Help needed with campag gearing...

mrgumby

rBotM Winner
Hi, I am buying this campag equipped tourer for a mates girlfriend..

I've never worked on campagnolo before, always admired it on other bikes but never owned or fixed one so I need a bit of guidance please.

Basically she wants a more relaxed riding style with flat or trekking bars, so I will need to replace the lever/shifters with MTB style ones..

My question is how compatable are (7speed?) campag derailleurs with Shimano shifters? Could I put on some XT thumbies without any surprises? or is there something already out there..

Thanks!
MAtt
 

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The main issue for shifting is the differences in spacing between the rear sprockets.

I think campagnolo 7 and 8 speed have the same spacing as shimano 7 speed,
so if you can find some 7 speed shimano MTB shifters (thumbies, stis etc) they should work
with a campagnolo cassette and deraileur.

Might be a bit more complicated for the front derailleur though - probably easier to use
a non-indexed shifter than to break your balls trying to match up an MTB shifter with a
road crankset.

For wisdom on this kind of thing, see this:

http://sheldonbrown.com/speeds.html

Plus, if it's really a 7 speed campag ergopower set up, it might be quite rare and interesting to collectors (some people deny it exists at all because it was only made for a short run before they started with 8 speed), especially
if in good working order.
If you sold it, you might get enough funds to re-equip the bike with some sturdy modern shimano MTB stuff.

Johnny
 
great, thanks johnny..

I've put a DX MTB thumbshifter on a road bike before with no problems on the front mech.. it's non indexed and works to the limit of the 105 mech. It all happenned very easily

My worry is with the spacing/indexing on the rear, but if they are the same on campag/shim then I see no reason why it shouldn't work. Some might think it sacrilege to dilute the campy but what the hell..

I'm pretty sure it'll be an 8 speed set up from what you say..

I'll let you know how it goes.
matt
 
The sprocket spacing is the same, but you might get into trouble with the cable pull... I always used this page http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/ ... s/shimergo to check stuff like this.

It says all 7 speed and campag 8 speed sprockets have 5.0mm spacing, so there should be no problem there. But it also says that shimano 7 and 8 speed pull 2.9 and 2.8mm of cable per click, and campag 8 pulls 3.5mm. I assume that if you have campag 7 speed, the cable pull is the same as with 8 speed. So if you pair a 7 or 8 speed shimano shifter (either road or mtb) with the existing campag rear mech then the mech probably won't move far enough with each click and the indexing won't work.

If you can find a 7 or 8 speed campag thumshifter (difficult and expensive I would think), or mount some campag DT shifters on some VO thumbie mounts or similar (not cheap either) then you should have no problem

You should still try it and see though, as often what won't work in theory will work in practice (and the opposite is also true!)

If all else fails, there's always friction mode :)
 
I had a feeling that this might be the case. Ill see how I go with some spare dx shifters and be ready to buy campagnolo ones when it doesn't work!
 
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