need/what they include).

Wiggle/CRC have options too, but I think like for like they're a little pricier.

ericlowney 

great recommendation on the Zonda wheels, I will probably go that route!

Kabuki12

I am into the seventies stuff so my Colnago is Campagnolo. I guess it depends what year the bike is or what you plan to do as far as riding. My 1975 Super is all period Campy NR and I love it , but it isn’t for everyone. Some of the guys I ride with like more modern equipment and don’t understand reaching down to shift.

ericlowney 

It's a 1993/1994 Colnago Elegant with 8sp Chorus (triple up front) and Mavic Wheels right now. I'd like to get rid of the triple as it's flat where I live, and go with maybe the 12sp to get one cog increment gearing as much as possible. The Elegant frame is dented, someone destroyed the chrome (can't bring it back), and not a color scheme that has grown on me so I'm going to fix the dent and powder coat the frame so I can do a Colnago Nuovo Mexico/San Sarroni color theme instead. I found a place to rechrome the fork at least for only $60. This is just a club/fun bike, I don't race and I have a different bike I use as my commuter.

daviddavieboy

One little thing to keep in mind is if you go with a 11 or 12 speed group you have the option to pick up a wheelset with a shimano cassette or be able to swap out wheels if needed.

ericlowney 

I'm confused, the shimano 12sp cassette is interchangeable with campy?

aliasfox

My understanding is this:
11 speed: For all intents and purposes, Shimano, SRAM, and Campagnolo are all pretty much seamlessly interchangeable when it comes to cassettes and chains. Shifters and derailleurs still have to be matched up by brand, but you can run a Force cassette on Centaur, a Ultegra cassette on Centaur, and Centaur on either of the other two. Chains are completely interchangeable, as well. Standard tooth limitations apply - ie, if the Centaur rear derailleur can only accept a 32T Centaur cassette, that's not going to change with Shimano - it's still 32T.

12 speed: For cassettes running an 11T smallest cog, I've read that all cassettes are interchangeable across Shimano/SRAM/Campy. Reports are sketchy with regards to using a SRAM 10T cassette on Shimano electronic (and I think Campy electronic, which IIRC only allows 10T on Ekar), but should work on Campy mechanical 12 speed. However, It's been less clear which chain works best, as the three companies now have different chains - SRAM's which can only be mounted in one direction, Shimano's HG+ (I think?), or Campy's 12-sp.

mackgoo

I pour through eBay and don't look for the latest.

Russ Roth

Sram's is orientational not directional, the flat top chains are just that, flat on top and so top side out and away from the chainrings and cogs.
My experience, I've got one kid running a force chain on their rival group, another running a KMC 12sp chain on their Rival group and I'm running a 12sp KMC chain on my chorus group, there's no discernible shifting difference between the rival equipped bikes with different chains when making sure their in tune, both are too small for me to ride, and my chorus bike shifts perfectly using the same 12sp kmc chain as the oldest kid's rival equipped bike. I have tossed my White industries wheel with choru casstte on my oldest kid's bike and it worked perfectly with no trouble.

OP, Merlin cycles has chorus 12sp in the 950.00 range and usually free shipping to the US, they also stock a decent selection of wheels. Its where I picked up my chorus group.

wheelreason

LOL. We were taught "brass to the grass" to load the SAW...

daviddavieboy

The certainty are. I use multiple wheelsets with my Super Record bike with Shimano / Campagnolo cassettes and find no real difference. ie I have a set with a 105 cassette, another wheel with a power meter and Ultegra cassette and a Bora set with a SR cassette. I have a couple bikes that are Record 10 and another that is Chorus 10 and the spacing is completely different compared to 11 and 12 speed as well as being different compared to Shimano 10 speed, also on the Campagnolo 10 the lower cogs are spaced different than the upper cogs.

FWIW I prefer the 11 speed (pre 2015 ?) group as it looks more traditional with the 5 arm crank but there is a Campagnolo 12 that comes in a brushed silver that looks great on a classic bike as well.

13ollocks

There's a Campagnolo 12sp crankset in silver? Which one? Genuinely interested, as one (relatively minor) reason I have for sticking with 10sp is that I'm not wild about black components

daviddavieboy

I missed that part about 12 speed only, The one I was thinking about was 11 speed Centaur and I believe the group was only available in 11 speed. On a positive note you could pick up an entire groupset for around $750 USD new.