Are current gruppos ugly?

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by Hellgate

My favorite is perhaps Campy Record 10 with aluminum cranks. Beautiful!

This was the best stuff I ever had. And best looking too.

Until I got Shimano 9000. Which is still excellent looking but today looking dated, if still elegant.

I’d have no issues using today’s Campagnolo. I find it quite attractive in general though the brakes don’t look very special, at least in photos.

Anyway, looks don’t matter as much as functionality and durability. Thankfully is possible to have all three. It just costs a bit more.

[reuben]

Originally Posted by saab2000

Anyway, looks don’t matter as much as functionality and durability.

Don't you blaspheme in here!!

[choke]

I don't think that they are ugly..... that's not a strong enough word to describe my opinion of them. I think that they are hideous.

Unless things change drastically I'll almost certainly never purchase a new groupset again.

[oldpotatoe]

What's an orange taste like??

Interesting thread but 'beauty is in the eyes of the beholder'..To ME, the looks are minor to their function. Are the older groups cool lookin'? yup, are the new groups cool lookin'? Yup...

Unless things change drastically I'll almost certainly never purchase a new groupset again.

Really? It's bike components..considering the 'looks' of modern plastic frames..I guess no new bikes either??...

Like I say on another non-bike forum..and what Sean Walling with Soulcraft always said,

"Tools not trophies"...

[mcteague]

I absolutely hated the new Campy 12s stuff when it first came out. Slowly I came to accept it but that's about it. Now, I have it on one of my bikes. I actually like the look of the crank at this point and the brakes are okay. The rear mech is still something I try not to stare at but it does work well. My early Chorus 11s group on my backup bike looks much better IMO. While that does matter to me how it works ends up being the deciding factor.

Tim

[weisan]

Originally Posted by reuben

I'm more of a Helen Hunt kinda guy.

This is my favorite movie...and Jack Nicholson's acting performance, though excellent, is not the reason why.

[choke]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Really? It's bike components..considering the 'looks' of modern plastic frames..I guess no new bikes either??...

I've never owned a plastic bike and I have no intention of changing that....but there's always custom steel.

[Leyczo]

I think it is just a matter of matching the components to the frame. Older frames look right with older components. Newer frames, especially carbon ones, look right with newer components. Mixing and matching looks weird. No matter how much you like them, those campy parts in the original post would look pretty strange on a new carbon bike.

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by Leyczo

I think it is just a matter of matching the components to the frame. Older frames look right with older components. Newer frames, especially carbon ones, look right with newer components. Mixing and matching looks weird. No matter how much you like them, those campy parts in the original post would look pretty strange on a new carbon bike.

This certainly isn’t new. I think most of us find vintage Campagnolo components and Klein fades attractive, but nuovo record on a quantum?

I think it can be really fun and attractive to mix era (see previously posted yeti) but it is very hard to jump major milestones. As discussed in this thread, components seem to follow frames. When tig welding became the norm in the 90s, it made historical groups look mismatched. We are currently seeing that happen again the focus on aero. In my opinion, Campagnolo seems to do a great job at making groups that look fine on the frames that are the norm at release but fantastic with the frames that come out through the rest of the lifecycle. The fun is finding the mismatches that work. Super record 12 speed on a Klein Quantum? Oh, yeah. 9000 on an old Zunow? Yup.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by BRad704

Call me crazy, but I think that's insanely gorgeous. But gorgeous like the new Vette, not the 'classic hotness' of something like a 1987 Yellowbird.

Yeah I gotta agree with this 100%. As far as race bikes go that TREK is legit...........only thing I would disagree with is the classic hotness part. Instead of 1987 Yellowbird, I'd go with 300SL.............but that's just me

[vincenz]

These both look good in their own way. It’s more of how it’s done.

[rain dogs]

Plenty of aspects of Centaur which are very elegant, minimal and attractive. There are certainly things that aren't what were accustomed to seeing (hidden chainring bolts, the thicker, visually "heavy" rings.

There is a lot of beauty in those bits, while still being contemporary/modern.

I think the marbling on the carbon on Chorus, Record, SR will always be polarizing. Carbon just isn't a beautiful material in the same way polished aluminium is.

If we stayed with the old aesthetic for 40 years, people would be complaining that Campagnolo is tired looking and outdated.

This crank is pretty darn nice afaik.... and I'm not a big fan of the marbled carbon, but when you consider it in context and the type of plastic bike it'll be going on.

[flying]

I always thought a lot of the ugly came from the marketing claim benefit of chasing ever stiffer is always better

Especially in cranksets

It is as if all riders need way stiffer cranks than the likes of Sean Kelly, Erik Zabel had when they were sprinting to wins in Milan San Remo etc

Once they started all the claims of x% stiffer = X% minutia less power loss etc buyers lapped it up.

It is not like the industry can now back track right?

[rain dogs]

There's only one crankset which can stay relatively unchanged for near 20 years, still look baller and still hang with the best of the best in terms of weight and performance and its this:



Hollowgram cranks were ahead of their time, and still are legit. How many companies have since 'copied' or emulated Cannondale's design? SRAM, Easton/Race Face, Rotor, Ingrid, DMR etc. etc.

[Fixed]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Cheers