I'm thinking of dipping my toes in the water of the "dark side" and getting a road bike.

I'm wondering whether people prefer to have Campag or Shimano stuff on their road bikes and what the pros and cons of either are.

I heard once upon a time that you need specific tools to service Campag components - is this likely to lead to lots of spending on bike shop servicing or buying special tools?

Don't be afraid, there is nothing wrong with riding on the road. I have used both Campag and Shimano, so may be able to help.

Campag is very good, but very expensive. Not too sure about some of the later "economy" ranges as they are still expensive for what they. For the last x years I have used Shimano 105 equipment. This is not as expensive (but still not cheap!) but is very good quality and does everything you need it to do. You used to have to have a specific Campag crank tool to remove the cranks, I expect it is still the same, but having said that most types of cranks need specific tools if you into removing cranks on a regular basis.

Hope that helps.

Oh you've opened a can of worms with "that" question. Take a look at roadcyclinguk and you will numerous threads on this.

Personally I favour campag on my road bike. My one experience with shimano, about 9 years ago so things will have changed, was that the sweep of the levers was too large for my small hands and it went off very quickly. I changed to campag chorus and it is still going strong. I even stripped off the shimano on my trek and fitted campag chorus.
I think you will need a campag cassette tool, and new integrated BB/cranks will require a new tool too, but that's it.
A decent mid range campag groupset would be the Centaur. And call me shallow but I prefer the aesthetics of the campag over the shimano. If you look at the relative cost of the Campagnolo groupsets against Shimano they're broadly similar except for Chorus which is more expensive than Ultegra but more on a par with Dura Ace and Record is better.

I'm with LA I'm afraid Campag everytime and the question of specific tools is true for both Shimano and Campag at some time or another.

I much prefer the looks of Campag, especially the ergo levers and cabling arrangements, I did try a Shimano equipped bike last year and didn't like the clunkiness of the gear change - Campag in my mind is much smoother and more sensative. Mind you I was comparing 105 with Centaur so an equivalent Shimano range may have felt better.

We also have to consider in our family that all of our bikes are Campag equipped and always have been, so compatability and familiarity is a big issue for us. I was even forced to have 10 speed on my new road bike so that we had two wheels with a 10sp block on them in case of emergencies!!!!!!

CAN OF WORMS ALERT

I think it's all a matter of what suits you best. I have Shimano on my cross bikes and best road bike but Campag on my winter lead sled.

The Shimano STI's are bigger than the Campag Ergo versions and have a different action. Personally I think i'd go for Shimano just because I prefer the action for down shifting (and I can 'borrow' hubby's wheels as his are all Shimano)

BUT the Campag levers are tidy as the cables are buried underneath your bar tape as opposed to the Shimano which are external.

Have a try in your local shop and ask for a test ride before you commit though.

Welcome to the dark side!

BTW, LA - I don't suppose you have a spare right hand lever knocking around do you? I have worn mine out on my winter bike...before you say anything it's been on there for ages!

If you need any bikes stuff, you should check out this site..

www.shinybikes.com

I only use campagnolo. I do quite a bit of bike building and maintenance and far prefer Campag. Some very very good deals on 2005/2006 components.

Bikescooby - I have a daytona (before it became centaur) lever you can have but it is 1999 - possibly a different cable pull tho.

Hi Emma,

Well i used to do a lot of road racing, so i have ridden both.

Personnally i would also go for campag.
A couple of reasons:

Personal opinion its looks better

Has always had better resale value

It lasts a lot longer, i have always found shimano wears out quite quickly

Shimano also seems to rattle

I guess also a consideration to what you get is, is it for a winter bike or a best bike and how much you want to spend?

Looking at the 07 groupsets i think the Centuar will be the popular groupset next year as it includes Carbon Ergo Levers & the new Skeleton Brake Calipers