Campagnolo Super Record 11 Speed Groupos Reviews

Price Paid:  $0.00

Bike Setup:
R3, super record, fulcrum racing 3

Summary:
I am going to attempt to be completely fair here. I love my super record groupset, it shift really well and looks beautiful - it is of course very light as well. However, it has its draw backs as a road racer. The first one is that the thumb shift is not good when springing out of the saddle - mainly because it is very difficult to shift just one gear. This is pretty sold as a campy plus point (the multi-shift) but it can cost you dearly at the end of a race if you go from the 14 to the 12 rather than the 13 (for example). I have big hands if people are interested (not an advert for lonely women, merely an ergonomic point). The groupo also suffers from not having a quick link in the chain - very difficult to clean. Other than these points, it is wonderful.

Strengths:
Light, pretty, great shifting, solid

Weaknesses:
Poor sprint shift, no quick release chain link, compatibility, less stiff crank than 7900? (Really not sure on this one)

Similar Products Used:
DA 7900, Ultegra, Campy centaur, Veloce, 105, force, red

Price Paid:  $2200.00 at Sleepy Hollow

Favorite Ride:
Marinoni VR3

Bike Setup:
Marinoni vr3, campy super record 11

Summary:
I've ridden this now for several thousand miles in just 3 months, yeah crazy, including serious mountains, went with the 12-29. Incredibly smooth, also have DA on another bike with Ultegra brakes. These blow the brakes away. Amazingly responsive

Strengths:
Braking smoothness, rarely a glitch

Weaknesses:
cost of course

Similar Products Used:
DA/Ultegra with Cannondale Six carbon

Price Paid:  $2400.00 at Bicycle Pro Shop, Wa

Bike Setup:
Merlin Road frame, Fizik Aliante saddle and Fizik post, Campy Eurus wheelset.

Summary:
From the moment it was installed, there were glitches, particularly on the middle gears. Derailleur would not advance on first shift, then advance two gears on second shift. A little basic reading of internet sites will turn up others with the same issue.
Bicycle Pro Shop, however, is a superb store, with an excellent team of sales staff and mechanics, and they were determined to fix the glitch. They tried, and tried, and tried. They changed cables. They adjusted. They readjusted. They installed a kit put out by Campy to remedy the issue. Nothing worked. Finally, they swapped out the 2009 rear derailleur for a 2010. The gear-skipping persisted. So, they changed the front and rear derailleurs, and both brake/shifters, and the chain and the rear cassette, all at once. By that time, I'd given up on Super Record. They installed 2010 Record 11 instead, in the hope of curing the glitch once and for all.
We shall see. I Just had it done.
But I have learned the lesson about becoming an early adaptor. Don't. Wait a few generations.
I've been a lifelong Campy fan, ever since I worked in a bike shop in my teens. But this left me wishing I'd opted for the sterile, but reportedly flawless, Dura-Ace experience.

Strengths:
Esthetically beautiful. Light. Otherwise flawlessly functional.

Weaknesses:
No gruppo this expensive should have any glitches at all.

Similar Products Used:
2009 Chorus/Record 9-speed mixture, plus earlier generations of Record going back to the Seventies.

Comments

jaybirdy (09/29/2010)

interesting, I installed S. record 10 months ago with no such problems. it has worked perfect.

Neilmac (10/04/2010)

Addendum: Installing the 2010 Record Shifters, chain, derailleurs and cluster fixed the shifting issue. I don't know if it holds throughout the two lines, but my experience was this: The Super Record, for all its stylish looks, didn't perform. The Record does. And buy at your local bike shop. If I'd bought that Super Record stuff on the internet to save a couple of hundred bucks, I'd have been stuck writing endless futile letters to Campy. Bicycle Pro Shop stood behind what they sold, and that's worth a great deal.

Neilmac (08/14/2011)

Further addendum: Turned out the replacement record stuff still had the skipping problem in the rear, albeit not as badly. Testing determined the new right shifter was "not indexing properly." Bicycle Pro shop, this summer, replaced it AGAIN, and the 2011 gear evidently has the flaw licked, because it really does shift pretty much perfectly. Scott Brown, a friend who owns a bike shop in Christchurch, NZ, told me he's seen the issue several times, too, and the fault lay in the rear brake/shifter mechanism. Again: Thank heavens for honest local bike merchants. Imagine addressing an issue like this with some internet reseller?

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Price Paid:  $2000.00 at Pro Cycling

Favorite Ride:
Durango-Silverton

Bike Setup:
Orbea Orca SL 60cm. Campy Ultra Shamal wheelset.

Summary:
My first impressions with Super Record 11 were that of pure heaven. This groupset is so very smooth and quiet. The hoods are very comfortable and an improvement on Record 10. I am 6'3', 200# and after riding this groupset for a couple of months I started having annoying shifting problems (very finicky) and a creak/pop coming out of the BB. I worked with my local shop for months to isolate/fix the problem and we finally solved the BB issue by installing new cups. The shifting issue has not improved and despite numerous phone calls with Campy USA, the problem remains. I purchased this groupset in 12/08 and I wonder if there was a "first generation" problem with the one I have. It shifts not nearly as good as the record 10. Nobody else I know, or my LBS takes care of has had the same problem? It breaks my heart to think about going away from Campy, but my experience with this groupset has been disappointing and the warranty service from CampyUSA deplorable. Hopefully the kinks have been worked out of the system now that it has been out there for almost 1 year?

Strengths:
Beuty, style, smooth, quiet, comfort.

Weaknesses:
Shifting is finicky, annoying "knock" in the BB. Poor warranty support from CampyUSA.

Similar Products Used:
Campy record 10

Comments

jaybirdy (08/28/2009)

internal cable routing?

DavidinNagoya (09/29/2009)

Do you need the extra spacer in the cassette that I think Campy released around April this year as an 'optional' improvement? This may be worth investigating. Have a look at some of the threads on Campy shifting problems in Forums.

jaybirdy (09/29/2009)

does it shift easy or kind of hard?

drdave96 (09/30/2009)

My orca has external cable routing. Shifting is sluggish/delyed in the middle of the cog both going up and down the cassette. Thanks for the idea about the spacer option.

jaybirdy (09/30/2009)

but, does it shift hard?

wilwoods (10/30/2009)

I am really curious about the shifting comment. I rode a Record 10 speed group for about 5 years and I only changed to the Super record as my old group was worn and dying so I either brought a whole new group or spent double that on components. I also had to buy the Super Record as it was the only way I could get 180 mm cranks.. Ceramics are nice but a sort of big what ever... I have only about 250 km on the new group but I am definitely noticing a lag while shifting in the middle of the block. I either have to shift two past and then back or just push the shifter a tad to over shift. Your comment about a similar problem got my attention. Can you give me any details about this extra spacer? i tried looking on the forums here and finding the thread was pretty difficult. David

tommyturbo (12/07/2009)

I was an early adopter as well, and there was a problem with my left shifter. This was repaired under warranty. At first, I was not happy with the rear shifting, but we finally figured things out. The rear derailleur cable was wearing out every 2000 miles, and my mechanic (Campy Pro level shop) discovered that the cable was fraying at the housing end inside the shifter. The weakened cable was causing less precise shifts. This mechanic is one of the best around and he built the bike, his first 11 speed. He had not set it up properly. Apparently, the 11s housings end inside the shifter body, and must fit perfectly. I'd check this out to see it it helps you as much as it did me. Since the fix, my shifting both front and rear is absolutely incredible, simply perfect. I have over 8000 miles on my Super Record, and I couldn't be happier.

Keith (12/07/2009)

I can explain the knock. It is all to do with the wave washer on the non-drive side. Campy tried to accommodate differences in bottom bracket widths, but there are occasions where the b/b is too wide and needs an additional washer. They are available for about five bucks. Your shifting no sure about, but a frayed internal could account for it.

Neilmac (10/04/2010)

Campy hasn't admitted it publicly, but it knows it has a problem with shifting on Super Record. It issued a kit to fix the glitch, and then redesigned. I moved to Record, and problem solved. It drove me nuts, but thank goodness for the LBS.

Neilmac (10/04/2010)

I had the spacer installed. It didn't work. Replacing the drivetrain with Record did work. Campy produced a super-high-end, super-expensive groupset that didn't shift as well as low-end Shimano. You should hound the company till they fix it.

Neilmac (08/14/2011)

See my above post. I finally have it fixed. The 2011 SR edition has solved the issue, which apparently lay in the rear brake/shifter. I cannot say enough good things about my LBS, Bicycle Pro Shop, for all the work they did in fixing it. The manager, Tony, kept saying: "We want to make this right for you." Sweeter words have never been uttered.

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Price Paid:  $1889.00 at Ebay

Bike Setup:
2009 Giant TCR Advanced SL

Summary:
I've trained and raced on a Record Carbon 10s group for the past year and was very reluctant to make the switch given it's excellent quality and performance. In my opinion the new Super Record 11sp has improved it's standing in every way. From the ergo's of the new hoods to the new chainring design, this group has some major improvements that can be felt out on the road. The shifting is much quicker and the drivetrain runs unbelievably smoooth and quiet. No doubt the use of ceramic bearings in the pulleys and crankset are to credit.

Strengths:
sub 2000g!!! Super smooth and quiet.
Great hood Ergonomics. Durability of raw materials used. Longevity. Parts replacable for almost everything.

Weaknesses:
Must pay for quality $$$$ Prices are beginning to drop however.

Similar Products Used:
Record Carbon 10sp