Campag 2011 power torque

Dan- the answer

I was actually thinking....http://www.fudgescyclestore.com/index.php?p=105835 - but yes. I like those mini groups. Though I did work out that I can buy everything I need for a whole ultegra group (except cranks - keeping my s-works carbon jobs) - for £450 (including calipers).

Conversely, Super Record Ergo levers are available for around £250, whilst Dura Ace STIs are £100 more, so it works both ways.

true. I just seem to have had a hell of a lot of problems with Campag. I'm really fed up tbh - when it works it's great, but I just seen to have mechanical after mechanical - I'd really just like it to work, all the time, so I can ride my bike.

Reminds me of people that buy stereos based on the niceness of the eject motion.

Which is totally what I do.

I just thought the amount of pressure he was having to exert was a bit unusual - my 10 speed record shifts better than that

That is so plain wrong, Shimano STI and Rapidfire units fail all the time and are then useless, and you can only buy them in pairs, (as far as I know, anyway) and they are extremely expensive.

I use both Shimano and Campag, and over the years have come to prefer the Italian stuff for a number of reasons.

my experience shows otherwise - on road bikes, but also ran it on all my DH/mountain bikes and hammered the shit out it, bar a few bent mechs (par for the course with mtb) I've had fuck all problems with Shimano . Horses for courses...

Could we restrict the holy wars to just the BB axle system on this thread?

yes, my fault. Carry on...

That is so plain wrong, Shimano STI and Rapidfire units fail all the time and are then useless, and you can only buy them in pairs, (as far as I know, anyway) and they are extremely expensive.

The Shimano is quite like a dutch bike, reliable and last for age, but when it does go wrong, boy it goes really wrong.

Abso-fucking-lutely retarded crank design.

Had to work on some PT cranks for a customer recently and just couldn't get the tools to do it. (Campag's distro are very difficult to work with if you only buy from them every now n then.)

I understand PT is only being used on low end stuff just now but while researching how the hell you got the arm off I came across something I'm sure on the campy site that said a gear puller should not be used on carbon cranks so are they intending to move to PT for high end stuff too? And if you can't use a gear puller on carbon cranks what do you use?

Wooden wedge and a mallet

are they intending to move to PT for high end stuff too?

No, the reason for the change is that the Hirth joint is expensive to manufacture, but that's a minor issue next to carbon cranks. At a guess, the PT crank has probably knocked £20 off OTP bikes with Veloce compared with UT, which is significant at that price point but irrelevant to Record buyers.

Campag might eventually be forced to make a native BB30 crankset, in which case all bets are off, but they'd be incredibly dumb if they dropped UT for the higher end 25mm axle stuff.

Conversely, Super Record Ergo levers are available for around £250, whilst Dura Ace STIs are £100 more, so it works both ways.

It's actually more like £260 and £300 respectively.

Could we restrict the holy wars to just the BB axle system on this thread?

ipads are shit?

cyclus make the correct one which we have at work which is this one http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/cyclus-crank-extractor-for-campagnolo-power-torque/aid:481530

tip to tip is 35mm and that slides and sits behind the crank perfectly.

not really worth buying if you are only going to use once tho.

a standard gear pulley would work but the feet on the pulley are never long enough to support the cranks and you may end up marking them.

I just thought the amount of pressure he was having to exert was a bit unusual - my 10 speed record shifts better than that

Hes probably weak and weird. I mean the guys filmed himself shifting gear in his living room FFS.

Theres a sharp ramp in pressure needed to shift, and once you get the first click, the next is'nt far behind. So you need to be careful not to over cook it. Its the price you pay for being able to shift half way up the cassette in one movement. Saying that, like double tap, it takes less than an hour to get used to. Like the 11th cog, the ability to shift so many gears, is'nt really something you need. But it does become a nice luxury.

We could exchange techy pros and cons for days. But all that matters, is if you like the levers. Are they a comfortable plave for the hands, and do you get on with the shifting mechanism. Simples.

IMHO PT seems like a compromise, to get campag on OTPs at a workable price, and even then OTPs running Sram out value them. UT is a great system, but hype behind BB30, is probably too much to ignore.
...or what MrTester said.

bb30 is the dogs bollocks. Fact

Oh and being able to move across the block in 2 movements - up or down is my favourite thing about the posh Campag stuff - in many ways I'm really happy with the way the group works when it works, it's just super delicate and error prone in my experience.

Really off topic, but does anyone know how many sprockets you can move down in one movement with Force? Mr Dammit?

Like the 11th cog, the ability to shift so many gears, is'nt really something you need. But it does become a nice luxury.

I find it really useful because I'm a fatso that has to dump gears like a madman when there's even a slightest incline.

... but I do struggle to see the value in PowerTorque. It looks like Campag is trying to make the higher-end stuff seem better by making the lower-end more crappy.

Really off topic, but does anyone know how many sprockets you can move down in one movement with Force?

DoubleTap is 1 up/3 down

... but I do struggle to see the value in PowerTorque.

The value of it is to get Campag on OTPs at various crucial mid range price points. Most of those bikes are either shop serviced, or sold on before they ever need new BB bearings

Would anyone who's actually worked on Powertorque with a gear puller say its worth selling on the 2011 set and buying a NOS 2010 ultratorque off ebay for a cost hit? The 15 quid for a puller doesn't bother me too much, and the powertorque set is lighter. In terms of stiffness I havent heard anything to say its worse, and I have read several comments saying removing it is a doddle if you have the puller...

But yeah. You guys are making me doubt now. Thanks for that ;)

I just got an early 9 Speed Athena group, must be about 12 years old. It seems really modern and flashy. I guess I'll have to face up to the fact: the next time I build a bike will be when I can afford actual contemporary gear. If that was now (it's not, I'm skint) I guess I'd drop Campag and go SRAM.

I loved testers Holy War gag.

great stuff guys [/eye's 'from the message board']

DoubleTap is 1 up/3 down

Thanks - is that across all the tiers of groups? Pretty impressive if Apex is too..

Thanks - is that across all the tiers of groups? Pretty impressive if Apex is too..

Yes, one of SRAM's selling points is carrying the functionality down through the groups, they just cut the material spec for the cheap stuff. That does mean the Apex levers are very expensive compared with Tiagra or Veloce...

Would anyone who's actually worked on Powertorque with a gear puller say its worth selling on the 2011 set and buying a NOS 2010 ultratorque off ebay for a cost hit?

Not worth the swap if you're going to lose money, the problem with PT is not how it works when it works, but how hard it is to work on when it stops working, plus the very minor issue of the NDS bearing being a sliding fit on the axle, where one of the virtues of UT to engineering geeks is that the bearings are pressed onto the expensive part and slide into the cheap, easily replaced, cups. You'd need to do a lot of miles for that to actually be an issue in practice.

So ... with an extra six months of insight, do we still think power torque is rubbish?

I have to replace my campag crankset - square taper - and wonder what to do. Maybe I should just fit a cheap square taper Shimano on it for now as it's just for my road / commute bike.

Shimano square-taper isn't compatible with Campag BB. If the BB is still good, it's probably cheaper to replace like-for-like.

I havent had cause to change the cranks since fixing them, so no real reason to think its rubbish. The complaints were primarily that it required a gear puller & 30 quid campag insert to remove the arms. I guess the question is whether 45 quid in tools, or a trip to the bike shop every time you need to regrease the cups bothers you.

The bike is lightly used - about 8 miles a day during the week, and then the occasional weekend jaunt - but I havent had any problems with the cranks.

Ta for the responses. I like the ability to take cranks off and don't want yet more proprietary tools to do so. So I've bought a (allegedly new) campag centaur square taper crankset from ebay.

That's for my commute bike. I'm starting to put together a posh road bike and someone at my club might have some ultra torque cranks going spare ... tempting.

I got my very skilled, careful and knowedgeable bike mechanic guy to swap my groupset onto my new frame. 2011 Veloce PT. He bought the Park Tool which didn't look man enough and duly disintegrated gouging the crank arm as it did so. Used a flywheel puller in the end.

I haven't the heart to tell him I want to take it off again for a triple.......

I know this is an old thread, just wanted to say that, after some head scratching but little expense I removed my first power torque crank today.

I used a £12 bearing puller from machine mart and some scrap leather to protect the crank arm (a bit of old inner tyre cut to shape may have worked better). Instead of the Park plug I used a 12mm socket with an 8mm socket inside that left a hole small enough for the puller to work against.

It took some effort and was a bit scary but worked a treat leaving the threads perfect and only 2 2-3mm marks on the back of the crank arms.

Phew. Thanks Campagnolo. Shit design.

fuck you power torque and park tools.
splashed out on the park PT specific puller and adaptor for PT.

result - plastic adaptor shattered, attempted to pull with a bit of inner tube instead, the flange off the bearing puller broke and the puller fell to bits. What a fucking load of shite. Any ideas how to get this fuckin crank off? automotive bearing puller? It seems it's pretty well seized together.

1 Attachment