I am planning on buying a road bike this fall for training and racing. I want to outfit it with the Campy Chorus group. What I am wondering is if it is worth the wait to get the 2004 group or just go ahead and get the 2003 grouppo. They are telling me that it will be November before the 2004 starts shipping. If there is going to be a huge price increase from 2003 to 2004 I will more than likely just go with the 2003. Does anyone know what the the jump in price is going to be and if it is going to be worth the wait? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Especially for you Record9TI. Thanks…
Maybe you could ask them in an email about the 2004 line. I bought a Chorus gruppo from them last year and it’s only getting better the more I use it. Great products. I’ll stay a Campy user from now on.
Chorus 2004 will be really nice - it’s supposed to have carbon Ergo levers, the carbon rear derailleur, carbon cranks, etc. But it is unlikely that the price will remain the same. If you’re looking for a value, get 2003 Chorus. If you’re looking for a sweet groupset that is almost identical to 2003 Record, get 2004 Chorus.
Note that Veloce gets 10 cogs for 2004, and that Centaur gets a cool new grey finish.
Check out http://www.hammerpilot.com. His prices compare favorably to the other sources listed in this thread, and he advertises that he will beat any competitor’s price. I haven’t bought anything from him–yet; so I don’t know about service. He has some info about 2004 gruppos on his site.
You can expect to pay about $150 more for the 2004 over the 2003 and this does not include the upcharge for the carbon cranks and does not include a seatpost.
Basically, if you took the 2003 groupset, swapped out the levers and the rear derailleur for the 2003 record versions, you will have your 2004 chorus groupset.
The question I have is are the carbon levers and carbon rear derailleur worth it? 23 grams for the levers, 22 grams for the derailleur, but they sure look cool…
You can expect to pay about $150 more for the 2004 over the 2003 and this does not include the upcharge for the carbon cranks and does not include a seatpost.
Basically, if you took the 2003 groupset, swapped out the levers and the rear derailleur for the 2003 record versions, you will have your 2004 chorus groupset.
The question I have is are the carbon levers and carbon rear derailleur worth it? 23 grams for the levers, 22 grams for the derailleur, but they sure look cool…
What I like is they feel warm. I have many many miles on my Carbon Ergo levers and you just dont get that cold metal feeling from them…
You’re right, I missed that. I thought is was for the carbon cranks only because the weight specs on the Campy site were the same as last year - a look at the official press release clarifies this, though.
On a related topic, I was talking to a frame builder yesterday and he mentioned that there have been corrosion problems with the Record and Chorus BBs - they apparently take on water. Anyone else have problems like this?