Tom:
Of course the current Campy stuff is no better than Shimano's bits - it's all the same designer-labeled, marketing-driven crap! (Sorry, couldn't resist that).
You've hit on the core nucleus of the Record / Nuovo/Super Record "mystique" - once the old man died (actually a little before), Valentino chose to go down-market and compete directly with Shimano - something Tullio never would have done (and didn't, thank goodness)! (I'm not implying that Campy would or would not have survived without that change in strategy - so no flaming e-mails please, folks).
Chant it with me: It's just like Ferrari, it's just like Ferrari, it's just like Ferrari....
Try rebuilding a Shimano rear derailleur!
Cheers,
Greg Parker A2 MI USA
In a message dated 7/3/02 3:25:07 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Tom D. wrote:
> At first when I read this I thought you were suggesting that Shimano was
> much quicker to change actual product designs than Campy, but I now see
> that you have not said this. I'm glad because I consider that one of those
> things that was once true but no longer is, yet has hung around as an
> enduring Campy myth, along with:
>
> Campy's more durable
>
> better standard of finish
>
> better bearing quality
>
> better spare parts supply
>
> easier to service / more servicable
>
>
> "if you buy a centaur equipped bike, you get a record chain."
>
> Errr, or maybe it is a Centaur Chain that comes with the Record group...
> Boy, that sounds like less of a bargain.
>
>
>
> Tom Dalton
>
> Bethlehem, PA