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Campy was already on the way out when I started riding around 2000.. I knew a handful of people who had it over the years but it wasn't on many bikes in the shop and it already put you out on a limb where you needed to have your own tools and couldn't share or needed to be near the right shop if that was the way you were going.
That Fignon crash looks/sounds like BB, not an axle as mentioned, or did we mean they tried a Titanium axle?
I don't think the Rolex/Watch analogies work, watches are jewelry you wear out/around in a way average people will see and notice, bikes are not really like that. For that kind of buyer the bike is mostly going to sit in the garage and not get noticed. Out on a ride it probably doesn't impress the other riders like it would have used to.
Having the same thing as the Pros/World Tour is going to impress some riders if that's your thing, I think losing that is significant.
And it's sad just from a heritage/history standpoint.
For me personally a big thing that kept me from every trying it was just bad experiences and collective wisdom when dealing with Italian companies.. it seemed like lots of Italian brands weren't really "In" the US and you were perhaps going to have more trouble with warranty or parts or something as a result. There was at least a couple things I was sold by shops that were into Italian brands where I thought I was buying something that was supposed to be in the US with a US warranty and it wasn't really the case. Though I know that wasn't true with Campy.
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