Some Campag 7/8 speed questions

oldgit · Oct 12, 2009

Can you help.
I have a nice campag Athena rear mech that was fitted to a seven speed friction set up. However I'm pretty sure these were eight speed (purchased between 1990/93) and unlike Shimano there are no numbers. The main distinguishing feature is the solid cage over the top jockey wheel.

If it is eight speed, will eight speed Ergos opperate them and will I be able to find an eight speed cassette and will that fit modern Campag wheels?

hamster · Oct 12, 2009

Fortunately the Campag mech changes happened well after 8s, so any 8s shifter should work.

However, you do have a problem with cassettes. Campag went to Alu freehub bodies with 9s, and these have deeper splines (although the same pattern as 8s). So 8s sprockets fit a modern hub, but will chew the Alu body up as they only fit the tips of the freehub. In theory you might be able to fit an old 8s body to a later hub, but Campag have changed the internals latterly so it's a bit of a minefield.

Your best bet is to re-use the 8s spacers with the sprockets from a 9s hub.

oldgit · Oct 12, 2009

Great info.

Now someone has told me that old 8 speed ergos will shift 7 speed because the spacing is the same 5mm?
That would mean I could use my almost like new 7 speed wheelset, then the only problem is replacing the 21T max freewheel for something more hill friendly.

So these SunRace freewheels, any good?

hamster · Oct 13, 2009

Your informant is right. 7 and 8 speed Campag is interchangeable - they literally just added an extra cog!

Both have 5mm spacing, so you could even run a 7s Shimano setup onto a Campag cassette. :shock:

Some Campag 7/8 speed questions

oldgit

Retro Guru

hamster

Retro Wizard

oldgit

Retro Guru

hamster

Retro Wizard

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