Campy owners question

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trailgumby
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Campy owners question

Postby trailgumby » Thu May 01, 2014 2:06 am

I noticed an ad on Bike exchange this morning for a Super Record Titanium groupset. Very droolworthy, but it prompted a question that has been bugging me about this manufacturer for ages, more so since acquiring/building my own Ultegra equipped roadie.

How do you shift to a harder gear on the rear when your hands are in the drops?

The "ergo" shifters don't look very ergo to me: a long if not impossible stretch to tap the release with your thumb. Same goes for the front shifter on the left. I don't imagine it would be very popular with the sprinters in the peloton.

Or am I missing something?

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simonn
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby simonn » Thu May 01, 2014 6:02 am

It's not a problem - and my hands are not large. The thumb shift is fine. It is nothing like the old Sora thumb shifters which {we,a}re completely out of the way of the thumb.

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trailgumby
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby trailgumby » Thu May 01, 2014 6:56 am

Hmm. What prompted the question was the photo showing the levers up pretty high on the inside of the brifter.

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TonyMax
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby TonyMax » Thu May 01, 2014 7:28 am

trailgumby wrote:Hmm. What prompted the question was the photo showing the levers up pretty high on the inside of the brifter.
I haven't managed to shift up (to a smaller gear in the cassette) with my hands in the drops at all. I just move one hand to the hood and shift then move it back.

I don't sprint and hardly ever use the drops so it's not a problem for me, but I can see how it would be, anyone ever noticed what groupsets the Bianchis in Team Belkin are using?
Image

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KGB
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby KGB » Thu May 01, 2014 7:41 am

I have small hands, I use small/med gloves (size 8) and have never had a problem reaching the lever and I've used 8, 9 and 10 speed levers.
I use a semi anatomical bar shape usually and I don't have my hoods jacked up to the sky like most of the lance clones today - I blame shimano for this due to their ridiculously large/long sti levers (the old shape 10speed).

As mentioned, the inside lever is nowhere near as high as those ridiculous Sora levers.
Image

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TonyMax
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby TonyMax » Thu May 01, 2014 7:53 am

I assume the OP is talking about the "mouse ear" levers like so:

Image

Image

I can't see any way anyone could reach these from the drops?
Image

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simonn
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby simonn » Thu May 01, 2014 7:57 am

It is really not that hard.

Maybe if you have small hands a long drop and hold the drops right at the back, but you are not going to reach any levers from there (and I'd argue that your bike might not be set up optimally if you are doing that).

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simonn
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby simonn » Thu May 01, 2014 8:03 am

Infact, the rider in this picture would have no problem operating them with his hands in that position:

Image

:D

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AUbicycles
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby AUbicycles » Thu May 01, 2014 9:42 am

If your hands are at the bottom of the drops, you need to shift the hands back up (midway in the drops) to be able to reach - but it may be similar to Shimano and SRAM anyway in that your hands need to move closer to the gears (so a shift in position is required). The shifting probably is an issue for sprint finishes and changing gears under stress where a more natural hand position / movement is rotating your hands inwards (raching round to the levers) as opposed to Campy where you rotate your wrist inwards.

I have one bike with Campagnolo which I don't ride frequently, so will try and become more aware.
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doggatas
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby doggatas » Thu May 01, 2014 10:36 am

I have had Campy in the past and can confirm operating the thumb shifter from the drops is no problem at all.

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rangersac
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby rangersac » Thu May 01, 2014 10:53 am

As others have said, if you are at the bottom of the drops in full sprint mode you won't reach the lever, but in such a position you won't reach a Shimano/ SRAM STI type either. Mid drop no problems. My roadie is Campag and my commuter is Shimano, and in the drops I still have to rotate my hands/ wrists to reach either lever type with thumb or ring/small finger respectively.
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39x25
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby 39x25 » Thu May 01, 2014 11:23 am

As others have said. The mouse ears can be reached from mid drop by reaching up with your thumbs. Same hand position as for shimano when in the drops. Just different digits. Only issue I have is the high spring tension on older 10 speeds that can cause accidental multiple shifts. Newer models have lighter Springs which fixed this problem.

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Xplora
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby Xplora » Fri May 02, 2014 8:39 pm

I look forward to finding out soon :mrgreen:

eeksll
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Re: Campy owners question

Postby eeksll » Fri May 02, 2014 10:18 pm

ImageImageImageImage

When trying to use minimum movement to shift using the paddle from both the drops and the hoods, my thumb really only pushes against the very edge of the paddle. But because the paddle only moves in one direction (i.e unlike the shimano brake lever) this works decently well. However, if you have some weight on your hands you will need to lighten them some to do the paddle shift from each position. In contrast when on the hoods of shimano, I can shift quite well on the hoods with a decent amount of weight on the hoods.

A bonus for me is downshifting form the big ring to the little ring when in the drops, ie when i stop for traffic lights i usually only shift the front down (and this habit was learnt with shimano levers). This is much easier on campag than shimano when in the drops.
trailgumby wrote:The "ergo" shifters don't look very ergo to me
Go into a store and rest your hands on the hoods of campag levers, you will understand "ergo" :wink: . I came from 5600 shimano, the 5700 series look a bit more comfortable.
Sychen wrote:Only issue I have is the high spring tension on older 10 speeds that can cause accidental multiple shifts. Newer models have lighter Springs which fixed this problem.
I have this issue sometimes with my 11 speed 2013 (2012?) chorus shifters.

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