Campagnolo Vs Shimano VS SRAM for road bike applications., Which is best and why?

I am in the process of gathering all the parts I need to build a road bike from the ground up and have decided to go with Campagnolo parts from thier Centaur gruppo. But I am interested in opinions of the other manufacturers and thier product and want to hear the pro's and con's of each...

Each manufacturer has their pluses and minuses. It's more of matter of taste as to which one is really better. Safe to say it's an even playing field. Here are my opinions on the topic since everyone else will give you theirs.

Campagnolo has been around longer than any other company to date. Campy tends to bring up images of pedigree and high quality. In the past, they did have quality problems from the late 80's- the eatly 90's, but they bounced back and are still up there with the other three.
Pros: Heritage, reliable, components are interchangeable through the entire line, repairable shifters.
Cons: Replacement stuff aren't always readily available and I'm not a fan of their shifters. They seemed like they were designed for people with small hands. Also, while you can repair Campy shifters, anyone that's done it knows that it isn't easy.

Shimano has been around quite a long time but nowhere near as long as Campy. However, they are the first to successfully use index shifting back in the 80's and they pioneered the STI system. They marketed the index system in a way that has made them bigger than the other two by convincing vendors that index shifting will only work with Shimano specific components, then introducing STI a few years later.
Pros: Very reliable, more readily available parts, go to any race (even in Europe) and you'll see more Shimano equipped support cars than Campy or SRAM, I love the feel of their shifters. They are a very diverse company, offering components for bottom feeder bikes (ie. department stores) as well as high end $10K rigs.
Cons: Not all components are interchangeable throughout line. They seem to phase out older components fast and force the owner to upgrade, Shifters are garbage when they fail.

SRAM has been around a long time. I was told that they used to be SACHS but I can't confirm that. Anyway, they are really good components. Just a few years ago, Shimano was backlogged with orders on their components. Many roadies started looking toward SRAM as an alternative. It really surprised them when SRAM cassettes and chains were just as good as the Shimanos and were actually less expensive to buy. What's funny about it is that mountain bikers had been using SRAM for quite a long time. Now they have full grouppos and they are all race-worthy.

Pros: They have the lightest groups on the market, and already have a huge following. They run smoothly. Haven't tried the Red but the Force rode extremely well.

Cons: Shifting action left a bad taste in my mouth. I thought that there was too much effort in shifting the double shift thing might take some getting used to but I think that a group this good should be more like the Shimano or Campy groups. Then again, isn't SRAM a different kind of company? Remember this was just my opinion

Campagnolo
- It has the pedigree and quality parts. A bit more expensive than the equivalently spec'ed Shimano grouppos, but you get what you pay for.
- You can also shift multiple times, perfect for a surprising sprint or a hill you didn't realise was so steep. The shifters also don't involve the brake lever, which is a bit more sensible IMO.
- Interchangeability within different grouppos.

Shimano
- Market leaders in all areas of cycling really.
- large range of quality to chose from. From Sora to Dura-ace
- easy to find spares
- Loads of proprietary systems, such as Hollowtech II and Octalink can sometimes make mixing an matching some parts a nightmare.

SRAM
- Very Light and aesthtically pleasing components
- Great chains and cassettes, compatible with Shimano systems. Powerlinks are one of the best things you can buy
- Not much of a range in grouppos to choose from, all pretty expensive from the outset.
- I hold hold tem in the same light as Campag and Shimano...I still seem to think of them as mainly MTB parts manufacturers...personal opinion really.
- Don't like the new shifting technique...again - personal opinion.

Campy sure is sweet, all nice and polished. Shimano has lighter shifting, slightly better braking-105 and above. Sram Rival is the lightest of the three.

Campy shifters make you use your thumb to downshift on a lever on the inside.

Shimano levers make you use your pointer or middle finger.

Sram uses a similar fashion as Shimano, but makes you tap the lever twice to upshift amd once to upshift. This is different than Shimano because the downshift lever is the brake lever for the rear and the inside lever for the front.

Any way you go is good, it just depends on the personality of the bike you want to build.

Good luck.

Keep it in the big ring.