I noticed that the Soloist is available with Campy Centaur components, what’s the general opinion? Makes for a great price on a sweet road bike.
Centaur is great. I run it on my tri bike, had it on my old road bike, never had an issue with it and I find the ergolevers to be very, very comfortable and easy to use.
I’ll add another vote for Centaur. Campy performance at a reasonable cost–competitive with Ultegra. I have Centaur/Daytona (the Centaur predecessor) on both my bikes. If you aren’t pretentious or status-conscious, go for it.
Only drawback–a lot of tri gear (mostly wheels) are Shimano compatible so you may have to do some workarounds. I run Shimano 105 brakes on my tri bike because the Campy brakes have the release on the brake lever vice on the caliper for Shimano. When/if you use bullhorn style bars with Campy brakes you lose your release capability.
Have Centaur on my Bianchi. Great stuff, gives you “proper” brake levers unlike Shimano, and has held up very well.
go for it.
You know what I will say.
BUT…I DO NOT AT ALL like that the Centaur (or Veloce) Bottom Bracket can NOT be used with a standard Chorus or Record BB (102mm) - you have to get the “tripple” (111mm) BB if you wanted to upgrade. Currently the Centaur Front Der. is the 1999/00 Record Front Der…same piece, got to love the trickle down theory. Brakes, former Chorus. Rear Der, former Chorus. Hubs, levers…ditto.
So, you can look at it as if you are getting a new bike with new (old) Record and Chorus sans the Cranks and BB. Really I do hate that damn BB in Centaur.
Yep, and you need a specific campy tool to pull the Centaur bb. However, mine has been bombproof so ne real complaints.
"BUT…I DO NOT AT ALL like that the Centaur (or Veloce) Bottom Bracket can NOT be used with a standard Chorus or Record BB (102mm) - you have to get the “tripple” (111mm) BB if you wanted to upgrade. "
Ah, but in the Soloist/Centaur case this is a non-issue since it comes with FSA cranks. If you really wanted to upgrade the square taper BB, you could always get a Phil Wood, but they are $$$.
MMmmmmm Phil Wood…almost as lusty as the old Mavic BB…
Go for it! The others are right about the trickle down, as you’re essentially buying slightly older top-deck componentry. No-one ever regrets buying Campy, with the possible exception of the expense of replacing the rather quick-wearing Record Ti casettes.
You’re gonna love it.
The 2005 BB will make you happy then. Also a Record Carbon Track 111mm BB will work on the Centuar cranks, which incidentally are lighter than their Chorus counterparts.
Campy…yum.
-SD