Long term reviews of Chorus 12 speed versus 11?

[cyan]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

To answer your question:

Yes, a 12s chain will work on your carbon-ti rings with a 12s rear derailleur. I am running Praxis 11sp rings and it works. HOWEVER. Does it work well? Hmm, not really. Campagnolo changed the spacing ever so slightly with 12sp as far as I understand and it pushes the chainline out ever so slightly from 11sp. Therefore, 12sp rings just work better. It'll start off fine. It'll shift nicely in the workstand and even on the road but then over time, it'll get a bit noisy and shifting won't be as good. My shifting is now pretty lackluster and so is drivetrain noise. I just need to buy Campagnolo cranks/rings. And so should you if you buy any 12 speed Campagnolo groupset.

Here's a post from Craig Gaulzetti that describes the exact behaviour I have found from running 11sp rings on an otherwise totally 12sp setup:

So do the issues described by Craig apply only to a mixed group of 11-spd and 12-spd stuff, or even to a complete 12-spd group? I've seen many people complain about the noises by their 12-spd Campy, and wonder if what Craig's said is (part of) the cause.

[Hai H. Ho]

I’ve been on 6 rides now with the Chorus 12. One complaint: the chain has gotten dirty so quickly. It spits grease marks on the chain stay. Anyone else have the same issues? My SR 11 chain of 9 years with more miles is cleaner.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by denapista

Reviving an old thread...

I'm a fan of Campy and I built my Firefly with Shimano 9100.. I haven't touched my Carbon bike (Campy 11 SR) for months. I rode it recently and now I want to remove the Shimano from my Firefly.. I never realized how good the Campy hoods feel and the blob feel of Shimano.

I run THM cranks on all of my bikes and recently got Carbon-Ti rings for the FF build. I want to go Campy 12, but damn it's getting hard to pull the trigger. I had to get a Freehub for the wheels to switch Shimano/Campy and then the Campy 12s Cassette pricing is wild! Also will a 12s chain work on Carbon Ti rings with the Campy 12 RD? At this point I'm just going to look for a good set of SR11 components. The sad part is swapping 11s wheels around between all of my bikes..

Why this dumb move to 12S to begin with? I can see the need via electronic but Mechanical?

Yes
12s came with a lot of small improvements that made a really good group(11s) even better. You must not think it's TOO dumb as you are considering it..


Why 9s?, 10s, 11s, 12s? 13s?..as the 's' makers march along...

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Hai H. Ho

I’ve been on 6 rides now with the Chorus 12. One complaint: the chain has gotten dirty so quickly. It spits grease marks on the chain stay. Anyone else have the same issues? My SR 11 chain of 9 years with more miles is cleaner.

Most chains come from the factory with a heavy, sticky lube. At the minimum, I'd wipe the chain with a paper shop towel that has mineral spirits on it.

You've been using the same chain for 9 years?

I prefer a dry lube and strip the chain completely before applying my home made paraffin based lube.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by Dave

You've been using the same chain for 9 years?

It’s just getting broken in.

[boywander]

I have about 10k miles on my record 10 chain and still going strong.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by boywander

I have about 10k miles on my record 10 chain and still going strong.

When you finally remove it, you'll probably get new-chain skip. It only took me 6000 to get new-chain skip. I did it on purpose to prove that a chain with far less than .25% elongation could wear out the most used sprockets.

[Dave]

I have a hard time believing that noise will develop after using an 11 speed crank with a 12 speed drivetrain, that wasn't present from the start. Chainline being off by a small amount might cause additional noise with the first or last couple of sprockets, but not all.

Try a sram force axs 12 chain. You might be surprised how quiet it is. Choice of chain lube matters too. Really dry stuff can be noisy. I still like my home made liquid paraffin wax lube. Sram axs chains have a light oil on them from the factory, not the common sticky stuff. I still remove it apply my own lube.

[Hai H. Ho]

Originally Posted by Dave

Most chains come from the factory with a heavy, sticky lube. At the minimum, I'd wipe the chain with a paper shop towel that has mineral spirits on it.

You've been using the same chain for 9 years?

I prefer a dry lube and strip the chain completely before applying my home made paraffin based lube.

Thank you Dave. Yes, I’ve wiped the chain down with a shop rag and have gotten 75% off / out but some still slings on the chain stay.

I have a few bikes and I try to rotate what’s being ridden. Each bike doesn’t have the normal yearly miles.

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by Dave

I have a hard time believing that noise will develop after using an 11 speed crank with a 12 speed drivetrain, that wasn't present from the start. Chainline being off by a small amount might cause additional noise with the first or last couple of sprockets, but not all.

Try a sram force axs 12 chain. You might be surprised how quiet it is. Choice of chain lube matters too. Really dry stuff can be noisy. I still like my home made liquid paraffin wax lube. Sram axs chains have a light oil on them from the factory, not the common sticky stuff. I still remove it apply my own lube.

Just reporting what I’ve experienced. Yes, smallest 3 sprockets only. But the noise wasn’t there to begin with.

[slowpoke]

Resurrecting this old thread because I've put off purchasing decisions over the holidays...

Current 12 speed owners, have you noticed the drivetrain being more noisy or requires more adjustment than say 11? I've read some reports on Weight Weenies of folks complaining of drivetrain noise and someone surmised that this may be due to chainstay length.

If it matters, this drivetrain is meant for a c̶y̶c̶l̶o̶c̶r̶o̶s̶s̶ "all road" bike that's going to see 50/50 road/dirt. Chainstays are ~410mm.

Thanks!

[cgolvin]

I have Chorus 12, 48/32 & 11-32, slightly more than a year old. I find there’s a bit of noise from the largest cogs in the rear but I really only notice it on the stand, not while riding. The shifting has been rock solid since initial setup, if anything it requires less fiddling than my 11 (SR) bike.

However … back in November I began having problems with the FD, specifically when moving to the small chainring it wouldn’t shift if there was force on the pedals, I would have to almost stop pedaling before it would make the shift. Played with limits & tension, no difference, then I happened to notice that the cage had broken along the attachment rivets, which certainly explained why the big to small shift was the problem.

I got a replacement cage via warranty and just did the R&R yesterday (huge thanks to one of our members!).

I have 3 other bikes with Campy groups, all FDs are at least 10 years old and work flawlessly, so this was a surprise. Of course this is just a single data point.

[ace70]

This is very interesting, had the exact same thing happen to me, although a bit more violent breakage of the outer cage, which also broke at the rivet line. was there an issue with Campagnolo honouring the warranty?

Originally Posted by cgolvin

I have Chorus 12, 48/32 & 11-32, slightly more than a year old. I find there’s a bit of noise from the largest cogs in the rear but I really only notice it on the stand, not while riding. The shifting has been rock solid since initial setup, if anything it requires less fiddling than my 11 (SR) bike.

However … back in November I began having problems with the FD, specifically when moving to the small chainring it wouldn’t shift if there was force on the pedals, I would have to almost stop pedaling before it would make the shift. Played with limits & tension, no difference, then I happened to notice that the cage had broken along the attachment rivets, which certainly explained why the big to small shift was the problem.

I got a replacement cage via warranty and just did the R&R yesterday (huge thanks to one of our members!).

I have 3 other bikes with Campy groups, all FDs are at least 10 years old and work flawlessly, so this was a surprise. Of course this is just a single data point.

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by ace70

This is very interesting, had the exact same thing happen to me, although a bit more violent breakage of the outer cage, which also broke at the rivet line. was there an issue with Campagnolo honouring the warranty?

No issue, though the details require a bit more explanation — I’ve sent them via PM.

[fmradio516]

On a related note. The plastic "bumper" part of my Chorus 12 fr der outer cage broke off somehow the other day. Only 160 miles on the new group.. grrr!!!