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OPINION

Campag EPS vs Shimano Di2: which is better?

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by dave atkinson
Thu, Nov 17, 2011 13:51
6
Campag EPS vs Shimano Di2: which is better?Ultegra Di2 test ride Harald on the hairpin.jpg
...which press launch cycling kit is better, that is...

So much for the shifters and that. I'm sure the question on everyone's lips is: which press-camp cycling kit pack was better? Well, we've been to Aigle and Vicenza so that we can bring you a point by point comparison of the Ultegra Di2 kit (above) and the Campag EPS kit (below). You can rely on road.cc to ask the difficult questions.

What we got

You shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. But there's no rule about comparing gift horses, so far as we can see. Campag sorted us out with shorts, a jersey, a windproof gilet, some gloves and some socks. Thanks very much. Shimano rocked up with jerseys, bibs, socks, arm and leg warmers and a pair of top-end shoes. Plus we got two sets of the Jersey and bib combo so we could give one away as schwag. Nice.

Scores: Campag 6 Shimano 10

Quality

Both kits were nicely made, thanks very much. The Shimano bibs had the edge in terms of the quality of the pad; both jerseys were pretty similar. The Campag socks were very nice, autumn weight affairs. The Shimano R315 shoes are top-dollar offerings so an extra point there. The Campag gloves and raw Carbon bars weren't the best combination... sketchy.

Scores: Campag 7 Shimano 8

Design

Okay. There's not going to be many opportunities to wear the Di2 shorts in anger now that the press launch is over. The lurid green went with the bikes, but it doesn't go with much else. Campag's more understated black and royal blue kit is certainly more pleasing and you could imagine yourself sticking it on for a sunday ride without having to buy everyone cake as a fine. You'd still feel a bit of a tool riding in EPS kit on a bike with those old-fasioned cables though...

Scores: Campag 8 Shimano 5

The winner

Well, our rudimentary calculations show that even though it's not the best-looking kit out there, Shimano have edged the kit wars by 23 points to 21. Mostly because we scored some shoes and there was enough to give some of it away to you, dear reader. There'll be some actual words on the components soon!

 

 

Campagnolo EPS
Ultegra Di2
Dave Atkinson

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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6 comments

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daviddb | 12 years ago
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Article-ettes like this are exactly why I browse RoadCC when I've a spare moment.

Shallow? Moi?

1

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seismic | 13 years ago
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If you dont like the free kit give it a quick wash and pass it this way. Actually I have a washing machine so just stick it in the post! That Shimano green matches my eyaes after reading how hard a trip you had 14

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Max_Leonard | 13 years ago
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Oooh. So Shimano make better clothes than Campag, but are more garish - what's going on?!

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VecchioJo | 13 years ago
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did the Campag shorts give you EPS?

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dave atkinson | 13 years ago
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Shimano gave us steak in a castle and fondue up a mountain, at Campag we only got a cheese and ham sandwich 4

To be fair to Campag, we weren't on the 'official' press launch, we went over to the factory to ride the bikes. We had a nose around the factory too, more on that later...

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Velo_Alex | 13 years ago
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It's posts like this that make me love you Guys above all other sites. Seriously. Next time though, can you rate the quality of the catering, too? This matters to us out here.

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