Campagnolo gear help on Yeti pro fro mtb help

[biglev]

I was tryign to build a Yeti team campagnolo homage build. Its taken me more that 10 years to get close to the parts i needed. Anyways I have had trouble getting the gears to index. Please note i have been a shop bike mechanic, race mechanic and builder for 30+ years and have built 100s if nto 1000s of bikes. But i dont about campag Euclid and Centaur gears.

I tried to get as close to the same set up as the pro bike Centaur shifters, and Euclid rear mech. Sachs rear Free hub.

First time out i used a SRAM 8spd chain (as they bough the Sachs tools back in the day) and a regular Sachs freewheel. The gears would change well on 7 & 6 then get works then over shoot on 3,2,1. Or change for 1,2,3 and then you would have to over shift on 7,6. I thought maybe cable on the other side fo the bold ont he rear mech, nope thats worse.

Maybe the chain and the freewheel, so at great expense i got a Sach sedis PC91 (SL) chain correct era and the Sachs Millard (syncro) freewheel. Still the same issue either 1,2,3 work and you have to over shift with the thum on 7,6 and it can drop back or it shifts 7,6,5 and jumps on 3,2,1. do i just make it friction?

Is there a known set up for this that i cant find? i am being dim and have missed something? Is there a sprecific campag freewheel i need? I think i need the collective clout fo the retrobike brains to help. all ideas welcome.

 

[27motorhead]

Loving that @biglev. Sorry to hear you have had a nightmare with setting up the gears.

I used to run Centaur bag in the day for a year, but switched back to the BIG S in the end.

Campagnolo didn't make freewheels, they recommended Regina freewheels and chains (£££!). Sachs should be fine though?

It was more clunky than Shimano, but I ran Regina freewheel and chain and it worked OK. I also had it running on a shimano cassette whilst I was saving up for the Campag wheels and got that to work OK too despite the slightly different spacing on the sprockets.

x2 things spring to mind.
1. Are you using Campag cables? They are crap and compress easier than Shimano SIS cables.
2. You could use a floating top jockey wheel to help. I see you're running the delightfully tasty grey jockey wheels, but not sure of anyone who may do light grey floating top jockeys to match? Worth a try in the first instance with a black shimano one.

 

[biglev]

Thanks for the feedback. All good calls.

1. The top jockey wheels are goood shout. i foudn other web info saying the team ran shimano XT top jockey wheel so i can try that.
2. The inner cables are campag as they are smaller lug diameter (why??) i wapped the black campag outter for jag wire with the correct alloy furrels.
3. Regina freewheel i wil try and source one.

but it sounds like although solid when in gear the changing is never goign to be as slick as shimano. thansk again for chipping in. It was drivign me nuts.

 

[27motorhead]

There was a reason why Julie Furtardo had her groupset switched over to Shimano at the eve of the Worlds despite being sponsored by Campagnolo. They put sticky tape over the Campagnolo on her jersey too!

I love Campy and have x2 builds and potentially x3 builds with it… let’s see how I get on with it some 35 years later!!!

 

[biglev]

I am lovign the looks of the campy and its perfect on the build. I am gonna try a jocky wheel and a third freewheel at £100! and we will see.

 

[Once A Hero]

Loving that @biglev. Sorry to hear you have had a nightmare with setting up the gears.

I used to run Centaur bag in the day for a year, but switched back to the BIG S in the end.

Campagnolo didn't make freewheels, they recommended Regina freewheels and chains (£££!). Sachs should be fine though?

It was more clunky than Shimano, but I ran Regina freewheel and chain and it worked OK. I also had it running on a shimano cassette whilst I was saving up for the Campag wheels and got that to work OK too despite the slightly different spacing on the sprockets.

x2 things spring to mind.
1. Are you using Campag cables? They are crap and compress easier than Shimano SIS cables.
2. You could use a floating top jockey wheel to help. I see you're running the delightfully tasty grey jockey wheels, but not sure of anyone who may do light grey floating top jockeys to match? Worth a try in the first instance with a black shimano one.

Are you sure Campag didn't make a 7spd MTB freewheel? Perhaps not Centaur/Euclid - but I'm sure there was an Olympus 7spd freewheel.

The 8spd set-up on my Kona Explosif didn't work too well until I had an all Campag arrangement of cassette, chain and jockey wheels, but now operates smoothly.

 

[biglev]

there are defo campa 7 speed cassettes but i cant find any freewheels. i will take another look. but it sounds like either the Regina Syncro screw on freewheel at £100-150 or i look and see if the magical campaga Freewheel exists. ;-)

 

[trailwright]

This is an interesting thread so I did a bit of digging in the RB archives. The '89 catalogues for both Centaur and Euclid show screw-on rear hubs as part of the groupset, but the only thing missing is a freewheel. There's no mention of what Campag suggest to use surprisingly given they do mention their chain is a Regina one. As has been pointed out above, they move onto cassette hubs from 1990 on. However, for the mountain bike tandem groupset you can see (pic below) that they did produce a 7 speed freewheel, so I guess they're out there somewhere.

 

[trailwright]

I have also noticed that the ability on Campag's website to scour the archived technical brochures from the 80's and 90's is no longer there unfortunately (unless I've missed this). Was a useful source for part identification.

 

[wiredfool]

Ok, those mountain bike tandem cranks are beautiful. I do sort of wonder how all 4 of them fit on the one BB that is included in the grouppo...