Campy components
#1
Newbie
Thread Starter
Campy components
hello people: What's the big deal about them? I always thought of them as high end but why? Are they made better, do they work better? What do youz think? Also, is there a comparable component now in 2022 as campy has been around a long time?
IBBY
IBBY
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 16,869
Bikes: 1980 Masi, 1984 Mondonico, 1984 Trek 610, 1980 Woodrup Giro, 2005 Mondonico Futura Leggera ELOS, 1967 PX10E, 1971 Peugeot UO-8
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1854 Post(s)
Liked 661 Times
in
504 Posts
They started out as parts for racing, where the usag is more demanding and rougher than for your typical sidewalk or town bike, since around 1950 when Sr. Campagnolo left the race track and created his company. They also were designed from the start as repairable parts, so replacement parts were available. While this philosophy seems to be tempered somewhat, they are still based more on racing and other specializations, than "just make a decent, cheap 10-speed setup.
Beauty? sometimes. Blingy? sometimes. But interestingly, often the bottom level groups have equivalent durability and functional smoothness as the top end. I can't say if this is true of Shimano and SRAM, but I have read stories of Shimano failures which end up expensive. What's the real balance? I'm not sure I can answer that.
Likes For Road Fan:
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,218
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18403 Post(s)
Liked 15,495 Times
in
7,317 Posts
Likes For indyfabz:
#4
Full Member
I can't speak for the drivetrain components but my wheels have been exceptional performers and are pleasing to the eye as well.
#5
I'm good to go!
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 14,953
Bikes: Tarmac Disc Comp Di2 - 2020
Mentioned: 51 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6178 Post(s)
Liked 4,795 Times
in
3,307 Posts
Would you be happier if there was only one brand of bicycle components?
Likes For Iride01:
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Nor-Cal
Posts: 3,767
Bikes: lots
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1958 Post(s)
Liked 2,932 Times
in
1,489 Posts
What's up with 'youz'?
Likes For cxwrench:
#7
Newbie
Thread Starter
hello people: Youz will grow on you as I use it all the time. There are always comments made. I hope youz have a good day.
IBBY
IBBY
#9
SE Wis
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 10,501
Bikes: '68 Raleigh Sprite, '02 Raleigh C500, '84 Raleigh Gran Prix, '91 Trek 400, 2013 Novara Randonee, 1990 Trek 970
Mentioned: 40 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2741 Post(s)
Liked 3,388 Times
in
2,051 Posts
But interestingly, often the bottom level groups have equivalent durability and functional smoothness as the top end. I can't say if this is true of Shimano and SRAM, but I have read stories of Shimano failures which end up expensive. What's the real balance? I'm not sure I can answer that.
Campy doesn't have lower levels and cover the range of levels from Walmart bikes to TdF bikes like Shimano or SRAM do.
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,218
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18403 Post(s)
Liked 15,495 Times
in
7,317 Posts
Likes For indyfabz:
#14
Full Member
I think the Campagnolo super record groupset is around $5000 so a bicycle with it could reach that price.
What does IBBY mean?
edit: there's a discount you should pick one up https://www.texascyclesport.com/camp...peed-groupset/
What does IBBY mean?
edit: there's a discount you should pick one up https://www.texascyclesport.com/camp...peed-groupset/
#15
Newbie
Thread Starter
hello people: If any of youz grew up in Mass. as a kid in the 60s you would know. It's from a stupid TV kid show. If you really want to know find Major Mudd.
IBBY
IBBY
Likes For BCDrums:
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Posts: 5,921
Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1815 Post(s)
Liked 1,693 Times
in
974 Posts
Top end bikes can use components from several brands. all you have to do is research which components are being used currently at the Tour De France. Primarily Shimano along with SRAM and Campagnolo in third place but that is only because Campagnolo is a much smaller company that cannot afford to spend as much for sponsorship, nothing to do with the quality of their components. The most expensive bicycle I have ever seen in person was an Eddy Merckx special edition EMX7 about 12 years ago. It had limited edition Lightweight wheels and Campagnolo Super Record components. It was selling at the time for $23000.
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Bastrop Texas
Posts: 4,467
Bikes: Univega, Peu P6, Peu PR-10, Ted Williams, Peu UO-8, Peu UO-18 Mixte, Peu Dolomites
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 957 Post(s)
Liked 1,619 Times
in
1,039 Posts
Here it goes again...
Granted I have had some cheap ChiCom mystery metal components that have held up well, but the few Campagnolo components that I have been able to afford are Out Standing! Being a franken bike builder my list is long... Shimano, Tektro, Sunrace and more. My biggest problem is that when I finally find some component or knockoff that's worth its money it's usually gone.
Would I like to build a Tuto Campagnolo Bicileta? Hell Yes!!!
Granted I have had some cheap ChiCom mystery metal components that have held up well, but the few Campagnolo components that I have been able to afford are Out Standing! Being a franken bike builder my list is long... Shimano, Tektro, Sunrace and more. My biggest problem is that when I finally find some component or knockoff that's worth its money it's usually gone.
Would I like to build a Tuto Campagnolo Bicileta? Hell Yes!!!
__________________
No matter where you're at... There you are... Δf:=f(1/2)-f(-1/2)
No matter where you're at... There you are... Δf:=f(1/2)-f(-1/2)
Likes For zandoval:
#20
The Wheezing Geezer
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: Espaņola, NM
Posts: 1,044
Bikes: 1976 Fredo Speciale, Jamis Citizen 1, Ellis-Briggs FAVORI, Rivendell Clem Smith Jr.
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 411 Post(s)
Liked 897 Times
in
441 Posts
The big deal about Campy was that for a generation, they made arguably the best bicycle components that you could get, so much so that "full Campy" became synonymous with "top quality" in the cycling world. They were ubiquitous in racing bicycles in the '60s and '70s, and became part of an iconic look of the period.
Likes For Fredo76:
#21
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: San Clemente
Posts: 664
Bikes: 87 Bianchi X4, 95 Bianchi Ti Mega Tube, 06 Alan Carbon Cross X33, Gold plated Columbus AIR Guerciotti, 74 Galmozzi Super Competizione, 52 Bianchi Paris Roubaix.
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 259 Post(s)
Liked 539 Times
in
166 Posts
My name is Bruce and I'm a Campyholic. There are other component manufacturers out there? What would my thumbs do? Twiddle?
Likes For mackgoo:
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 638
Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 346 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 396 Times
in
259 Posts
Campagnolo, a pioneer in engineering excellence that ruled the world until about 1967, since that time CAMPY has been second rate, and a distant second rate to everything Maeda SUNTOUR and SHIMANO.
In just a few years in the Seventies, SHIMANO & SUNTOUR obliterated Campagnolo as the once stellar high line bike marques came to the quick realization that continuing to employ the vastly inferior Campagnolo junk was doing nothing to continue to help marketing those once stellar bike marques as being worthy of high praise.
Most of the prestige European marques hung on too long with Campagnolo, (and Simplex & Huret too..) after it was very clear that SHIMANO & SUNTOUR had superior engineering and durability as well as flawless operational reliability. Heck, back in 1971, most such bike owners were certainly replacing their original equipment Campagnolo rear derailleur for a SUNTOUR or SHIMANO unit. The Japanese quality was that much better, and riders of prestige European bicycles certainly realized that fact by 1971 and 1972, even though the European marques still specified the vastly inferior Campagnolo components for some time beyond 1972.
By 1977 though nearly everybody on the planet had adopted the far superior Japanese engineering and had eliminated such outdated second rate turds from Campagnolo, Simplex, and Huret. Campagnolo never again came close to Suntour or Shimano after 1968. None of the other Europeans did either!
Yes you can say that Shimano and Maeda SUNTOUR both copied & almost stole their basic designs from the best comingling of then state of the art European designs, but the Japanese found a way to very much improve and refine the operational durability of these "borrowed" designs and then take them to greater advances and new engineering that further advanced the state of the art.
Certainly, Campagnolo has a cool cachet which some folks enjoy this prestige and the neat Campagnolo script and overall looks, but no matter how you try to polish a turd, you cannot attain the superior operational functionality of the far superior Shimano and Suntour components. Compared to Shimano, Campagnolo is second rate.
It isn't that Campagnolo is that bad. After all they were the world's best for a long time until the mid to late sixties. They are still decent enough and well made, but Shimano is in fact that much better than Campagnolo that in my opinion Campy equates with **** when compared to the vastly superior engineering execution of Shimano components.
In just a few years in the Seventies, SHIMANO & SUNTOUR obliterated Campagnolo as the once stellar high line bike marques came to the quick realization that continuing to employ the vastly inferior Campagnolo junk was doing nothing to continue to help marketing those once stellar bike marques as being worthy of high praise.
Most of the prestige European marques hung on too long with Campagnolo, (and Simplex & Huret too..) after it was very clear that SHIMANO & SUNTOUR had superior engineering and durability as well as flawless operational reliability. Heck, back in 1971, most such bike owners were certainly replacing their original equipment Campagnolo rear derailleur for a SUNTOUR or SHIMANO unit. The Japanese quality was that much better, and riders of prestige European bicycles certainly realized that fact by 1971 and 1972, even though the European marques still specified the vastly inferior Campagnolo components for some time beyond 1972.
By 1977 though nearly everybody on the planet had adopted the far superior Japanese engineering and had eliminated such outdated second rate turds from Campagnolo, Simplex, and Huret. Campagnolo never again came close to Suntour or Shimano after 1968. None of the other Europeans did either!
Yes you can say that Shimano and Maeda SUNTOUR both copied & almost stole their basic designs from the best comingling of then state of the art European designs, but the Japanese found a way to very much improve and refine the operational durability of these "borrowed" designs and then take them to greater advances and new engineering that further advanced the state of the art.
Certainly, Campagnolo has a cool cachet which some folks enjoy this prestige and the neat Campagnolo script and overall looks, but no matter how you try to polish a turd, you cannot attain the superior operational functionality of the far superior Shimano and Suntour components. Compared to Shimano, Campagnolo is second rate.
It isn't that Campagnolo is that bad. After all they were the world's best for a long time until the mid to late sixties. They are still decent enough and well made, but Shimano is in fact that much better than Campagnolo that in my opinion Campy equates with **** when compared to the vastly superior engineering execution of Shimano components.
Last edited by StanSeven; 07-18-22 at 07:52 PM.
Likes For Vintage Schwinn:
#23
Friendship is Magic
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 22,984
Bikes: old ones
Mentioned: 304 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26392 Post(s)
Liked 10,366 Times
in
7,197 Posts
The iconic photo of Tullio Campagnolo is better than his Shimano counterpart.
__________________
#25
Senior Member
In the first place, I'd bet everything I own and everything I can borrow that a large majority of members (and active members) of bikeforums.net did not grow up in Massachusetts and never ran across youz or 'IBBY' before. Hell, I grew up in RI, watched Boston TV stations almost every day, and I don't remember ever coming across Major Mudd.
Second, in the '70s, Shimano bike parts were not very good. I entered the bike market in 1972, and Shimano parts were on the lowest end bikes I saw. Even the beautiful Arabesque components of the early '80s were not that great. It was only after developing SIS that Shimano became dominant at the low end and middle. It took time for Shimano to learn how to make parts that operate smoothly for a long time.
Looking at the pro market, Shimano's stuff on the TdF starts with SPD pedals in the 1991 TdF, and it marks 1999 as the first time a Shimano groupset was on the bike of the fastest rider. It took time for pros to recognize Shimano's quality, but Shimano made giant strides towards pro-level credibility in the '80s and '90s, not in the '60s and '70s.
Third, Maeda/Suntour actually invented a new type of derailleur that was better than anything the Europeans produced. Their decline came along with SIS shifting and the end of their patent protection ... which was followed by European manufacturers adopting Maeda's now unprotected intellectual property. I used Suntour very happily until my mid-70s, at which point I went to SIS shifting (on the DT) for reasons of safety, not for any mechanical superiority. That was 2 or 3 years ago. I still use a Suntour FD, which handles my half-step-with-granny very well. I started using my FD in 1982.
Japanese manufacturers took over the mass markets in many areas. Volume and profits, not quality drove Japanese industry. They aimed for and reached a high level of standard quality; they succeeded in that better than most. Their cars, cameras, hifi equipment were reliable and low cost, but not necessarily the best. They didn't displace Leica, Hassleblad, Porsche, BMW, Benz, Audio Research, Naim, etc.
Shimano now dominates the pro peloton, but I don;t know why pro teams choose the products they use. Pogacar rode Campy to victory twice
Second, in the '70s, Shimano bike parts were not very good. I entered the bike market in 1972, and Shimano parts were on the lowest end bikes I saw. Even the beautiful Arabesque components of the early '80s were not that great. It was only after developing SIS that Shimano became dominant at the low end and middle. It took time for Shimano to learn how to make parts that operate smoothly for a long time.
Looking at the pro market, Shimano's stuff on the TdF starts with SPD pedals in the 1991 TdF, and it marks 1999 as the first time a Shimano groupset was on the bike of the fastest rider. It took time for pros to recognize Shimano's quality, but Shimano made giant strides towards pro-level credibility in the '80s and '90s, not in the '60s and '70s.
Third, Maeda/Suntour actually invented a new type of derailleur that was better than anything the Europeans produced. Their decline came along with SIS shifting and the end of their patent protection ... which was followed by European manufacturers adopting Maeda's now unprotected intellectual property. I used Suntour very happily until my mid-70s, at which point I went to SIS shifting (on the DT) for reasons of safety, not for any mechanical superiority. That was 2 or 3 years ago. I still use a Suntour FD, which handles my half-step-with-granny very well. I started using my FD in 1982.
Japanese manufacturers took over the mass markets in many areas. Volume and profits, not quality drove Japanese industry. They aimed for and reached a high level of standard quality; they succeeded in that better than most. Their cars, cameras, hifi equipment were reliable and low cost, but not necessarily the best. They didn't displace Leica, Hassleblad, Porsche, BMW, Benz, Audio Research, Naim, etc.
Shimano now dominates the pro peloton, but I don;t know why pro teams choose the products they use. Pogacar rode Campy to victory twice
Last edited by philbob57; 07-17-22 at 01:51 PM.