Campag lay offs.

[georges1]

It’s a shame, but on my real bikes (not the retro show ponies) I want reliable kit that works and sadly Campagnolo stuff commands a premium but doesn’t offer performance to match.

Campy was always way overpriced and kinda finnicky. That is why except one bike that is equipped with CRecord that I am going to restore and sell to a neighbor, all of my other bikes have Dura Ace 7800 and all the other future bike projects will get it too.

 

[vtwinvince]

The most reliable groupset I've ever used is 2005 Campy 10 speed Chorus carbon, I've put thousands of miles on this stuff, and it just keeps working like a Swiss clock.

 

[hamster]

Campy was always way overpriced and kinda finnicky.

I can't say that's my experience with pre-2001 9 speed, it simply never needs adjusting, due to the cable pull being so much bigger than Shimano 9. But we may be talking at cross purposes.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Campagnolo ruled the roost for postwar racing bike componentry into the 1980s.
Many of their top components were eye-wateringly expensive.

I remember one old fella telling me his record derailleur cost over a weeks wages

The transition of expectations of performance, materials, aesthetics, compatibility has changed over the following decades.

Almost all of their aficionados, from racers to leisure riders to collectors, reach a point in this timeline where they stop buying.

I don't personally have any campagnolo of the 21st century, but on the right bike it still has its place -

But that place is still shrinking even now

 

[sjcprojects]

 

[petgel]

for me you can’t get better than record 10 speed. Easy to set up, never needs adjusting, great brakes, light perfect shifting even under load and looks beautiful.

Every bike I have is Campagnolo equipped but then I started in the late 70s when every de ent bike had it. It’s stuck with me.

That early record and super record stuff can come apart completely and be polished up to like new.

For me Campagnolo’s real skill is in drop forged aluminium. It was (is) just beautiful stuff that has never been bettered.

 

[Rapparee87]

My two best bikes are both late 90s Record, with a few early noughties bits as well. I'll never want for more. I have the perfect, for me, set up.

I bought a Carrera from Halfords a few years back, for winter and wet roads. Has Shimano's bottom group, Claris, on it. It really is excellent I have to say. It rarely gets a clean, and shifting is crisp and instant. If I changed out the blocks for a higher grade then the brakes would be top class too, at the moment they are just very good indeed.

Shimano, being in the far east, where most of these bikes are assembled were in at the ground floor, and it's a market Campag will never get into at this stage.

So they are toast.