| For anybody reading this who is
researching their next purchase, the best advice I can give is buy
Campy, you won’t be sorry. Unfortunately, most built up bikes are
Shimano equipped, so many buyers won't even be aware Campy exists.
Another thing that may keep people away from Campy is price. It appears
it is more expensive since the top tier Record is more expensive that
the top tier Dura-Ace, Chorus is more than Ultegra, Daytona is more than
105, and so on. But the groups are not head to head comparable. Record
is in another world than Dura-Ace as far as pushing the envelope goes,
but they are both top of the line and so are considered equal. Campy has
two strikes against it: availability and price, and both were bad calls.
Get over it and buy Campy. It's good for the soul.
I did a lot of casual looking before I bought my bike (because I wanted it to suit me for several years), and the Campy Only website really helped me find the right group, for me. I also have a family to support (otherwise I would be writing about my new Record group), so I looked for the best value. I think there is a lot of value in Veloce, Daytona, and Chorus. For my needs, Daytona offered the right mix of components. I didn't want to buy something thinking about how I could upgrade it, so I chose components that I had no hang-ups about. I'm sorry that I can't give comparisons to other current Campy groups or older Campy components on how they work. I've never had the pleasure of spending any time with them. I did do a lot of looking into how Daytona is constructed (materials and design) compared to the other groups. If you are as tedious as I am, you can find all of these details on the company's website. It is all there in tabular form for every component. Branford Bike interprets this information in write ups on components, and is very worthwhile reading if you are researching a purchase. Through 700 miles, the group is performing well (I've only accumulated 700 miles!). If anything, it has enabled me to get out and ride without restraint. My last bike had Shimano, and as I started to ride longer, the group started to fall apart. I've been doing longer rides than I ever have, and the Campy group disappears beneath me. Except for CHAIN DROP. I'm getting so tired of it. I'm not so sure that is isn't the fault of the rear derailleur, which goes through a lot of 'action' before a drop. To be specific, the cage rotates about it's pivot to some point where it springs back, followed by the chain drop (why I don't know). Just like doing these write ups, its something that I haven’t got around to taking care of. We will see. I haven't had any components fail. This should not be a surprise, but I've read as many reviews as I could find and many times people have to get a component replaced due to failure. It happened to me on another bike with a ShimaNO bottom bracket. Just make sure that you get it taken care of within a year (or whatever the warranty period is). My rear derailleur may be a candidate . . .
|
