Okay, I have nothing against Shimano. They have been the driving force in bicycle components for the last 30 years and much of the time Campagnolo has been playing catch-up. But even as Campagnolo is trying to catch up, they make the most functionally beautiful components ever seen. Back in October of 2011, I replaced the shifters (combined with brake levers) on my 1999 Schwinn Peleton. I replaced the Shimano 9 speed shifters with Campagnolo 10 speed shifters, and while the two do not usually play well together, but there was a way make the Campy shifters work with a Shimano 9 speed drivetrain. Later I tried to up the ante and use a mixed drivetrain and make a 10 speed system work using a Campagnolo rear derailleur and a conversion cassette and a ShiftMate adapter. While all these measured worked, eventually I decided that the most elegant solution was to simply convert the bicycle from Shimano components to Campagnolo.I had already switched the shifters and crankset with Campy Daytona gruppo parts (this group
was later renamed Centaur). I decided to stay with the Daytona/Centaur group, however when a set of Athena differential skeletal calipers became available I jumped on them. Campy came up with the idea of differental brakes, where the front is dual; pivot and the rear a less powerful single pivot, as the rear brake does less to stop the bike than the front. To be honest, it probably doesn't amount to a whole lot one way or the other, but I just liked the idea and they are one pretty brake. I then added the front and rear Centaur derailleurs.
In order to make this all work, I would need a Campagnolo wheelset and 10 speed cassette. The cassette (Centaur 13-26 was a birthday present and I found a Daytona/ Mavic wheelset on ebay. If the truth be known I hadn't really planned to lay out the cash for the wheelset quite yet, but it was exactly what I was looking for and less than I had intended on paying. Since Campagnolo has stopped includin
g hubs in their gruppos, it was either find a wheelset like this or buy a Campy brand wheelset; fortunately I was able to do the former.
Once this was done all that was necessary were 2 small parts to completely eradicate Shimano components from the bike (sans the peddles); if your curious the stem and seatpost are Nitto. The first were the cable adjusters and the last was the cable guide. Once this was done, the bike was a finally a
campy bike. I plan however on keeping the ShiftMate and 10 speed Miche/ Shimano cassette in case I need a rear wheel on the road. Even as Campy seems to be having a resurgence since their 11 speed systems hit the market, actually finding parts is his and miss; mainly miss. So here is the bike complete with a butchered Brooks saddle (the term "butchered" is not a judgement of the quality of the modification, it simply pertains to a Brooks saddle where some of the leather has been cut off to make a more sleek saddle).
