tmoneygetpaid

I just won some old ergopower levers (1991-97 type). Since I've been using entirely friction on all my bikes because of the mechanical simplicity, I'm kind of in the dark about compatibility. I'm delving into new waters in my home mechanicing here, so I'm wondering if I can run these shifters in a couple possible setups:

1.) If I replace that internal gear that controls indexing, can I run it with a dura ace 9 speed cassette that I have around? Or do I need a campy cassette? I have a couple derailleurs I could use-- a 9 speed 105 that I'm not using. Could I use that or do I need a new derailleur?

2.) I have an 8-speed hg50 cassette I could swap onto the wheel I was going to run on the back of this bike. Would this work?

Essentially I'm wondering if I need a campagnolo derailleur and cassette to get the bike setup with these shifters.

Thanks.

SoreFeet

You don't need a campy derailleur for it to shift properly. The issue will be the shifter uses a certain amount of cable pull per cog. The problem will be the spacing of the cassette will have a different spacing than the Campy cassette.

There is a product called J-tek shiftmate that compensates for cable pull and allows you to mix campy and shimano. I have not tried it or found too many reviews.

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/Shiftmate.asp

JunkYardBike

There are also a few 'mixed marriages' that work. There's a great chart at this website giving you some options.

https://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3946

I'm building a bike with Campy 8-speed ergos and dérailleurs mated to a shimano 7 speed cassette. The cog spacing on Campy 8 and Shimano 7 cassettes are exactly the same, so if all goes well, the only 'quirk' in my system will be a ghost 8th click.

cs1

While conversion cassettes and Jtek's Shiftmate work OK, they're not perfect. The best performance is achieved by using a genuine Campagnolo 8 sp rear derailleur and cassette. Others might disagree, but I've tried them all and on those early Campy bikes keeping it all Campy gives you the fewest headaches IMO.

If your spare parts box is all Shimano, I'd suggest selling the Campy brifters on ebay. Chorus and Record brifters, even in average condition, bring over a $100.

Tim

monogodo

I have Campy Record Ergo (8-sp) shifters with a Record RD, and all but one of my wheels are Shimano 8-speed cassettes. The one that isn't has a Sachs Maillard 7-speed freeweel. They all shift just fine.

tmoneygetpaid

That would actually be perfect! I have a nice 7-speed cassette I could use.

So would I just set the limit screws on the RD so that it doesn't go "past" that gear and then the 8th click would just do nothing? And would the pitch or anything else have the potential for extra wear with this setup?

JunkYardBike

Setting the stop as you describe is my plan. Should work. As far as pitch, with a Campy 8 speed RD and Campy 8 speed ergos, the pitch is 5mm, which is exactly the spacing on either the Shimano 7 or Campy 8 cassette. If you use a mixed Campy ergo and Shimano RD setup, you'll need to refer to that chart for pitch. If it's different than 5.0, then it's probable that you will encounter some finicky shifting, from what I understand. But monogodo appears to have had success.

monogodo

I should mention that my RD is the same vintage as my brifters, and is Ergopower-compatible. It's the Record Ti RD. An older non-Ergopower RD most likely won't shift properly with the brifters w/o some finagling.

And yes, when I run the 7s cassette, I adjust the low limit screw to keep it from dropping off the inside cog into the spokes.