I came a bit later to the party than many listmembers. When I started riding at 30 years old, in 1980, Campagnolo was seen as THE parts group to have--weight, snob factor, ridden by the pros, all those things. But, I couldn't afford it. In 1982, I bought a set of Campagnolo hubbed tubular wheels. That was a major upgrade for me, both in terms of funds commitment and mental awareness that it just didn't get much better than that. In 1984, convinced that my riding performance was limited somehow by not having Campagnolo, I bit the bullet and bought a complete Campagnolo Super Record bike, thinking that I only had the motor to blame if I still couldn't keep up with the riders I encountered on the roads around Northern Virginia. Mentally, I felt like I was on top of the world bikewise. And, you know what Yogi said, 90% is mental and the other half is physical. So, I thought that I couldn't improve from equipment perspective. Then, I moved to New Mexico, where a 42 inch chainring wasn't going to easily get me up those climbs we had around where I lived. So, I switched to a Shimano 53/39 crankset. Having done that and seeing that the then current Shimano equipment was equal to Campagnolo in weight, I eventually switched to indexed shifting as well. I kept everything else Campagnolo. In the early 90s, I started seriously buying used bikes, many with complete Campagnolo groups. By that time, I could afford the used Campagnolo Record parts and that became my standard. But, I rode Shimano, Suntour (which I always really liked), and just about everything else that was made between 1978-1990. Today, I've got most Campagnolo on my bikes, but not exclusively. Two of my nicest bikes have Shimano on them. My choices early were driven by funding. Today, my choices are driven by what I want on my bikes and I find that usually to be Campagnolo. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL