EngrJack

Hi bike friends!

I’m considering options for building a NOS Italian road/racing frame. I’ve ridden bikes with grip shifters, thumb shifters, and bar end shifters. I’m unfamiliar with Campy Chorus 10s Ergo Shifters (I’m interested in them) and know nothing about how they work and feel. I’ve many options on what to build the bare frame with, including hubs and wheels. All I know is that for a mid nineties road frame, higher end campy and Italian made parts would make a cool bike. I do trust higher end Shimano....and Dia Compe and Suntour—before they lost the race with Shimano. Do any of you Road Bike guys have any suggestions?

—EngrJack

rsbob 

Love my vintage Campy Ergos. They have worked flawlessly for years and like how you can slam the gears in one shot rather than having to click through them like my Shimanos. Great stuff

EngrJack

Thanks for that 2 cents, rsbob!

rosefarts

I use 10 speed ergo’s. I like the feel and hand positions better than shimano or sram. I had it rebuilt recently and works like new.

I like them so much than the other big two, too bad Campy Ekar isn’t in the budget for my gravel bike.

Working on Campy is a pleasure because it is so well engineered. It’s also a total pain in the butt because it’s not compatible with anything else in spare parts or tools.

I don’t know how low they continue to support parts and if they do, it’s probably Chorus or Record only. 10 speed is readily available but do your homework before getting 8 or 9.

Pop N Wood

Go old school down tube shifters. They last forever, my one set is 40 years old and counting.

livedarklions

Try posting this question in the Early Brifter Bike forum. It's a new forum, but it's where you're most likely to find someone who has done that kind of conversion.

rosefarts

it’s a bare frame, not a conversion but a grouppo choice. Steel so 126 dropouts are an easy fix. Parts availability and cassette choices are really the biggest concern.

gkamieneski

My preference is my bicycle with Chorus Ergo 8. Like it much better than the 10s Shimano the other bike has.

rosefarts

Third post to your thread, then I’ll stop, probably.

The aesthetics on a steel frame favor older shiny Campagnolo. The thinner the frame tubes, the better. This is not a performance issue. Shimano works great without the luster, it’s often a better option.

Do you have a Chorus group in a box in the basement? Check out the prices on eBay, I could sell my 20 year old group for enough to buy a new Ultegra mechanical group. I don’t have time to sell the stuff I want to sell though, so I’m not going to.

8,9,10,11, if disc brakes aren’t used are all 130mm rear spacing. You could go brand new Ultegra and be open to just about any wheels you want.

I still like the action of Ergo better than STI since it keeps the brake separate from the shifter. It’s a more positive shift than Double Tap too, which also separates the two. Ergo is probably not so good as to spend more for a 20 year old group with far more limited options instead of new or nearly new Shimano.

Unrelated to the group, grab a wheelset that fits and put them on. Mount tires if you have them. In my opinion, if the frame won’t clear 28mm tires, it’s not worth a high budget rebuild. I’ve got a steel 2002 and a steel 1985, both can clear as wide as the calipers allow. Some of those bikes from the time capsule are built around a 23mm wide tire. The world has changed.

Litespud

10sp “round top” Ergos are the best looking shifters, IMO - they’re also super comfortable in hand, and I like having the brake levers move in only one plane. I also really like silver/Al components. I started with 9sp Chorus ~1999, retrofitted them to 10sp ~2003 (required only a 10sp “ratchet”), had them overhauled last year with ~50,000 miles on them. I sent them to Branford in Seattle, where they determined that, rather than replace worn parts a la carte, it was more cost-efficient to replace the RHS shifter with a “Pro Pack” - essentially a new shifter body minus the rubber hood, brake lever and handlebar clamp, with the missing parts transplanted from the old shifter. They shift like new and are probably good for at least another 10 years. Setup is also really easy - the LHS shifter allows easy trimming and the RHS allows multi shifts up or down. I’m making somewhat of an investment in 10sp, and will likely run 10sp until/when/if Campag come up with a wireless electronic groupset (not interested in replacing my Litespeed nor drilling holes in it for a wired drivetrain). I have 2-3 cassettes, a couple of 135mm BCD chainrings and a compact crankset in reserve, and 10sp chains aren’t going anywhere. I think 10sp stuff might start getting more scarce as Campag stop making it, but NOS is going to be around for a while. I recently bought a pair of Campag Zondas - reasonably light, very pretty G3 lacing, and rock solid ~6000 miles in. Cost ~$350/pr. C17 rim width gives my 25mm tires an effective width of 26-27mm, allowing me to drop the tire pressure a bit.
As far as the frame, as others have said, be realistic about how much you want to spend on a project centered around an old frame. At some point, it might be more cost-efficient to buy a newer bike that will give modern conveniences like wider tire clearance and disc brakes. That being said, 23/25mm tires and rim brakes have worked fine forever and will continue to do so, and the aesthetics of a classic frame and groupset shouldn’t be downplayed. Even 20 years in, my old Litespeed with C10 still makes me think “damn, that’s a good looking bike...” 😀👍

frogman

Also Campy Ergo's can be rebuilt. I have rebuilt one of my 10 speed ergo's recently.
Shimano brake shifters are use till they go out then buy new ones.

TiHabanero

This is my third season on Campag 11 spd. It is my first brifter set up, however I am intimately familiar with STI and Double Tap as I have worked in a bike shop since 1982. Without a doubt the best looking brifter set up is the Campagnolo Record 10 speed. Works wonderfully well, and has a long life. I will also point out what others have, having the shifting separate from braking makes more sense and is my preference. 10 speed Campag was my original choice, however I found that sourcing new 10 speed shifting components is not so clear anymore, so I opted for the Record 11speed. Running the kit on a 531 lugged frame and I absolutely love it and know I made the correct choice.
One thing to note is that 11 speed Campag shifting integrates perfectly with 11 speed Shimano cassettes and chains. Yes, I am recommending you consider 11 speed simply for future serviceability.

noimagination

I have Campy Chorus 10sp Ergos, ca. 2004. In comparison to Shimano Ultrega (2013-ish), which I have on another bike, I prefer Campy.

The shifting is crisper, you can shift more gears with one sweep of the finger lever or thumb lever, it is (to me) more aesthetically pleasing, I like having the shifting separate from the braking, using the thumb lever to shift is more intuitive to me and easier to work when out of the saddle.

Some people prefer Shimano shifter's "buttery smoothness" and find Campy clicky/clunky, and some don't like the thumb lever - some find it awkward do use, requiring bending their wrists when in the drops (I don't find it any harder while in the drops to bend my wrist to work the Shimano shifter than to use the Campy thumb shifter). Some also find that one or the other (Campy or Shimano) hoods fit their hands better, but that's a wash for me, both feel fine.

I've never had to repair the Campy shifter, so I can't really speak to that, but both of my Shimano levers broke - the plastic piece that holds the shift lever inside the brake lever broke off on both the left and right shifters, so I have zip ties holding the levers together.

himespau 

Go to the Classic and Vintage section. There is a thread all about setting up vintage frames with 10/11 speed ergos (or shimano STI). There was a much longer one that for some reason got moved to the "early brifters" page.

Oldguyonoldbike

I have two bikes with Campy 10-speed ergos and two with Campy 11-speed. I love the ergonomics and the feel of the shifting. As mentioned, they’re also built to last.
As far as I’m concerned, the only thing the newer groups have on 10-speed is the capacity for wider ranging cassettes.

johnnyace 

I have Sachs New Success Ergo Power levers (8 speed/circa 1993) on a 1973 Liberia. Apparently a joint development effort between Sachs and Campagnolo. I like 'em pretty well, but still prefer down tube friction shifters. I do like both the functionality and the aesthetics, whereas I think Shimano brifters are fugly and hate that shifting and braking are all-in-one on the levers.

Lazyass

I had Centaur 10sp, one below Chorus. I like them better than Shimano. Campy brake hoods never make my fingertips numb, the brake lever feels more solid because it doesn't go sideways to shift, the clicks are more snappy and not as soft as Shimano. Overall I like Campy better than Shimano but their new stuff is so expensive and harder to find in the US. And I never understood why they've continued to use their own proprietary stuff like freehubs. I'm sure they've lost out on thousands of customers who want to upgrade their bikes but they won't buy Campy because their cassettes won't fit on their freehubs. It's almost like they're trying to destroy themselves. And it's sad they've gone to all black components and no silver option like everyone else. I'm so sick of that trend.

mattcalifornia

I had 10sp Campy Chorus Ergo for many years on my bike. I recently upgraded to Chorus 12. The 10-speed is great. Still worked flawlessly and I never had a problem with it. I sold the whole gruppo on eBay for a surprisingly high price. Campy holds its value really well. And, although I never had to repair mine, the Ergo shifters are fully repairable. I have SRAM on my gravel bike, and although it works well, I definitely prefer the Campy shifting method and feel. And forget about the downtube shifters recommendation. I had Campy Record 6-speed downtube shifters for years also. The Ergo 10 is in a different league.