basically i would just ebay 6500 4 lyfe if the hood shape wasn’t so meh, which is why i wanna shimergo that shit in some distant future that involves me having money to blow. really though i dig everything about my 6500 except the hood shape. and those stupid plastic flight deck covers that always break and fall off.
probably jump on the 1x10 shrams bandwagon for cx season this fall if i don’t just go ss due to lack of funds.
6-7 speed era 105 is pretty ideal for more relaxed riding atmo, and it’s got the only single pivot brakes that haven’t made me want to break shit every time i have to touch them.
and yeah crabon monkey crazy, friction shifting up front is about as good as it gets really. you just yank that lever with a little pit of purpose and POW, shifted. all the campag stuff is pretty irrelevant to me so no comment there i guess but i can’t say i didn’t raise my brows a bit.
Only experience is with Campy 9 speed. I really love the hood shape, but I don’t like the thumb shifter. Annoying to get to from the drops, which is where I spend a majority of my time.
all i’m saying is that i’ve never had a problem when the parts are in good shape and it’s set up properly. i just set my girls bike up with my old veloce group and even though it feels a little soft it’s clean and smooth. it is a little more sensitive to cable tension than shimano stuff i own.
The headstone of bonechilling would have to include something like the following: He lies bonechilling, a small man with a large hatred for SRAM cranks. If you try to put them on his bike posthumously, he will arise from the grave and attack you with smooth-shifting Ultegra doubles.
I ride Campy on my roadie. It’s bourgeoise and elitist and gaudy and Italian and ballin’, but kiss neutral support and cheap rear wheels goodbye. One PITA thing about Campy, from a racing perspective, is you really have to pay attention to what bars you run for out-of-saddle sprinting for ease of thumb shifting in the drops. Not so much an issue with Shimano or SRAM. But the ergonomics of the hood/lever are the best ATMO.
I ride SRAM on my cross bike. It’s proletariat and Joe America and clean and somewhat ballin’, but have fun with disposable shifters. SRAM has amassed a pretty good reputation for their lack of shifter durability; I broke mine clean through the body. Good warranty rep from what I’ve heard though.
I used to ride old Shimano 105. It was quiet and Japanese and zero bling. The hoods were bulbousy, it was hard to find a sweet spot and I had to change the cables a bit more than I liked. New Shimano looks far nicer but I probably won’t be back.
Best of all worlds ATMO: Shimano cranks, brakes, chain, FD and cassette. SRAM shifters (coz super comfy, albeit disposable) and RD. Gore cables. Super quiet/smooth setup, neutral support cuz SRAM/Shimano like Amurrrica (Campy does not), comfy ergonomics.
I would have gone that way if they did and I know a lot of people either switched to something else or won’t use it in the first place because of the stupid thumb shift.
I don’t believe that Campagnolo will make a “Shimano-like” lever, even after Shimano’s patents expire (which may have already happened, but I think not, because I recall that was the driving force behind SRAM’s DoubleTap).
I have absolutely no trouble reaching the thumb lever from the drops, and I’m always kind of confused when people say that they do. My only guess is that you guys run your levers a lot higher on your bars than I do (and I feel like I run them high), because I can certainly see that being a problem.
[quote=AndreBear]I ride Campy on my roadie. It’s bourgeoise and elitist and gaudy and Italian and ballin’, but kiss neutral support and cheap rear wheels goodbye. One PITA thing about Campy, from a racing perspective, is you really have to pay attention to what bars you run for out-of-saddle sprinting for ease of thumb shifting in the drops.[/quote]yeah, this is is the big thing. unless my whole team is rolling with campy, wheel pits are a PITA. and also to the running the right bars for the levers. i’ve ridden campy a little bit, and i never had a problem with the thumb.
Have campy 9 -speed set up on old steel bike. I think it shifts better than the modern stuff I am working with. Of course all brands and certainly the higher end groupsets can be set up to work almost flawlessly. in fact, they all perform pretty damn well, but I was struck by the differences between the brands and curious about your opinions.
Hey, I have only just started this road bike extravaganza, so I’m sure my set up skills can be improved upon. Maybe if I rode my damn crabon biek more, I would appreciate the Sram Red group for what it is.
Well, I’m talking about mainly for out of the saddle efforts, but surely you can observe the difference between trying to shift the thumb lever on some Belgian deep drops vs. Deda compacts.
not really, aside from shimano rings being pretty pricey. with this and their cranks being quite nice i’d imagine the latter will usually be the more sensible option. getting a new pair of rings will run you about half as much as a crankset w/ bb.
