jlat

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

Road Fan

Most Campy have been made in smaller volumes than most Japanese stiff, though I think the days of handmade Campagnolo parts is long-gone.

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.

indyfabz

Outrider1

I can't speak for the drivetrain components but my wheels have been exceptional performers and are pleasing to the eye as well.

Iride01 

Would you be happier if there was only one brand of bicycle components?

cxwrench

What's up with 'youz'?

jlat

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

jlat

hello people: I'm glad I made your list. I feel honored. Now brift away, please.
IBBY

dedhed

Campy doesn't have lower levels and cover the range of levels from Walmart bikes to TdF bikes like Shimano or SRAM do.

indyfabz

You’re the one who announced their departure a few days ago. Walk the walk, please.

jlat

hello people: So what would a high-end bike use for components?
IBBY

m.c. 

ltwoo

jlat

hello people: Do youz think a $14,000 ride would have campy components?
IBBY

m.c. 

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/

jlat

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

BCDrums

I thought it meant I'll be blasting you, having grown up watching sci-fi movies on TV hosted by Major Mudd. Brift on!

alcjphil

Are you actually interested in learning anything about Campagnolo components or just talking about obscure television shows you watched as a kid?
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.

zandoval 

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!!!

jlat

hello and hello people: The question was asked and answered. That was for you the member from Canada.
IBBY

Fredo76

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.

mackgoo

My name is Bruce and I'm a Campyholic. There are other component manufacturers out there? What would my thumbs do? Twiddle?

Vintage Schwinn

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.

3alarmer 

Camilo

Larry Sellerz

philbob57

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