touring bike mechs - campagnolo or shimano?

foz

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I hope to get round to building my Dave Yates tourer again for next year, and have been collecting parts for a while. Last time it was built (in 2003!), it had a mix of parts - sugino cranks, shimano gear levers, campag mirage 8 speed long cage / triple front mechs... this time I have almost a full shimano Deore DX 7 speed groupset in NOS (or nearly) condition, with both bar end and DT shifters. There aren't many groupsets as easy to set up, maintain, and robust as a decent shimano 7 speed group, and I'm more or less decided to go that way.

That said, those same campag mirage 8 speed triple road mechs of seen thousands of miles around europe, australia, new zealand... and they're still in very good condition with no play and lots of life left in the jockey wheels.

So what would your preference be? brand new shimano DX 7 speed, or well used but solid campag?
 
Re:

Are you running in friction mode or clickity-index style. If the latter, then it has to be shimano to work with your levers
 
Both your Shimano bar-end and down tube shifters will run 8spd index too, better than thumbies, as the cable pull is near perfect
 
Re:

I know, but I have some DX hubs in 36h, and those are 7 speed. Could change the freehub body but that means extra dish and a slightly weaker wheel. Plus, 7 speeds are more than enough with a triple at the front.
 
Personally I'd go with Shimano. I've got Campag on my two road bikes but run Shimano 7 on the tourer. If a Shimano mech gets damaged for whatever reason when touring you will always be able to find a compatible spare.
I'd definitely go with Shimano hubs - the rear design is far superior to Campag's for toughness.
 
I don't think I'll be going anywhere too out of the ordinary for quite a few years yet, so spares availability isn't too much of a problem. At least all the 7 and 8 speed stuff will work together (in friction at least), no matter who made it. Not like the modern stuff :facepalm:

Shimano hubs are definite, no decision to make there! I guess the mirage will be up for sale shortly, when I get them cleaned (there's probably still some outback dust on them if I look carefully enough :LOL: )
 
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