Cheapest Campagnolo Groupset in US?

[oldpotatoe]

Pricing differentials for Campy are pretty significant. Can't be just exchange rates. Recently looked and US prices for the Ergopower cable set are typically about double ( at ~$75) what overseas sells for.

Originally Posted by mstateglfr

I am convinced Campy actively doesnt want US cyclists to use its stuff. So they say 'We dont want them to buy our stuff, but fine if they are willing to sign over their first born, let em'.

Heaven forbid that some manufacturer wants to make for a level playing field for their 'stuff'. As if Campagnolo has control over a lot of their distribution. Did you say the same thing when shimano reduced their US distributors from 'lots' to about 5? How about sram doing the same thing? Or some pedal and shoe makers who limit their distribution and sales to specific countries?

Ya know, premium gear is expensive..So are Rolex's and Ducatis.. Timex and Seiko are cheaper as are Yamahas.

The guys getting screwed are bike shops..When gigantic US distributors open DTC store fronts. Like Quality BikeParts..who probably owns Planet Cyclery and probably other MO/store fronts close to their warehouses.
If ya want to whine..whine about distribution in the US..

Have you priced ShimaNo Ultegra, or Dura Ace lately?

Or sram anything? $700 for a sram etap rear der...Same $ as a SR EPS rear der...

[Gggross]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Heaven forbid that some manufacturer wants to make for a level playing field for their 'stuff'. As if Campagnolo has control over a lot of their distribution. Did you say the same thing when shimano reduced their US distributors from 'lots' to about 5? How about sram doing the same thing? Or some pedal and shoe makers who limit their distribution and sales to specific countries?

Ya know, premium gear is expensive..So are Rolex's and Ducatis.. Timex and Seiko are cheaper as are Yamahas.

The guys getting screwed are bike shops..When gigantic US distributors open DTC store fronts. Like Quality BikeParts..who probably owns Planet Cyclery and probably other MO/store fronts close to their warehouses.
If ya want to whine..whine about distribution in the US..


Or sram anything? $700 for a sram etap rear der...Same $ as a SR EPS rear der...

Have to agree with you Oldpotatoe. I am willing to pay more for what I want.

[RoosterCogset]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Heaven forbid that some manufacturer wants to make for a level playing field for their 'stuff'. As if Campagnolo has control over a lot of their distribution. Did you say the same thing when shimano reduced their US distributors from 'lots' to about 5? How about sram doing the same thing? Or some pedal and shoe makers who limit their distribution and sales to specific countries?

Ya know, premium gear is expensive..So are Rolex's and Ducatis.. Timex and Seiko are cheaper as are Yamahas.

The guys getting screwed are bike shops..When gigantic US distributors open DTC store fronts. Like Quality BikeParts..who probably owns Planet Cyclery and probably other MO/store fronts close to their warehouses.
If ya want to whine..whine about distribution in the US..

Maybe it's the distributor model that's causing the problem. But I don't see how Campy is leveling the playing field. I referenced a cable set, presumably usable down through the Centaur group. Call them the 'rolex' of cables if you want, but it's not the absolute dollar amount difference, but 2x cost for the same package if purchased in the US seems unreasonable.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by shadco

ShimaNo

.

Really? This was tired 20 years ago……

[sg8357]

Originally Posted by saab2000

Really? This was tired 20 years ago……

Let's make some new ones....

Send Return Authorization Monday

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by RoosterCogset

Pricing differentials for Campy are pretty significant. Can't be just exchange rates. Recently looked and US prices for the Ergopower cable set are typically about double ( at ~$75) what overseas sells for.

https://www.amazon.com/Campagnolo-Ul...a-302047892144

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37230702163...Bk9SR4iI0cPgYQ

https://velomine.com/products/campag...pr_seq=uniform

https://www.ebay.com/itm/36409504226...Bk9SR4yI0cPgYQ

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by RoosterCogset

Maybe it's the distributor model that's causing the problem. But I don't see how Campy is leveling the playing field. I referenced a cable set, presumably usable down through the Centaur group. Call them the 'rolex' of cables if you want, but it's not the absolute dollar amount difference, but 2x cost for the same package if purchased in the US seems unreasonable.

See above...

[weiwentg]

Originally Posted by fredd

Velomine has pretty good prices domestically

Velomine may have been a bit higher than some UK sellers, but he did drop his price on Record groups (and possibly Chorus as well). I bought myself a set. The minor problem was that he only had 52/36 cranks in 165mm, and I was hoping for 50/34, but that's something I can deal with.

[jamesdak]

I love Velomine for a lot of stuff. But everytime I looked at groupset's there you see they are missing stuff like cassettes and BB's. So for the same amount of money pretty much, you can get a full groupset from a place like Merlin's that does come with the cassette and BB. So compare shop carefully.

I've had dozens of buys from Merlin and PBK. Only issue over the past dozen years was a set of wheels from PBK that got lost in customs in LA for a long time. Finally arrived in a crushed, torn open, and retaped box. Sent pics to PBK and within a day they issued me a full refund and told me to do what I want with the wheels.

Most times I get stuff from Merlins to UT in just a few days. The always seem to beat the shipping times from U.S. sellers somehow.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by weiwentg

Velomine may have been a bit higher than some UK sellers, but he did drop his price on Record groups (and possibly Chorus as well). I bought myself a set. The minor problem was that he only had 52/36 cranks in 165mm, and I was hoping for 50/34, but that's something I can deal with.

I'd love to compare what Velomine is offering and what they don't have..and compare that with QBP availability or the same item(s)...Bt I don't have access to QBP catalog anymore.

[RoosterCogset]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

See above...

Thanks, I did eventually order from the Amazon source, as I needed the cables fairly quickly and didn't have enough for free Euro shipping.

What I find interesting is that these better prices aren't labelled as sale or discounted pricing. Is there official MSRP/MAP pricing from Campy?

[peanutgallery]

Applying logic or rational thought to anything campagnolo these days is an exercise in futility. Campy is run like Lord Hesketh would run a bicycle company and that is why it can be all over the map. Purchasing, using and evangelizing about it is because it is an emotional purchase and the end user enjoys the esthetics, uniqueness....and the chase. Who hasn't met a stranger in the parking lot of an airport with a wad if too much cash in return for the latest campy group that wasn't available anywhere else

It is what it is, cost be damned

[mstateglfr]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Heaven forbid that some manufacturer wants to make for a level playing field for their 'stuff'. As if Campagnolo has control over a lot of their distribution. Did you say the same thing when shimano reduced their US distributors from 'lots' to about 5? How about sram doing the same thing? Or some pedal and shoe makers who limit their distribution and sales to specific countries?

Ya know, premium gear is expensive..So are Rolex's and Ducatis.. Timex and Seiko are cheaper as are Yamahas.

The guys getting screwed are bike shops..When gigantic US distributors open DTC store fronts. Like Quality BikeParts..who probably owns Planet Cyclery and probably other MO/store fronts close to their warehouses.
If ya want to whine..whine about distribution in the US..

Wow that was quite the rant.
Honestly, I really dont even follow all of it.


- I have no issue with brands trying to level the playing field. My post does not say or suggest otherwise.

- Shimano reducing inventory channels did elicit a similar comment. I would be comfortable saying a similar thing about Shimano- they hardly seem to want to sell to the US. In my view, they are more interested in OEM. It is well documented that small shops getting Shimano stuff, even before the pandemic, was a bit of a challenge(vs making it easy to sell). So yeah, the same comment could apply to Shimano.

- If shoe and pedal companies limit their sales to specific countries, and the US isnt included, then yeah I would say the same thing about those companies. But that is slightly different from Campy because Campy does sell here, it just doesnt seem easy/convenient/cost effective in many instances.

- Yes I am aware that premium gear is expensive. Its the inconsistency in pricing(and access) across areas of the world that I roll my eyes at. I dont expect SR to cost $500 for a full group. I do expect prices to be within a slim margin of difference between currencies and countries/zones.

- Sure, bike shops are getting screwed. I dont think I have ever claimed that in general bike shops are getting fat and rich. Not sure why you chose to include this since it has nothing to do with my comment you quoted.

- I really dont know why you chose to rant about QBP possibly owning Planet Cyclery. Thats an interesting claim, but one I havent seen any evidence of. But if its true, OK then...so what? Like what does that have to do with my comment you quoted? All I said is I think Campy makes it difficult to buy their product in the US.

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by bil

My experience with PBK, last 2 orders:

Order 1 - they shipped wrong (hole count) hubset. Terrible communication with them.
When discussing returning/refunding they displayed no desire to even consider refunding the taxes and carrier fee that I had to pay… Amazing. Ended up selling the hubset locally.

Order 2 is a real beauty.
I ordered wheelset with Campy FHB. Roughly $1300CA. I then noticed that that option went out of stock and only XDR remained available. I decided to make sure that I bought the last Campy. Messaged them right away and alerted them.
They got back to me saying that it was a mistake indeed, they didn’t have Campy for me and that they would cancel the order!
Yes I am upset, but I am happy that I prevented the worst-case scenario…
What do you think? Next day I see that the order had not been cancelled. I messaged again (right, Chat is never available at PBK, how convenient). They are like “oh, ok, sure, will take a look” – no sense of urgency whatsoever.
Hours later I received notification that the order shipped. Mic drop.
So, PBK had 24 hours to cancel the order they knew was wrong. Their terrible team of 2 clowns there showed their worst and had their employer pay the shipping of a huge carton across the ocean just for me to refuse it and for DHL to ship it back.

While dealing with them I realized how indifferent, irresponsible they were. Zero customer service skills. They simply never cared and didn’t really try to pretend, LOL.
Hey, I even offered a solution that would be much cheaper for PBK – I suggested they partially refund… just to cover the cost of the Campy Freehub body that I would buy elsewhere (we are talking $75CAD here). So they again had a chance to act wisely, to accept my offer and save $$ (freight back and forth, processing, etc) AND, on top of everything, to satisfy the already pissed off customer. Nope. Nope.

Meanwhile. My other wheelset ordered from CRC (chain reaction cycles) arrived with N3W FHB instead of expected “regular” 9-12 campy. One message later, CRC CS apologized and offered me a discount code worth $30 to cover the cost of N3W to Campy adapter. Fair and easy. Yep.

I had super terrible experience with PBK a few years back too. If they have what you want and it comes as described where you don't need to access their customer service you will be fine. However, if there's an issue you are screwed. I've had some good experiences with them as have many others on this forum but beware, if you have issues the 10cents you saved will not be much of a consolation.

[vespasianus]

Originally Posted by ThasFACE

Had good experiences in general with merlin and pbk.

I have ordered two group sets and wheels from Merlin. Fast to ship and low price. Highly recommend them.