"mike anderson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:2005051100080231678%pleasekeepitinnewsgroup@thankscom...
Quoted message said:
Is there any reason for me to look pass Xenon and to choose one of the
others instead?Obviously not for chasing seconds but what about technical issues and
performance?Any help would be most appreciated,
mike
Mike: get some 9-speed Veloce ergolevers. I don't like the plastic paddles
of the really cheap levers - the Veloce ones are aluminum.
Campy levers internally are pretty much the same from Mirage to Record
(don't know about Xenon). Look at the exploded parts diagrams on the Campy
website if you want confirmation that almost all of the critical moving
parts are common across the models. Note how the guts of the Veloce levers
start with a RE parts designation - for REcord.
Then mate the levers with a Campy rear derailleur and a Shimano 9-speed
cassette hub and cogs. Best of both worlds. Shimano/SRAM cogsets and
chains are cheap and easy to find; then you are not locked into paying $100
for a 10-speed cassette or $40 for a chain.
Bike building and buying recommendation: unless you're a racer who gets
stuff for free, keep yourself 1 cog less than state of the art. Then you
can scavenge cheap parts from the "early adoptors" who insist on "upgrading"
every 2 years, or you can get things on closeouts.