COMPONENTS
Over the years I have gotten a number of letters and calls about the comparisons between the "Big Two" component manufacturers' product lines. Of course there has been a war between these two companies and their adherents for years, but at this time, the battle lines are more stable than ever because of a relative equity in products and pricing. The pricing issues varies with exchange rates, but I can discuss the actual products' advantages and disadvantages.

As I said, the battle lines are quite stable at this time. Until about ten years ago, Campagnolo was at a real disadvantage to Shimano because of its functionally challenged line of groupos. Campy has done an incredible job recently and now has a line which is seriously eating into Shimano's top end market. I am glad to see it. Competition is always good (at least for us consumers).

Following is a comparison of the top couple of road groups from Shimano and Campagnolo. I will limit the discussion to the Record and Chorus groups for Campy and the DuraAce and Ultegra groups for Shimano.

Headsets
Campagnolo has had the same headset design since '97. The upper race is a self aligning type. Unlike Shimano's headsets, it does not use a "sealed" bearing, but the seals built into the lower race (the critical ones) work quite well. The lower race is fairly traditional while the upper race is quite different. The headset utilizes a "reversed" upper bearing setup. That is, the uppermost race is not a cup, but is a cone. It is also interesting that the bearing size for the upper race is smaller than the bearing size for the lower race. The "cone" in the upper bearing is now a floating race. That is, if the threads in the fork steerer are not aligned quite right, the race self aligns to correct the problem. Although Campy uses a somewhat different method, they have accomplished the same thing that Shimano does with their headsets.'The Chorus headset is the same as the Record, it just looks a little different. The Dura-Ace and Ultegra headsets are a bit different from Campy's. Shimano has used a pair of angular sealed cartridge bearings (interchangeable) in their headsets. Although the cartridge bearings themselves don't seem to seal any better than the traditional type, there is one really cool thing about these headsets. They are designed to compensate for mis-aligned head tubes and fork races. Of course these are not really big concerns at this time as most manufacturers have gotten it together on this count, but it even works well with a bent steerer tube.'The Ultegra headset is effectively the same as the DuraAce, it just uses less expensive materials. Shimano does not offer any threadless headsets at this time. Campy's threadless headsets use the same components that their threaded headsets do except for the upper cone. In an effort to avoid Cane Creek's inverted cone centering design, Campy uses a press-in nylon spacer/wedge to center its upper cone. A bit of a pain to work with, but it is effective.

Bottom Brackets
The Chorus and Record bottom brackets are effectively the same units with some material differences.'Two bearings on the drive side and one on the left.'Traditional four sided taper spindles.'Shimano's Dura-Ace bottom bracket is lighter and stiffer than either Campy BB or the Ultegra bottom bracket, but it does have a tendency to wear out faster than almost any other on the market. The reasons for this annoying problem are seals that don’t work very well and needle bearings that begin to dig into the spindle surface during hard riding.'Most strong riders can not expect to get more than about 5,000 miles from a Dura-Ace bottom bracket.'The easy fix is to use the Ultegra bottom bracket with Dura-Ace cranks.'NOTE OF CAUTION'- If your bottom bracket threads are not perfectly aligned with each other, you will have immediate bearing problems with the Dura-Ace bottom bracket which can not be solved without replacing the bottom bracket shell. It is NOT the fault of the bottom bracket, but the bearing design requires perfect bottom bracket shells. Older designs were more forgiving of alignment problems. The Dura-Ace 10 bottom bracket is completely different from the others on the market. The oversized spindle is a permanent part of the right crank arm. The two bearings reside outboard of the BB shell like the old Magic bottom brackets did. Bearing adjustment is accomplished by tightening the left crank arm's center cap with a small supplied tool. Very simple.

Free hubs
Although Campy and Shimano use very different designs for their free hubs, they both work without glitch. The Record and Chorus free hubs are essentially the same with the exceptions of slightly better bearing seals on the Record and subtle differences in the quick releases and some of the materials. The differences between DuraAce and Ultegra are more obvious. Basic materials and finish on the DuraAce are of better quality than the Ultegra. The Dura-Ace freehubs are lighter because of lighter axle materials and a titanium freewheel body.'For practical purposes though, the most critical differences are between the Campy and Shimano freehubs. The Campy cassette bodies are wider than Shimano's. This causes the Campy free hubs to have significantly more dish than Shimano's. For a good wheel builder, this is annoying but not that big a deal. Many wheel builders do have problems though. They report constantly loosening left side spokes.'Wheelsmith and other production builders have more difficulty with wheels coming loose. Some of the problems can be traced to the use of spoke thread lubricant, but it still can be a problem. Larger riders also have an increased incidence of this type of problem.

Cassettes
Campy and Shimano both make great cassettes. They use slightly different techniques to accomplish shifts, but they work great. Campy may have a slight edge in shifting under power, but that may be a result of the rear derailleur.'I will add that the selection of cassettes available from Campy is pretty poor.'If you happen to need one of the ones they offer, great, but if you want a wide range racing cassette or a close ratio cassette ending with a 12, you are out of luck.'Keep in mind that you can continue to use your Shimano 9 speed wheels with the new 10 speed cassettes. However, you can't use nine speed cassettes on the new 10 speed hubs. If you are using a 10 speed cassette on your old hub, don't forget to use the little cassette spacer supplied with the new cassettes.

Rear Derailleurs
Here we find differences in both feel and philosophy, but not much difference in results. The differences in feel between Campy and Shimano result from the approaches that Shimano and Campy took in designing their systems. While Shimano accomplishes their rear shifts with finesse, Campy does the same thing with power. The result is the same; excellent shifting under all conditions.'Neither way is better, just different.

 

 

Front Derailleurs

The Record and Chorus front derailleurs are essentially the same except for differences in some materials used. The Dura-Ace and Ultegras both look and work a bit differently. The Ultegra, with a less complex inner cage shape, feels lighter but isn't quite as positive as the Dura-Ace. The Record and Chorus feel exactly the same as each other, work smoothly and have a light feel.  Campy has done us all the favor of making front derailleurs with three different clamp sizes while Shimano continues to offer only two clamp sizes and a braze-on style. They do of course offer the adapter clamps for oversized frames, but Campy's built on clamps do look nicer.

Cranksets
The Campys have the aesthetic edge here relative to the 9 speed Shimanos. Just beautiful. I prefer the Chorus in looks as I have been around a while and like the five spider arms to be visible. There is no apparent difference in stiffness. The two 9 speed Shimano cranks are quite a bit different.'You can't tell by looking, but the crank arms are hollow. Unlike the other fabricated aluminum arms on the market, Shimano's are cold forged.'This makes a very light, strong and stiff arm which only appears a bit bigger than "normal" arms. The 10 speed Dura-Ace crank set is very different in looks, weight, stiffness and concept. Using the design that they pioneered with the XTR crank set, they have made the bottom bracket spindle part of the right crank arm. This appears to make the interface both stiffer and lighter. The left arm attaches to the spindle with a pair of pinch bolts and a simple spline system. Both arms are forged hollow construction. The right arm especially is a visually striking design, looking very integrated and sleek. Shimano has given up on keeping any semblance to a traditional look with their new crank set. Ultimately though, the Dura-Ace 10 crank set is one of the lightest on the market and is by far the stiffest.

Control Levers
First and most obvious. Shimano accomplishes both down and up shifts with the fingers where Campy uses the thumb for half of the shifting. This difference is just that; a difference. I have used both systems and had no difficulty in adapting to either one.'The one difference that does matter for some people is that the Campy system takes somewhat more force to operate. For most people, this has no relevance. For others, notably those with weaker hands, Campy can be more of a handful.'The Records control levers are a bit lighter than the Chorus ones because the Record control levers are made from carbon fiber. They are not just black, they are finished beautifully. Because of the clear coating of the levers, you can see the fiber weave. Gorgeous. The Shimano levers have a lighter feel than the Campy ones. They are easier to use for those with less powerful hands.

The DuraAce levers have a shorter throw than the Ultegra and will shift a bit faster. The advantage to the Ultegra levers is that they are the lightest to operate of all of them. Front derailleur trim is easy with all the levers even though the Shimanos use a different system to take care of it. Another difference between Campy and Shimano's levers is that Shimano can only up shift one cog per throw. It is rare that this makes any difference, but the Campy system can go as many as 5 cogs at a throw. Down shifting on both systems is limited to three cogs per throw. Hood comfort; Somewhat different, but very comfortable for almost everyone.'Setting up the Shimano levers is a bit easier because running the cables is easier. Campy's cable system looks a bit cleaner, but is tougher to set up. The Dura-Ace 10 speed control levers shift with an even lighter feel and slightly less throw than the 9 speed levers do. For most people, the overall feel of the control lever is even more comfortable than earlier versions. The shift action of the actuating levers is no longer perfectly lateral but now follows more closely the natural swing of a rider's fingers. Nice touch.

Brake Calipers
Not too much to say here. All four are super brakes. There is simply no functional difference between the Record and Chorus brakes. The pads and carriers are actually identical parts. The only difference is the visually "missing bolt" on the Record brake. The DuraAce and Ultegra brakes are also very similar to each other. The Dura-Ace pads and pivots last somewhat longer than the Ultegra ones do, but of course they cost more too. Between Campy and Shimano, the Shimano brakes have a bit more power, kind of like power brakes, while the Campys have a somewhat smoother feel and give slightly better feedback.'Campy also uses a single pivot rear caliper to save weight and reduce the brake's power.'Sounds odd, but it is actually better to have less power in the rear. The Dura-Ace 10 calipers are lighter than the 9 speed ones and have fully articulating brake pad posts. Nice for setup, but not that big a deal.

The final word?

All great stuff. It comes down to your personal needs and preferences. None of the groups or individual components are less than excellent. They all work great and last a long time. If you take the purely technical approach, Dura-Ace will probably come out on top as it is a lighter group and costs less than the Record group. The Chorus group works identically to the Record group but costs less than either the Record or Dura-Ace groups. The companies' components feel a bit different, but taste determines which you will like better.

Non groupo component discussions:

Headsets: Chris King- The highest quality made, beautiful, longest lasting, period.'No point in mentioning any others.

Seat Posts:'In reality, all they do is keep the saddle off the top tube, and they all work pretty much as they are intended.'From a coolness perspective, the Campy Record and Bold posts are at the top of the heap. The Record's carbon shaft looks beautiful and the Bold custom drawn and welded titanium units are as exclusive as they get. The most important design consideration when looking at posts beyond the diameter is the setback. Setback is the distance behind the centerline of the post shaft to the centerline of the saddle rail clamp. Standard setback is around 2.0 to 2.5 cm. If you need setback to get your saddle far enough back, be sure not to get a "center clamp" post. Finally, keep in mind that many posts are not actually the diameter that they are supposed to be. Many posts marked 27.2mm are actually 27.05mm to 27.15mm. That may sound like nit picking, but anything under about 27.18mm will cause problems. Check your posts...

Stems: Most of the stems now on the market work fine.There have been some intermittent problems with a couple of the lighter ones that I don’t want to get into here for a number of reasons. During the ordering process, I will be sure to prevent you from ordering a stem that we do not trust. There is no particular reason to use stems and bars from the same manufacturer.'For example, using an ITM Millennium stem with a TTT Prima 199 bar is fine. The lightest stem is the ITM "The Stem." It is magnesium and very well engineered.

Handlebars: There are a huge variety of bars on the market. Weight should NOT be your first concern. Fit is much more important. The three critical dimensions that vary between bars are width, reach and drop. Because bar reach and drop differ so much from bar to bar, they effect the fit of the bike correspondingly. The choice of a handlebar must be made during the fitting process.' The wrong bar can ruin the fit and feel of an otherwise properly designed frame.

Saddles:'REMEMBER THIS: "Shape is everything and texture is nothing." If you seem to need a very cushy saddle to be comfortable, then you are on the wrong saddle. The biggest annoyance in choosing a saddle is that you can’t tell if a saddle fits properly without riding on it for a while. An expensive proposition. For those who have found a saddle that works for you ... "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it." If you have not found a saddle that works, we may be able to make a few suggestions during the fitting process. There is a reason that there are so many saddles on the market... there are so many different pelvic shapes out there.

Rims/Wheels: This is a very complicated category to discuss. There is a huge number of rims and pre built wheels on the market so I will limit myself to discussing the most common parts on the market. Rims: Tubular; at this point, for practical purposes, you are limited to the Mavic Reflex tubular rim.'In fact, an excellent rim, semi box shape, very strong and comfortable. Clincher; for general purpose training, racing and light touring, the Mavic Open Pro is not only the most common, but also the best rim on the market. For loaded touring, tandems and for heavier and taller riders, you may want to consider the Mavic 519. Wheels: Mavic; Classics SSC- very strong, very comfortable, very black. Ksyrium- Super strong, fairly light, semi aero, very cool looking. Campagnolo; Proton- value priced but still fairly light and very comfortable, box shaped rim. Neutron- lighter, higher level hubs and more expensive, functionally almost identical to the Proton. Hyperion- tubular only, carbon rim and hub bodies, extremely cool and rare, very expensive and light.'Shimano; Dura-Ace clincher- the best cross-wind wheel ever made by far, quite aero, moderate weight, very strong. Dura-Ace tubular- carbon rim and lighter, otherwise the same characteristics as the clincher version.'R-535- The same rim and spokes as the Dura-Ace with less expensive hubs, much less expensive and they work the same. Zipp; 303 tubular- Super light. These are my use-anywhere wheels. Very reliable and aero but not as comfortable as a box section rimed wheel would be. 404 clincher- deeper section than the 303 but quite light and very strong. Not very good in cross winds but ideal time trial wheels on calm days. Reynolds Cirro KOM. This is my road racing wheel set. Right at one kilo a pair. Very expensive but also an excellent wheel set. Low profile carbon rim. White industry hubs. Well built and quite strong. There are lots of other wheels out there but I have to quit somewhere. The above list covers the vast majority of wheel and rim choices that make sense.

Tires: First, Tubular v. Clincher. Good tubulars are better than the best clinchers, but unless you already use tubulars or are willing to go through a pretty steep learning curve in tubular use and lore, you should probably stick with clinchers. I use only tubulars because I always have and they are still better tires than clinchers, but keep in mind that I have been using them for over 25 years. We offer the best clincher tires on the market. They each have their own strengths. The highest performance competition clinchers are the Vittoria Open CXs. Tough enough for racing, but too pricy for day to day use. The best general purpose competition clinchers are still the Michelin Pro Race. Comfortable, excellent handling (by clincher standards), and fairly tough with a mediocre wear rate. The best general purpose high end clinchers are the Vredestein Tri-Comps and Fortezza. They wear well, are very comfortable and their handling is among the best. For slightly better durability but less comfort the old Conti Grand Prix is still the best. The Conti Attack/Force combination is an excellent racing choice. They wear pretty well, handle and feel more comfortable than most past Contis. The fastest clincher out there is the Conti Supersonic but we don't recommend it because it will be toast in a couple hundred miles.

Pedals: It is helpful to divide pedals into three categories; Floating, fixed and walkable. The floating road pedals include pedals like the Speedplays, Times, Be-Bops, etc. The fixed pedals include Look, Campagnolo, Keywin, Shimano, etc. and the walkable pedals include all the off-road types. I call the fixed pedals by that name because they are all self centering to various degrees and therefore, their floating features have little orthopedic value. The one exception I can think of is the Keywin, which I will get into. Your choice of pedal usually comes down to what you are most comfortable with unless there is an orthopedic requirement that forces you to use floating pedals. Floating: Some riders simply can not find a cleat position which allows them to ride without knee pain. Frequently a floating pedal solves this problem since, in many cases their pelvic and leg structures require different foot rotations during different parts of the pedal stroke. These riders need floating pedals. Speedplays have a couple of features that are helpful to many riders.'They are the lightest on the market, offer the best cornering clearance, smallest ball-of-foot to spindle measurement, are bombproof simple and are the easiest pedals anywhere to get into and out of. Fixed: Most of the fixed pedals work pretty much the same.'The lightest fixed pedal is the Keywin. In it's as-delivered condition, it is a fixed pedal, but with a minute's work, it can become a floating type. They are well made, mechanically simple and very tough.'Walkable: Shimano owns most of the walkable pedal market. They work well and they are pretty much ubiquitous. For walkable road riding, they are as good a choice as any. If you want a full floating walkable pedal, your pedal is the Speedplay "Frog." Just as full floating as the "X"series pedals but with a walkable recessed cleat.

A More In-Depth Rim Discussion

I have gotten a number of requests from customers and friends who wanted to hear my ideas about some of the new rims and wheels currently available. So I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts on the current state of affairs concerning rims. I'll try to avoid any discussion of clincher v. tubular rims issues at this point as that will just confuse the issues.

Most of the real differences between rims (other than clincher/tubular differences) center around rim profile or height. The higher profile rims are generally more aerodynamic than the lower profile rims as long as the air they encounter is "clean." They are also heavier and considerably less vertically compliant. The relative value of all these rims needs to be weighed against their drawbacks when choosing rims or wheels. There are good times to use almost any rim, but there are also bad times for using those same rims.

First we can look at rim qualities or characteristics and then try to associate those qualities with their best uses.
* Rims can be more or less aerodynamic depending mostly on profile (height) and to a lesser degree, shape. To keep things simple we will only discuss profile. At one extreme of height there are the traditional box section rims like a Reflex or an MA-40 or even the old Mavic six-day rims, and at the other end you will find something like a ZIPP 440 or a HED Deep. Let's leave discs out of this for now.
* Because rim strength is determined by the qualities of the material used and the extrusion design, the rim profile has a great deal to do with rim weight and somewhat less to do with rim strength. A deeper rim profile requires more material in areas of the rim which lend relatively little to overall rim strength. Of course any additional rim material will increase rim strength to some extent, but the further away from the tire that extra material is placed, the less it contributes to overall strength. A rim's impact resistance (pot hole resistance) is not related to profile but is closely related to material strength and to the design of the extrusion at the outer edge of the rim. e.g. the rim bead on a clincher or the outer edge of a tubular rim.
* The ride qualities of a rim itself are determined by the profile and thickness of the vertical areas of the extrusion. The more rim material there is in the side wall areas of a rim, the less vertically compliant the rim will be. This is one of the major reasons that clincher wheels are less comfortable than tubular wheels, they have taller side walls.

OK. So where does that leave us in choosing our next pair of rims? Well, that depends on how you will be using the wheels. First, you need to decide how important each of the performance areas of the rims are to you ... Aerodynamics, weight, strength and ride quality.
* Aerodynamics; this should be important to you if you race without a pack at times (time trial or off the front) or if you just want to look cool. Aero wheels are of essentially no additional value in a field. There the air is "dirty" and sitting in is no more difficult with box section rims. Of course more aerodynamic wheels offer no advantage during slower riding either. For example; during climbing, aero wheels give the rider no advantage. Strong cross winds will also eliminate any aerodynamic advantage you may get from deep section rims (with the exception of Shimano wheels).
* High rim weight is always a minus but the degree to which is should be a concern again depends on circumstances. If you ride or compete under flat conditions with almost no cornering, extra weight will not harm you. On the other hand, if you climb a bunch or do a lot of crit. riding where you are constantly jumping out of corners, excess rim weight gets to be a problem.
* Many people like myself find that we don't really need very strong rims as we are pretty light and just aren't very hard on our equipment. However, there are those of you out there (and you know who you are!) who do need extra strong wheels. Your riding conditions will help determine how strong a rim you need also. Those living in New York City do have more problems with road surfaces than residents of San Diego (I think).
* Because ride quality is so variable between rims, and is so often ignored, I tend to get preachy about it. It is an issue for both comfort and handling control. Vertically compliant rims will make the miles more pleasurable and less tiring. They will also allow you to corner considerably faster. Very rigid rims tend to prevent tires from sticking to the pavement as well in bumpy corners. Keep that in mind in your next crit.

So, what should you get? For most riding, deep section rims are not worth any extra money and indeed they can be a real disadvantage. Take a look at what the real riders are riding and note where they are riding them. For example: All the pros ride aero wheels in the time trials and in most road races. Check them out on major climbs though and you will find them riding wheels like the Mavic Helium. Light, light, light. Over the last year or so, even the crit riders are figuring it out. You are seeing fewer deep section rims and more of the "mid" section rims like the Ksyrium and Zipp-330. These mid section rims have the advantage of being fairly aero while also being quite light. They are still somewhat harsher than the box section rims, but not too bad for a compromise.

Below, find a partial list of the types of rims arranged by type:
Box section: Reflex tubular, Ma-40, Campy Proton, Campy Hyperion, Fir EA-50, Fir Isidis, etc.
Mid section: Mavic Open Pro, , CXP-33, Fir Mizar, Mavic Mach-II, Sun M17, Zipp-330, Mavic Ksyrium, etc.
Deep section: CXP-30, Zipp-530/440, HED-Deep, Campy-Shamal/Bora, etc.