Fickle creature that I am...

Fickle creature that I am, I've decided my new bike is now my favourite. It only took me a fortnight to come to this conclusion and it displays what a shallow empty shell of a person I am. In particular this revelation hit me whilst I was scooting downhill at a little over 40 mph today (yesterday, by the time I got round to finishing and posting this), which is pretty fast by my slowpoke standards. I felt remarkably stable and safe on the bike. Moreso than on other bikes I own. Coupled with the low gears for hill climbing and my adoration of its aesthetics, it must be love.

Continuing on my fickle theme, I have to admit I find the Campagnolo groupset on it preferable to the Shimano versions on my other bikes. That's not to say 'Shimano is evil and Campagnolo is godlike' or anything anywhere near so stupid (as some people seem to get into ridiculous arguments about). It's a higher specification groupset than either the old Shimano RSX or the Tiagra groupsets I've got on my other bikes, so I would have hoped it would be better. Additionally, I would be biased because of having a 'granny wheel' and the enjoyment it provides for me, given my poor hill climbing. Something which I feared may be a problem with a Campagnolo setup, although turned out not to be, was the little thumb button gear levers. I thought they might get in the way when I'm standing on the pedals but they don't whatsoever. I haven't made accidental contact with them once and they're in good position for when my hands are (rarely) on the drops too. That whole 'being able to change more than one gear at a time' aspect of Campagnolo's is great too. It's still something I tend to forget about and find myself clicking through gears but I'm using it more and more and find it quite useful, especially when I've to shift down a load of gears in a hurry because I've to stop at a junction I hadn't realised was there and don't want to be in too big a gear to get started off again.

Aesthetically, I'm fond of having the cables all tucked away neatly with the Campagnolo groupset. That's very appealing. Unless you're going to stick a bar bag on your bike, it probably makes absolutely no practical difference but I like having the cables hidden away.

Something else I liked is how it's good to have brake levers which are purely for use as brake levers, rather than shifters. The STI (or Shimano Total Integration, if you prefer) levers (pictured top-left) never gave me any bother whatsoever with changing gear when I was braking (I'm sure they're well engineered to avoid doing so) but there's something comforting about using a brake lever purely for braking. That's probably just my being anal again and wanting 'everything in its place'. It's certainly not to say one is stronger/weaker than the other comparatively, purely a personal preference.

One thing I would say about the STI versus Ergo (Campagnolo's gear shifters, of this ilk, are called 'Ergo' shifters, in case you're wondering what the hell I'm wittering about) is that the STI levers are probably a bit neater and 'prettier' looking than the Ergo levers (pictured above on the right), which look a bit tacky with their rubber fake 'leather effect' hoods. I don't know if all Ergo levers look like this but mine certainly do. It doesn't offend me but it doesn't please me as much as the aesthetics of the STI levers (although having the cables tucked away more than makes up for it).

Summarising my babble, I'm very impressed with the Campagnolo bits and pieces. It's not as if I think they're any better than Shimano's version, just different. It so happens I like pretty much all the differences and find they suit my cycling and my tastes. Therefore, barring any unforeseen problems, I may well choose Campagnolo setups on any future bicycles (which will be quite some time in the future).