Road Bike Component Group Comparative: Campagnolo Record, Shimano Ultegra and Sram Force

Now, I am having a hard as hell time trying to figure out who to put into second. Normally, comparatives go across the Sram-Shimano beltway and don’t ever wander too far into Campy territory. That said, I have been stuck as to what to put in Campy’s second string. All this due to a name.

Record and Super Record. How different are they? I’ve scoured the internet and any recent critiques and EVERYONE considers themselves an expert. The weight. The finish. The mechanics. The price. Nothing.

So I’ve tried picking apart different aspects of the components like weight or materials to differentiate and group one from each company into a category. Here, though, you can tell that the engineers of the different companies were thinking, “Okay…let’s shave off 30 grams of weight off of the cassette…but wait! We’re missing a jockey cage! Oh, alright! Put some more weight on the rear derailleur!” Looking at these groups, though, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is how you ride and what you want out of your ride that determines how well you ride the group. There is a lot of technology here so the questions to ask are what you want and how much do you want to spend.

So what I’ve done is this: since it’s second on the roster, it’s second on my lineup. It may not line up price-wise or via whatever means you wish to argue me down on but if the company that makes it has it down as its second best, let’s string them together.