davey43

I am considering purchasing a 1999 colnago off of ebay and putting new a new shimano bottom bracket on it. While the shimano components fit the colnago?

Thanks.

TallRider

Yes, Shimano components will fit the bike's frame. You need to figure out the bottom bracket size (either 70mm Italian shell diameter, or 68mm English diameter) but the BB will thread in if you get the correct one. Where you're more likely to bump into compatibility issues is if hte frame already has some components. If it has campagnolo components, you could use a Shimano BB, but you shouldn't. Campy square-taper BB's go by the ISO standard, while Shimano and most other square-taper BB's go by the JIS standard. The angle of the taper is the same, but ISO BB spindle faces are slightly smaller than JIS.
So, if you have a Campy crank, get a Campy (or stronglight, or whatever ISO-standard) bottom bracket.

davey43

The bike has campy record components on it already - I had a bianchi with campy several years ago and hated it. I have riden shimano ultegra ever since and would prefer to stick with it. The bike for sale has a triple - I also do not need this - would prefer to just take the bottom bracket out and the cranks off and replace with newer Shimano Ultegra cranks/bracket/derailer etc. Since it already has campy stuff is this going to be a problem (outside of finding the correct size)?

Thanks!

cs1

NO, the bike will get sick and die on you mid ride. ShimaNo on an Italian bike can only lead to transplant shock.

Tim

operator

I think there may be an element of truth to this. Campy bb/shimano cranks might not work so cool. Any other experiences?

TallRider

I explained in my first post why mixing BB's and cranks is not a good idea. However, if you want to run a Shimano crank (a double, in this case), that will work fine - and will still be compatible with the other Campy components on the bike.

You'd also need to change the deraillers and shifters together, since there's not compatibility across the two brands (although JTEK Shiftmate could make Campy shifters work with Shimano derailler, and vice versa).
Also, Shimano cassettes will not fit on a rear freehub designed for Campy, and vice versa.

When you refer to having "hated Campy" - what did you hate about it? That would be very useful information for our actually answering your question, and telling you which parts you should replace and which you shouldn't. Most Campy stuff and most Shimano stuff works very well, but has a different feel. I have no idea if you're talking about "feel" or if you had a Campy product that was defective (rare) or what.

If it's the "feel" of the shifters, you could change the shifters (nothing else) and get JTEK shiftmate to run Shimano STI shifters with the Campy rear derailler and cassette.

TallRider

That's about right as a joking response to the question as framed. I've put too much time trying to answer a question that is vague on at least 7 points.

orange leader

you can do it!! just make sure campy stays with campy, shimano stays with shimano. You could have campy front shifters and deraileur and/or bottom bracket & cranks, and shimano rear shifter and cassette/freewheel, but don't mix and match campy and shimano on either the front or the back.

Actually, it might work in the front, I've never tried it. Does anyone know if different bike gear manufacturers change the spacing on the front of the bike (well actually the middle of the bike, but the front of the drive train. I believe the shifter levers will still need to go with the same manufacturer deraileur, because they may not have or need the same amount of cable pull per gear index.

Brakes should be no problem, campy/shimano & levers/calipers should mix fine, you just squeeze until the bike stops, not much precision there.

Campy and shimano cassettes will not fit on each other's freewheel bodies at all, so if you're going to change, you'll HAVE to replace the freewheel too.

Have fun figuring it all out.

But to answer you're original question... any frame should accept any manufacturers bicycle components, providing they connect to the frame in the correct way. the only odd thing I can think of is some front derailleurs clamp to the tube and some bolt to a braize-on. Both campy and shimano make both varieties.