Does Campy Veloce suck?

ackfugue said:

I'm now at the conclusion: I should have just kept the Shimano 105 and
installed it on this bike and dumped the Veloce.

You are correct, you have sullied a magnificient frame with this
excremental gruppo. To restore her honor, immediately strip the
components from the frame and replace them with something made by a
fishing-reel company. Then send said components to me, with $20 to
cover my disposal fee.

ackfugue wrote:
<snip rant>
there's nothing wrong with veloce. but there is however /frequently/
something wrong with a bike shop's ability to adjust everything
correctly. if you taught yourself to do that stuff, you'd:

1. have a great running bike.
2. never be dependent on idiots again.

badly adjusted 105 sucks just as hard as badly adjusted campy. perhaps
more so because it's less tolerant. don't blame the gruppo for a human
error.

ackfugue said:

I just recently bought a Cannondale R900 04 model that the local bike
shop had discounted to get rid of. Since I bought this bike, I can
see why it was hanging up for so long. They had another one there, too,
just a different color.
I just hope they take this bike back, since they have a 30 day return
policy for store credit. How can you know good a bike feels until you
actually ride it about a hundred miles. I recently sold off a Klein
"Stage Comp" after I bought this bike. While I was riding the new
Cannondale today, I kept mumbling "Damn, I wish I kept that Klein."
Even though the Klein was a 99 model bike, and was a hard ride, I would
take it over this new bike anyday. Then I realized it's not the bike
itself, but the components that came with it. I should have recognized
the hints the sales people were giving me. At least two of them said
"So, you like the campy?" I had never had a bike with campy gear, so I
just shrugged. I think they were trying to give me hints to stay away
from the Campy Veloce. I have had nothing but problems with this bike
since day one. I'm not sure if this things was wired the wrong way,
but the front deraileur shift is the complete opposite of the back gear
deraileur. It wasn't like this with the old school Shimano 105 that
came with the Klein. It has a thumb lever to change gears. On the
left, you use the thumb shift to a lower chain ring. On the right, you
use the thumb lever to shift up. WTF???? Is this some kind of joke?
When I am suffering from heat and sweat, I am too damned disoriented to
recognize the difference, so then I shift down when I want to shift up,
and vice versa, when I need to change rings. This gets really annoying
when I am on the approach of a hill at high speed.

Whatever are you whining about? The finger lever shoves the chain onto a larger
cog or chainring and the thumb lever releases it to go to a smaller one. You
might say that downtube shifters are wired backward too, for just the same
reason pushing the one forward makes it harder to pedal and pushing the other
forward makes it easier. Or the same for STI the big lever on one side makes it
easy to pedal and the big lever on the other side makes it harder.

This isn't rocket science. This system is extremely smooth and reliable for
anyone with the least patience to learn it.

Quoted message said:

Also, when I use the thumb tab to shift, sometimes it won't shift, and
no, it's not a wimpy, half-assed shift on my part. I press it again,
and then we get a shift. Also, when I am on hills, it likes to jump
into higher gear, which just kills me and has be screaming at my bike.
So, I talked to the bike shop, and they told me to just adjust the
tension bolt on the back deraileur. Well, I spent all night fiddling
with the thing. I thought I had something, but then I rode today and it
did the usual, but even worse.

There seem to be some serious adjustment problems, and the phrase "all night
fiddling with the thing" is not making me feel you did anything useful. Modern
10 speed gearing is necessarily fussy, with the Campy stuff being notably easier
to adjust and get right than the Shimano.

Quoted message said:

I'm now at the conclusion: I should have just kept the Shimano 105 and
installed it on this bike and dumped the Veloce.

Here's my conclusion: You are not mechanically ept and you need to get your bike
adjusted. Get a mechanic that can do this for you, whether or not he works at
the shop that sold you the bike. The upshift under load is clearly an
installation or adjustment problem, nothing more or else. This is not a problem
with the Campy parts.

You got rid of a Klein which is naturally going to amplify any buyer's remorse
you might be suffering.

You need to learn how and why the gears do what they do. I cannot imagine that
anyone who has ever mastered any other derailleur shifting system has a problem
with the Campy. I strongly suspect you are very new to this whole derailleur
concept and are merely frustrated.

Go ride. Relax and stop pushing yourself and get comfortable and familiar with
what you are doing. This is an inanimate object and therefore must, eventually,
respond to reason. It will not respond to emotional outbursts or flailing.

Have fun with this, it isn't that hard.
Ron

ackfugue says...

Quoted message said:

I'm now at the conclusion: I should have just kept the Shimano 105 and
installed it on this bike and dumped the Veloce.

Your post sounds rather trollish to me, but to answer your question, no,
Veloce doesn't suck and your post is rather silly, to put it nicely.
Maybe my memory isn't complete, but I don't recall owning a bike where
the front and rear shifting wasn't opposite. It is on my 2006 Ultegra
and on my 2006 Sram. I believe the logic as explained to me was that if
the same hand motion is used on the front and back, you get a gear
closer to the one you shifted from. My Ultegra shifter and Dura-Ace
rear derailleur is sometimes reluctant to upshift. Does that mean that
Ultegra and Dura-Ace suck? No, it just means that I need a minor cable
adjustment, which is almost certainly your problem too. It sounds like
you don't know how to do that adjustment. That's OK, either learn how
to do it, or have somebody else do it.

After my main bike was stolen two weeks ago, I test rode every road bike
the largest shop in my state had that was anywhere near my size. Your
post is ironic because my favorite of the lot was the R900 with Veloce.
The Campy hoods just feel better in my hands and the Cannondale frame is
stiff and responsive. Unfortunately, it is also a racey bike with big
gears and a harsh ride, so I went with the Giant OCRc1 instead. This
bike leaves nothing to be desired for my type of riding, unless one
prefers Campy shifters. That may be next year's bike money...

ackfugue said:

Also, when I use the thumb tab to shift, sometimes it won't shift, and
no, it's not a wimpy, half-assed shift on my part. I press it again,
and then we get a shift. Also, when I am on hills, it likes to jump
into higher gear, which just kills me and has be screaming at my bike.
So, I talked to the bike shop, and they told me to just adjust the
tension bolt on the back deraileur. Well, I spent all night fiddling
with the thing. I thought I had something, but then I rode today and it
did the usual, but even worse.

The shop told you... no "first free tuneup" or, better yet, some kind
of warranty on their setup adjustments? Not good. Maybe you're on your
own?

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=64

http://www.campagnolo.com/pdf/141_Cambio_9Speed.pdf

--D-y

Two things:

1. Crappy initial setup and dealer support (especially as cable housings
tend to set a wee bit and will need a bit of tweaking after several
hours - and this goes for Shimano as well)

2. Learning curve:

a. With Shimano, if you just happen to have part of your hand in contact
with one lever and try to move the other one, it won't move. With
Campy, if part of your hand is in contact with the finger lever, the
thumb button won't move. In other words, not difference!

b. Campy is said to have a break-in period, whereas Shimano is initially
pretty smooth - work through it!

c. The thumb button is your friend! Let's see now... I have have
compact chanin rings. When one goes from the big ring to the small, it
is necessary to drop several cogs (with a straight block, 5-6) at once.
Jam down your thumb, and you're there in half a second. Shimano
requires 5-6 separate strokes. When you're riding with your hands on
the bars above the hoods, you can still reach the thumb buttons.
FURTHERMORE, you can also have the finger lever up against the drop and
work that lever as wel (since it's movement is independant of the break
lever). When you're appoaching a hill and riding with your hands near
the stem, you can still reach that thumb button with your last finger to
either drop to the small chain ring or, as the hill flattens, start
upshifting to smaller cogs.

The feel of the two products is completely different! Try to find
_someone_ who can either adjust the indexing properly or find the kink
in the cable that is causing the shifting problems (it may even have a
broken wire in the inner), THEN see if the advantages make the learning
curve worth it.

ackfugue said:

I just recently bought a Cannondale R900 04 model that the local bike
shop had discounted to get rid of. Since I bought this bike, I can
see why it was hanging up for so long. They had another one there, too,
just a different color.
I just hope they take this bike back, since they have a 30 day return
policy for store credit. How can you know good a bike feels until you
actually ride it about a hundred miles. I recently sold off a Klein
"Stage Comp" after I bought this bike. While I was riding the new
Cannondale today, I kept mumbling "Damn, I wish I kept that Klein."
Even though the Klein was a 99 model bike, and was a hard ride, I would
take it over this new bike anyday. Then I realized it's not the bike
itself, but the components that came with it. I should have recognized
the hints the sales people were giving me. At least two of them said
"So, you like the campy?" I had never had a bike with campy gear, so I
just shrugged. I think they were trying to give me hints to stay away
from the Campy Veloce. I have had nothing but problems with this bike
since day one. I'm not sure if this things was wired the wrong way,
but the front deraileur shift is the complete opposite of the back gear
deraileur. It wasn't like this with the old school Shimano 105 that
came with the Klein. It has a thumb lever to change gears. On the
left, you use the thumb shift to a lower chain ring. On the right, you
use the thumb lever to shift up. WTF???? Is this some kind of joke?
When I am suffering from heat and sweat, I am too damned disoriented to
recognize the difference, so then I shift down when I want to shift up,
and vice versa, when I need to change rings. This gets really annoying
when I am on the approach of a hill at high speed.

Also, when I use the thumb tab to shift, sometimes it won't shift, and
no, it's not a wimpy, half-assed shift on my part. I press it again,
and then we get a shift. Also, when I am on hills, it likes to jump
into higher gear, which just kills me and has be screaming at my bike.
So, I talked to the bike shop, and they told me to just adjust the
tension bolt on the back deraileur. Well, I spent all night fiddling
with the thing. I thought I had something, but then I rode today and it
did the usual, but even worse.

I'm now at the conclusion: I should have just kept the Shimano 105 and
installed it on this bike and dumped the Veloce.

ackfugue said:

I had never had a bike with campy gear...........
It has a thumb lever to change gears. On the
left, you use the thumb shift to a lower chain ring. On the right, you
use the thumb lever to shift up. WTF???? Is this some kind of joke?
When I am suffering from heat and sweat, I am too damned disoriented to
recognize the difference, so then I shift down when I want to shift up,
and vice versa, when I need to change rings. This gets really annoying
when I am on the approach of a hill at high speed.

I think that you might find this arrangement intuitive after some time.
You'll probably just get used to it.

Beyond just getting used to it, intuitively understanding what the
components are doing works just as well for some. What helps with me,
is that I "see", in my head, the chain jumping to either a physically
larger-toothed gear, or a smaller-toothed gear with each shift. When
I'm sweating and straining for an easier gear, I don't desire to press
or push a button or lever, I desire to move the chain to the
appropriate cog. I know which button lever or does this without
thinking about it.

Campy found the better solution with the current arrangement, which you
dislike. Here is why the Campy ergo shift arrangement makes sense:

1. It takes little energy from your to "trip" the shift system into
moving the chain from a larger gear to a smaller one. One short-stroke
thumb button is needed because you have the strength to easily apply
such a small force over a short button stroke. The button in this
position would not work if the stroke was much longer because our
thumbs would run out of "travel"

2. You are required to deliver a relatively larger amount of energy
into the shifting system "uphill", and against the derailleur springs
to move a the chain from a smaller ring or cog to a larger one. To do
this with relative ease, the Campy system does this by using the
long-travel finger blade. This allows you to apply a reasonably
limited output of energy into the system over a longer stroke for a
chain movement that demands more energy than above (1).

Both your hands are similar, so the long-stroke and short stroke
mechanisms are located in the same relative position for the left and
right ergo shift levers. Add to this arrangement the fact that small
gears on the crank are "easier", while the small gears are "harder" on
the rear wheel's cogset. The end result is that similar hand
movements, left and right, create opposite effects on how "hard" it is
to turn the pedals. Oh Well.

Hope you can get your brain to accept all this business and enjoy your
Campy-equipped bike.

Quoted message said:

Also, when I use the thumb tab to shift, sometimes it won't shift, and
no, it's not a wimpy, half-assed shift on my part. I press it again,
and then we get a shift. Also, when I am on hills, it likes to jump
into higher gear, which just kills me and has be screaming at my bike.
So, I talked to the bike shop, and they told me to just adjust the
tension bolt on the back derailleur. Well, I spent all night fiddling
with the thing. I thought I had something, but then I rode today and it
did the usual, but even worse.

On this topic, I believe the most customer-friendly shops:
1. Set up the bike to work well on your first ride
2. Offer a free adjustment once you have put some miles on the bike
and the cables and housings "bed in". This will happen and require
readjustment.

I suggest asking the shop to re-adjust the system. Be prepared to go
somewhere esle if they refuse to do this for free or at a truly nominal
cost

Regards,

Pat Smith

ackfugue said:

I just recently bought a Cannondale R900 04 model that the local bike
shop had discounted to get rid of. Since I bought this bike, I can
see why it was hanging up for so long. They had another one there, too,
just a different color.
I just hope they take this bike back, since they have a 30 day return
policy for store credit. How can you know good a bike feels until you
actually ride it about a hundred miles. I recently sold off a Klein
"Stage Comp" after I bought this bike. While I was riding the new
Cannondale today, I kept mumbling "Damn, I wish I kept that Klein."
Even though the Klein was a 99 model bike, and was a hard ride, I would
take it over this new bike anyday. Then I realized it's not the bike
itself, but the components that came with it. I should have recognized
the hints the sales people were giving me. At least two of them said
"So, you like the campy?" I had never had a bike with campy gear, so I
just shrugged. I think they were trying to give me hints to stay away
from the Campy Veloce. I have had nothing but problems with this bike
since day one. I'm not sure if this things was wired the wrong way,
but the front deraileur shift is the complete opposite of the back gear
deraileur. It wasn't like this with the old school Shimano 105 that
came with the Klein. It has a thumb lever to change gears. On the
left, you use the thumb shift to a lower chain ring. On the right, you
use the thumb lever to shift up. WTF???? Is this some kind of joke?
When I am suffering from heat and sweat, I am too damned disoriented to
recognize the difference, so then I shift down when I want to shift up,
and vice versa, when I need to change rings. This gets really annoying
when I am on the approach of a hill at high speed.

It is the design and I say if ya like shimano STI, get that, if you
like Campag, get that. It is the way it works, if you can't figure it
out, ohhwell...it has been the design for 17 years, and more than a few
people seem to figure it out.

AND another bike shop with thier clueless wrenches and sales clones
that view Campag gear as some sort of black art...dummmies are
everywhere in bike shops and your;s is no exception.

Quoted message said:

Also, when I use the thumb tab to shift, sometimes it won't shift, and
no, it's not a wimpy, half-assed shift on my part. I press it again,
and then we get a shift. Also, when I am on hills, it likes to jump
into higher gear, which just kills me and has be screaming at my bike.
So, I talked to the bike shop, and they told me to just adjust the
tension bolt on the back deraileur. Well, I spent all night fiddling
with the thing. I thought I had something, but then I rode today and it
did the usual, but even worse.

They told you instead of making it correct themselves...see above,
dummies are everywhere but particularly prevelent in most bike shops.

Quoted message said:

I'm now at the conclusion: I should have just kept the Shimano 105 and
installed it on this bike and dumped the Veloce.

Whatever but don't blame anybody but the bike shop.

richard said:

Two things:

1. Crappy initial setup and dealer support (especially as cable housings
tend to set a wee bit and will need a bit of tweaking after several
hours - and this goes for Shimano as well)

2. Learning curve:

a. With Shimano, if you just happen to have part of your hand in contact
with one lever and try to move the other one, it won't move. With
Campy, if part of your hand is in contact with the finger lever, the
thumb button won't move. In other words, not difference!

I had a momentary panic attack once when my right Ergo just locked up, wouldn't
downshift. I'd just replaced the bar tape and in getting a neat thorough wrap
around the lever, a bit of it was touching and putting pressure on the thumb
lever under the hood.

Quoted message said:

b. Campy is said to have a break-in period, whereas Shimano is initially
pretty smooth - work through it!

Maybe I'm ham handed, but never really felt anything that needed breaking in.
They have gotten smoother, but were never rough.

Ron

Quoted message said:

c. The thumb button is your friend! Let's see now... I have have
compact chanin rings. When one goes from the big ring to the small, it
is necessary to drop several cogs (with a straight block, 5-6) at once.
Jam down your thumb, and you're there in half a second. Shimano
requires 5-6 separate strokes. When you're riding with your hands on
the bars above the hoods, you can still reach the thumb buttons.
FURTHERMORE, you can also have the finger lever up against the drop and
work that lever as wel (since it's movement is independant of the break
lever). When you're appoaching a hill and riding with your hands near
the stem, you can still reach that thumb button with your last finger to
either drop to the small chain ring or, as the hill flattens, start
upshifting to smaller cogs.

The feel of the two products is completely different! Try to find
_someone_ who can either adjust the indexing properly or find the kink
in the cable that is causing the shifting problems (it may even have a
broken wire in the inner), THEN see if the advantages make the learning
curve worth it.

ackfugue said:

I just recently bought a Cannondale R900 04 model that the local bike
shop had discounted to get rid of. Since I bought this bike, I can
see why it was hanging up for so long. They had another one there, too,
just a different color.
I just hope they take this bike back, since they have a 30 day return
policy for store credit. How can you know good a bike feels until you
actually ride it about a hundred miles. I recently sold off a Klein
"Stage Comp" after I bought this bike. While I was riding the new
Cannondale today, I kept mumbling "Damn, I wish I kept that Klein."
Even though the Klein was a 99 model bike, and was a hard ride, I would
take it over this new bike anyday. Then I realized it's not the bike
itself, but the components that came with it. I should have recognized
the hints the sales people were giving me. At least two of them said
"So, you like the campy?" I had never had a bike with campy gear, so I
just shrugged. I think they were trying to give me hints to stay away
from the Campy Veloce. I have had nothing but problems with this bike
since day one. I'm not sure if this things was wired the wrong way,
but the front deraileur shift is the complete opposite of the back gear
deraileur. It wasn't like this with the old school Shimano 105 that
came with the Klein. It has a thumb lever to change gears. On the
left, you use the thumb shift to a lower chain ring. On the right, you
use the thumb lever to shift up. WTF???? Is this some kind of joke?
When I am suffering from heat and sweat, I am too damned disoriented to
recognize the difference, so then I shift down when I want to shift up,
and vice versa, when I need to change rings. This gets really annoying
when I am on the approach of a hill at high speed.

Also, when I use the thumb tab to shift, sometimes it won't shift, and
no, it's not a wimpy, half-assed shift on my part. I press it again,
and then we get a shift. Also, when I am on hills, it likes to jump
into higher gear, which just kills me and has be screaming at my bike.
So, I talked to the bike shop, and they told me to just adjust the
tension bolt on the back deraileur. Well, I spent all night fiddling
with the thing. I thought I had something, but then I rode today and it
did the usual, but even worse.

I'm now at the conclusion: I should have just kept the Shimano 105 and
installed it on this bike and dumped the Veloce.

Well, you gave some valuable advice. I think I surely made the problem
worse by trying to fix it myself, without the know-how. Apparently,
someone else told me that campy usually requires a break-in period, but
once you break them in, it rides like a dream. So, I guess I shouldn't
have suggested that Veloce sucks. Campy has been around for a long
time, and is a recognized name because of quality. I guess I assumed
the Veloce was a low spectrum group. I took the bike back to the bike
shop where I purchased it and asked them kindly to fix the problem,
since I have only ridden it a few times since I bought it last month.
They threw it on the stand and said, "yeah, it needs some major
tuning." I'll be without my bike for a week, but there's no use in
riding it, anyway, if it's going to be an uncomfortable ride, cus I was
dying yesterday. Never have I had that uncomfortable of a ride with
persistent shifting problem. The tension on the chain was horrible.
Maybe it could even be a chain problem. I'm not even sure if the chain
was Veloce, even though the mechanic said that it should be, unless
someone switched it. They said they would just do a full tune-up on the
bike, since it comes with free tune-ups for life - which is a great
deal - part of the reason I bought the bike from them in the first
place. I told them, though, whether I pay for it or not, I just want
the problem fixed so I can ride in comfort.
Also, I am experiencing numbness in my hands from riding. I may have to
talk to them about that, too. Maybe I need to be refitted for the
bike, again.
Thanks for the advice.

Quoted message said:

Whatever are you whining about? The finger lever shoves the chain onto a larger
cog or chainring and the thumb lever releases it to go to a smaller one. You
might say that downtube shifters are wired backward too, for just the same
reason pushing the one forward makes it harder to pedal and pushing the other
forward makes it easier. Or the same for STI the big lever on one side makes it
easy to pedal and the big lever on the other side makes it harder.

This isn't rocket science. This system is extremely smooth and reliable for
anyone with the least patience to learn it.

Yeah, I took the bike back and asked them to fix the problem. Maybe
the mechanic was slammed that day when I bought it (a Saturday), and he
gave it too quick of a once over. And, who knows, maybe the bike was
ridden before me by someone who returned it, and the shifting was
already out of whack. They said I'd have to wait a week, but they are
doing a complete tune-up for free - which it comes with free for life,
anyway. I don't care how long they need to spend on it, I just want it
fixed. If I have to wait a while, I have to wait.

jim beam said:

ackfugue wrote:
<snip rant>
there's nothing wrong with veloce. but there is however /frequently/
something wrong with a bike shop's ability to adjust everything
correctly. if you taught yourself to do that stuff, you'd:

1. have a great running bike.
2. never be dependent on idiots again.

badly adjusted 105 sucks just as hard as badly adjusted campy. perhaps
more so because it's less tolerant. don't blame the gruppo for a human
error.

ackfugue said:

Well, you gave some valuable advice. I think I surely made the problem
worse by trying to fix it myself, without the know-how. Apparently,
someone else told me that campy usually requires a break-in period, but
once you break them in, it rides like a dream. So, I guess I shouldn't
have suggested that Veloce sucks. Campy has been around for a long
time, and is a recognized name because of quality. I guess I assumed
the Veloce was a low spectrum group. I took the bike back to the bike
shop where I purchased it and asked them kindly to fix the problem,
since I have only ridden it a few times since I bought it last month.
They threw it on the stand and said, "yeah, it needs some major
tuning." I'll be without my bike for a week,

I'm suspecting they saw something pretty seriously screwed up. Most adjustments
can be done in as much time as it takes to put the bike on the stand and take it
off. Even a busy guy with a long line of stuff is going to want to get it gone
once it's there and has his attention.

I'm using Mirage on my 'cross bike, it's a full notch down from Veloce and runs
dead smooth and easy. Shifting is essentially perfect and reliable. You should
expect the same.

Quoted message said:

They said they would just do a full tune-up on the
bike, since it comes with free tune-ups for life - which is a great
deal - part of the reason I bought the bike from them in the first
place. I told them, though, whether I pay for it or not, I just want
the problem fixed so I can ride in comfort.

I guess part of the free tune ups for life is that it always takes a week? Asks
the cynical one.

Quoted message said:

Also, I am experiencing numbness in my hands from riding. I may have to
talk to them about that, too. Maybe I need to be refitted for the
bike, again.

That can be a lot of things ranging from neck problems to bike fit issues.

Do get that sorted.

Ron

There really are only 2 grouppos on the market right now : Campy and
Shimano. The geometry and shifting mechanisms for each is similar
throughout the line. In some cases, e.g. with campy's rear
derailleurs, all products are practically identical, just the
materials and finishes change as you pay more $$$.

There are 3 reasons why you may not want your new Veloce bike.

1. The shop did a crappy job setting up the equipment. This is
likely, as many shops are "Shimano only" shops and many mechanics
go cross-eyed when trying to set up campy equipment.

2. You are unwilling to learn a different type of shifting system.
This is O.k. but you should admit to yourself that you are too old
an inflexible to learn something new or adapt.

Suntour used to make an "SL" friction derailleur whose action was
"backwards" compared to all other derailleurs. The spring shifted
to the big gear, and pulling the lever shifted down. The cool
thing was, on downtube shifters, "push either lever forward to go
faster". I rode both types of derailleurs on my 3 bikes and found
it nice not to have to heave the chain up onto the big sprocket.
I was able to adapt to this.

3. Campy stuff is "tight" for the first few hundred miles but then
loosens up and works well. Campy rings and cogs have fuller teeth
profiles than Shimano. Shimano stuff is "pre-worn" to give a
lighter, easier shift at the first mile. It is said that Campy
equipment is just "breaking in" when Shimano stuff is "breaking
down" (and Shimano offers NO replacement parts.)

Most people think that both Campag and Shimano produce competant,
race-quality equipment in their highest lines ( Campagnolo Record, and
Shimano Dura Ace ). Veloce is #4 in campy's line, which is supposed
to make is equivalent to 105 which is #3 in Shimano's line, although
still I'd say that veloce is slightly below 105 in finish quality. In
Europe Campy is widely used and it seems to confer no disadvantages in
bike racing.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

ackfugue said:

Well, you gave some valuable advice. I think I surely made the problem
worse by trying to fix it myself, without the know-how. Apparently,
someone else told me that campy usually requires a break-in period, but
once you break them in, it rides like a dream. So, I guess I shouldn't
have suggested that Veloce sucks. Campy has been around for a long
time, and is a recognized name because of quality. I guess I assumed
the Veloce was a low spectrum group. I took the bike back to the bike
shop where I purchased it and asked them kindly to fix the problem,
since I have only ridden it a few times since I bought it last month.
They threw it on the stand and said, "yeah, it needs some major
tuning." I'll be without my bike for a week, but there's no use in
riding it, anyway, if it's going to be an uncomfortable ride, cus I was
dying yesterday. Never have I had that uncomfortable of a ride with
persistent shifting problem. The tension on the chain was horrible.
Maybe it could even be a chain problem. I'm not even sure if the chain
was Veloce, even though the mechanic said that it should be, unless
someone switched it. They said they would just do a full tune-up on the
bike, since it comes with free tune-ups for life - which is a great
deal - part of the reason I bought the bike from them in the first
place. I told them, though, whether I pay for it or not, I just want
the problem fixed so I can ride in comfort.
Also, I am experiencing numbness in my hands from riding. I may have to
talk to them about that, too. Maybe I need to be refitted for the
bike, again.
Thanks for the advice.

Again, all that you said points to a bunch of clueless bike shop
people. If I could do anything about Campagnolo, USA, I would try to
get them out to bike shops to do some training to show that Campagnolo
isn't a blackart...Even here in the republic, there are on;y about 5
people that know anything about bikes in general and Campagnolo
specifically. If it ain't a knarly huckfuc....r downhill, full
suspension POS, they aren't interested.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Whatever are you whining about? The finger lever shoves the chain onto a larger
cog or chainring and the thumb lever releases it to go to a smaller one. You
might say that downtube shifters are wired backward too, for just the same
reason pushing the one forward makes it harder to pedal and pushing the other
forward makes it easier. Or the same for STI the big lever on one side makes it
easy to pedal and the big lever on the other side makes it harder.

This isn't rocket science. This system is extremely smooth and reliable for
anyone with the least patience to learn it.

"Qui si parla Campagnolo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Again, all that you said points to a bunch of clueless bike shop
people. If I could do anything about Campagnolo, USA, I would try to
get them out to bike shops to do some training to show that Campagnolo
isn't a blackart...Even here in the republic, there are on;y about 5
people that know anything about bikes in general and Campagnolo
specifically. If it ain't a knarly huckfuc....r downhill, full
suspension POS, they aren't interested.

What on earth is different between setting up a Campy system and a Shimano
system? I build up more than one road bikes, Shimano and Campy, and it is
all the same to me. Am I that smart or are the wrenches over there that dumb
that they need to go to 'Campy class' first?

Lou

Lou Holtman said:

"Qui si parla Campagnolo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Again, all that you said points to a bunch of clueless bike shop
people. If I could do anything about Campagnolo, USA, I would try to
get them out to bike shops to do some training to show that Campagnolo
isn't a blackart...Even here in the republic, there are on;y about 5
people that know anything about bikes in general and Campagnolo
specifically. If it ain't a knarly huckfuc....r downhill, full
suspension POS, they aren't interested.

What on earth is different between setting up a Campy system and a Shimano
system? I build up more than one road bikes, Shimano and Campy, and it is
all the same to me. Am I that smart or are the wrenches over there that dumb
that they need to go to 'Campy class' first?

Lou

I would suspect the bike shop people imagine the problems. Very
similar to internet bicyclists. You frequently see Shimano users
stating Campagnolo users cannot shift while riding in the drops. Or
Shimano users asking what special tools are needed to work on
Campagnolo. I suppose they heard that 30 years ago one Campagnolo part
needed a special tool and they have associated that one specail tool
requirement to everything Campagnolo makes. And at the same time they
somehow forget Shimano has gone through three or four unique bottom
bracket tools in the past 10 years or so.

Lou Holtman said:

"Qui si parla Campagnolo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Again, all that you said points to a bunch of clueless bike shop
people. If I could do anything about Campagnolo, USA, I would try to
get them out to bike shops to do some training to show that Campagnolo
isn't a blackart...Even here in the republic, there are on;y about 5
people that know anything about bikes in general and Campagnolo
specifically. If it ain't a knarly huckfuc....r downhill, full
suspension POS, they aren't interested.

What on earth is different between setting up a Campy system and a Shimano
system? I build up more than one road bikes, Shimano and Campy, and it is
all the same to me. Am I that smart or are the wrenches over there that dumb
that they need to go to 'Campy class' first?

Thank you, I was wondering the same thing myself. The Campy front der is vastly
easier to get right. The rear is pretty much the same except for the Shimano "B"
screw and the Campy screw that isn't quite the same thing.

I don't see what the losers are complaining about.

Ron

RonSonic said:

Lou Holtman said:

"Qui si parla Campagnolo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Again, all that you said points to a bunch of clueless bike shop
people. If I could do anything about Campagnolo, USA, I would try to
get them out to bike shops to do some training to show that Campagnolo
isn't a blackart...Even here in the republic, there are on;y about 5
people that know anything about bikes in general and Campagnolo
specifically. If it ain't a knarly huckfuc....r downhill, full
suspension POS, they aren't interested.

What on earth is different between setting up a Campy system and a Shimano
system? I build up more than one road bikes, Shimano and Campy, and it is
all the same to me. Am I that smart or are the wrenches over there that dumb
that they need to go to 'Campy class' first?

Thank you, I was wondering the same thing myself. The Campy front der is vastly
easier to get right. The rear is pretty much the same except for the Shimano "B"
screw and the Campy screw that isn't quite the same thing.

but well documented in the instructionsheet that comes with the rear
derailleur and on Campy's website.

Lou
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