Campy Record & Victory vs Shimano Dura-Ace & 600, circa 1985

[Campy Rider]

I have a few frames I'd like to build up over the winter, a Cilo and a Corbetta. I was thinking of going with Campy Record or Victory for the builds, but I have another Cilo with Shimano 600 which I also really like. So I was wondering which groupset was more common to see on mid-high end road bikes in the mid 80's. The price is about the same between Campagnolo and Shimano so I can go either way.

 

[jim haseltine]

From what I recall, despite sponsorship of a number of pro teams it wasn't until the late 80s that Shimano became popular outside of the more utility or low end part of the market, so I'd go for Record - although a Shimano equipped bike would be unusual.

 

[pigman]

Italian bikes tended to have campag, Spanish had Zeus and it was those with Japanese influence (Nishiki, Koga etc) that tended to have Shimano.

 

[4th in the devil]

Back in the 80's it was fairly unusual for club riders to have a full groupsets. If a part wore out/broke or you fancied an upgrade you were at the mercy of the bike shops in your town. As all parts were interchangeable it was easy to have say a Campagnolo rear mech with a Zeus chain-set, Shimano levers and Dia-Compe brakes. That's what I had on my Holdsworth Professional when I first built it up. You could order stuff of course and if you had loads of money you could buy a complete bike but the separate purchase of frame and bits was more common. Shimano changed that with SiS gears in the mid-late 80s.

 

[Campy Rider]

Thanks for the replies and info. I got a good deal on a set of 6 speed campy wheels so those will go on the Corbetta along with a Vitcory groupset. The Cilo after a repaint will get either 600 or similar or a mix since I probably have enough stuff laying around to build something up