Gone Italian: The Sequel

Time for a belated update on my Campagnolo 11 speed gruppo, a mash-up of various Campy bits, purchased and fitted onto my Colnago CX-1 back in August 2010.

The mix consisted of the following:

• Super Record Ultra-Torque Compact Chainset
• Record Ergopower shifters, front and rear derailleurs, and chain;
• Chorus skeleton brakes and cassette.

After around 2500 km of use, here are my thoughts.

Record Ergopower Brifters

Coming from Shimano DA 7800, the shape of the Record brifters was different, but I have found them to be more comfortable and 'fitted' than 7800 overall. Whilst you 'lose' a position (you can't really grasp the Records palm down on top of the hoods) I found it of little relevance, as I ride them 'pistol grip style' for virtually the entire time I'm on the hoods, including a number of plus 4 hour rides. Never experienced any discomfort whatsoever, which is great. My hand size is fairly average for a 185cm guy, so I'm confident the shape would fit a wide range of riders mitts. The comfort comes down in part to the 'whale skin' rubber pattern on the hoods: it's compliant yet grippy, and a delight to use. The overall shape is also pleasing: moulds right to the palm and thumb close and tight with no gaps. The inwards tilt of the hood 'horn' assists here. The shape is also not too wide, with my thumb not having to stretch around the hood too far.

The overall size of the brifters is also ideal. Less bulky than the 7800s, they are svelte and compact and very functional. The levers are quite short, but ideally placed for me for either on-hood or in-drops actuation of brakes and gears. The sharpish recurve of the lever makes for excellent application of retardation forces and subtle modulation: 1st class.

The upshift lever is well placed and suitably sized – no missed changes here after an initial familiarisation period. The only point less than perfect here is that upshift stroke length appears to change based on which gear you're currently in. At the smaller end of the block, single upshift sweeps seem to require less arc of travel than those from higher in the block. I occasionally find myself fluffing a change from the 19 sprocket upwards (this on a 12-25 cassette with a ...19,21,23,25 end). Not sure if this is an adjustment issue, or just me being slack! Multiple upshifts in one sweep (to a max of 3 that I've used) don't seem to have the issue.

The downshift button is also fine, more so after the initial stiffness of 'brand new' is taken off via use. This was one area I was potentially concerned about – the button position looks a bit odd to me, but use has shown that's just a function of never having used Campy before. It falls readily to thumb in both hoods and drops, the drop actuation position not doubt being aided in my case by my short drop-length bars. No probs with adjustment whatsoever from DA – I accommodated to the different actuation methodology very quickly, and haven't had any issues reverting to the Shimano shift pattern when under duress! Love the multiple sweep changes here – I frequently use it on declines to go straight to a long gear.





Chorus Skeleton Brakes

I went for Chorus here because of the alloy finish, which look more pleasing to me on my bike. Given I haven't used Record or higher, I can't comment re: that comparison, but having come from DA 7800, I can say that the Chorus setup is just fine thanks. As good as the DA 7800 for feel and modulation, and ultimate stopping power. Does the job great, and I'm confident with them whatever the scenario.



Super Record Ultra-Torque Compact Chainset

Mainly went for these for the CULT bearings and the Cronitect bearing surfaces, which require minimum maintenance and no grease (just oil please!). So far, as smooth as butter, quiet as a mouse and no obvious flex. And they do look nice to me. The special anodization treatment on the chainset rings and teeth surface (nice in its matte black look) seems exceptionally durable, and chain noise is minimal, with extremely smooth changes between the 50-34 sets on the compact setup.

I went compact to get a more central chain run in my commonly used everyday gears, and that has worked well. I also liked the idea of a 34-25 combo as a bail-out gear: the 25 is like a 'free' gear on the 11 speed setup.



Record Front and Rear Derailleurs

Lovely look in black carbon and alloy, and equally lovely in operation.

Definitely more audible shift-wise than DA 7800, but I for one love the positive engagement 'clunk' and feel. I never have any doubt about a change being made. To me, a big improvement on 7800 – the whole setup makes the bike feel sharper and more alive. In addition, the chain tension seems tighter from the RD – there is far less chain slap in general riding than I recall from 7800 over bumpy or broken road sections.



Record Chain and Chorus Cassette

Not being a weight weenie, I'd probably stick with all Chorus here in future, just for the price differentials. Chain and cassette wear is non-existent at this stage, with the ultra thin chain seemingly strong as. A daily lube plus once-a-week full clean helps no doubt, but I'm gonna do that no matter what I'm running, so it's all good.

Overall Assessment

In a word: wrapped!

The setup is such a pleasure to use, with excellent braking and changing, great ergo, and positive and strong feel (I love the engagement vibe and sound!).

In combination with the Colnago CX-1 frame and Eurus wheels, the move to Campy 11 speed has given me a bike which I enjoy riding every second, and when I dismount after a ride, I'm thinking about the next one. The gruppo has really added to the character and flavour of my ride and it's been a pleasure to own and operate.

A great choice, and a hands down winner for me.



Ride Safe!

Goin' Italian...

So, I've always been a Shimano groupset man, but with the Colnago CX-1 now a fixture in my riding, and the old Dura Ace 7800 advancing in age...

Time for a switch! So, splashed out on a Campagnolo 11 speed gruppo recently (imported from Ireland thanks to the good sirs at Slane Cycles, from whom I'd also picked up my CX-1 frame) and after paying a little duty, it has arrived!

I decided to go with a mixed gruppo as follows:

• Super Record Ultra-Torque Compact Chainset: mainly interested in the CULT bearings and the Cronitect bearing surfaces - no grease required! (a little oil may be used);
• Record Ergopower shifters, front and rear derailleurs, and chain;
• Chorus skeleton brakes (wanted the alloy colour) and cassette.

It will soon be fitted, and I'll be off on my first Campy-powered ride! Looking forward to it, and the learning curve that will follow. It'll be interesting to see what happens the first time I shift gears under pressure - will I revert back to the ingrained Shimano techniques, or adapt naturally to Campy? Time will tell.

Well, if I'm a bit slower whilst my brain rewires itself I can always spend the time looking at my Garmin Edge 500.



Went for the 'neutral' colour (black and silver) as the pic above shows - looking forward to getting it on the bike and spending many hours playing with its setup, and the data it gathers.

Ride Safe!

Le Tour 2010 - Au Revoir Le Tour, Now What The Heck Do I Do? : Stages 19 and 20

Watching the peloton circulate up and down the Champs-Élysées on Stage 20 of Le Tour, it was the old familiar feeling which gripped me: what am I gonna do now! It's hard to let go of the anticipation and thrills one gets each night when you know the Tour is on and another stage is up and running. It's a real downshift when it's done and dusted for another year.

Firstly, to a thrilling and tense Stage 19, the long 52 km ITT from Bordeaux to Pauillac. On a dead flat, generally non-technical course, it was anticipated that Alberto Contador would extend his 8 second lead over Andy Schleck to something pushing 1 and a half to 2 minutes. Seemed perfectly reasonable to me, given the past history of Schleck re: ITTs, plus his rather lackluster Prologue performance where he lost 69 seconds to Alberto, and that in only 8.9 kms. True, that was over a more technical course and with water on the roads, but still...

What transpired was anything but that, with Schleck dishing it out in spades to Contador, slowly eating into his meager 8 second lead, and at one stage appearing to actually take the virtual maillot jaune briefly after around 20 km into the stage. For a long time it was very close, with Andy appearing to be riding much more smoothly on the bike, whilst Alberto was continually having to pull himself back on his seat, being forced to ride sur le rivet to keep a hold on Schleck's times.  Over the last 12 kms, Contador slowly began to eke out some time as Andy tired, but it was slow going, and Alberto was suffering whilst Andy remained stoic in face and body.

To his credit, Alberto pushed on in the last 6 km and it was only here where he made notable inroads over a slowing Schleck, eventually crossing the line 39 seconds ahead of Andy, and 35th back overall. (Make of that time differential what you will - as many have pointed out, that was the total time Alberto turned around on Andy when the Luxembourger had the chain loss on the Port de Balès: personally I think there were other time issues of more 'concern': including the neutralization of Stage 2 where Andy stood to lose significant time, and his poor performance in the prologue).

The relative slower performances of the latter third of the field was a generalised one amongst them: the wind came up and turned into a significant cross wind/headwind, so Alberto's 35th place didn't mean much in the scheme of things. The changing conditions certainly benefited the earlier riders, time trial world champion Fabian Cancellara amongst them. He ran in some 17 seconds ahead of second placed man Tony Martin (another nice ride), and 1 min 48 sec ahead of Bert Grabsch in 3rd. A great win, but it would have been interesting if he'd gone late in the day with the changed conditions maybe? Well, maybe not either - he looked very strong.

In a superb performance, Denis Menchov of Rabobank started 4th to last and rode the wheels of his bike in the changed conditions to run over the top of Samuel Sánchez and grab his 3rd spot off him by a decent margin: the 'Silent Assassin' had made podium! (I was particularly pleased as I'd picked Denis to go 3rd in this Tour).

And so, onto the final Stage 20: the jaunt from Longjumeau to Paris of 102.5km, the first 49 of which are, by tradition, a chance for the riders to loosen up, flit about and gasbag with each other, and generally ham it up for cameras. Alberto and his Astana team mates quaffed the usual celebratory champers, others played silly buggers, and Team Radio Shack put in motion what turned out to be a rather shabby and ill-advised stunt regarding changing jerseys after signing in in their usual garb (the message of jerseys numbered 28 for the 28-odd million cancer sufferers world-wide was admirable but the execution was not. I would've been more impressed if the jerseys weren't readily identifiable with the Radio Shack logo - I guess sponsors and the Livestrong cause are insatiable PR demons).

Arriving at the Place de la Concorde, Team Astana lead the peloton over the finish line for the first time, and then it was pretty much every rider for himself up the Champs-Élysées. As per usual, a breakaway soon formed, peaking out at around 11 riders and 30 seconds advantage with 4 laps remaining, but it was slowly wound in by the teams of the sprinters, although team Lampre-Farnese Vini, protecting their maillot vert man Alessandro Petacchi, were more than happy to site back until late in the stage, wanting to let the breakaway suck up all the intermediate sprint points on offer, as the points race would come down to placings on the line between the top 3 contenders Petacchi, Cavendish and Hushovd.

HTC-Columbia did most of the work and swallowed up the breakaway just before arriving at the Place de la Concorde on the last sweep heading for the tunnel. Arriving at the flamme rouge, it was the now traditional lead-out chaos, with teams scattered about the place and the main sprinters basically with each other in a group at the head of the race.  Arriving on the Champs-Élysées, Thor Hushovd was getting a tow from team mate Brett Lancaster, and he was first to launch, but he was quickly swamped by Mark Cavendish on his right, and Petacchi on his left, and it was game over for the God of Thunder and his green jersey aspirations.

It was game over for all those interested in the stage win too, as Cavendish blasted away and won cruising. Petacchi stayed strong for 2nd ahead of Julian Dean, and by virtue of this earned himself the maillot vert.

Contador rolled in with the pack for Tour win number 3, with Andy Schleck in close attendance cementing 2nd, and Denis Menchov soon thereafter confirming his 3rd.

So, final results:

• Alberto Contador the winner of Le Tour 2010 in 91:58:48;

• Andy Schleck, 2nd in GC and the winner of the white jersey at 39 sec back;

•  Denis Menchov, 3rd in GC at 2:01;

• Petacchi winning the points classification over Cavendish and Hushovd;

• Anthony Charteau picking up the mountains classification; and

•  Radioshack winning the teams classification by 9:15 over Caisse d'Epargne and Rabobank.

For me, a tour I thought was excellent: wearing and tough, with a bit of controversy, some douche-baggery and preciousness, interesting stages (hope they keep the cobbles!), and a nice historical bent to it. Roll on the Vuelta and the World Champs in Geelong. And please hurry up Le Tour 2011!

Ride Safe!