Ken Finch

I love Campy. Or used to anyway. But the engineering of new bike components has been taken over by the marketing departments. It's way over the top. The funny thing is don't know who their audience is. I keep wondering who can afford to buy this stuff but apparently people have more money than I think because it keeps selling.

And if you think this is only a Campy problem, rest assured Shimano will be following it up. I read somewhere that Shimano has successfully experimented with up to 14 cogs on the back. Hang onto your wallets.

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Subject: Re: At what point is enough enough?
Date: 06/18/2008 12:07 PM
From: Erik
Oooh, aahh . . . 11 cogs on the back end of a $9k Colnago. Obscenely wealthy & fat bike snobs everywhere rejoice at the prospect of yet another component installation to screw up.
10 is a nice, round number. I like 10. A 2x10 drivetrain can allow you to pedal at 90 rpm from 8mph all the way up to 40 on the same cassette. And our wheels are more or less interchangeable with 10spd. Whatever Campy has in mind, it isn't for our benefit.
This crap will still sell, though, because it's labeled "Campagnolo". The combination of consumer ignorance and good marketing makes a flawless money machine.
Then again, people eventually figured out that Spinergy wheels were complete crap, so maybe Campy is finally nearing the end of its absurd cult days.
Then again, people still buy Mavic product, too.