Originally Posted by
Andrew R Stewart
Kimmo- Interesting in that Sachs Ergos were speced to Shimano 7 speed cable pull with Shimano ders (of that era). This is also Campy 8 speed cassette spacing (campy 7 and 8 speed cassettes have 5mm c-c cogs as Shimano 7 spd does). So Sachs Ergos were intended to work with Shimano ders and Shimano 7 or campy 7&8 speed cogs.
So what was the cassette in your recent system? Andy
I owned a bike with Sachs New Success Ergos - circa 1995.
As background, 7 and 8 speed Campagnolo cogsets have 5.0mm cog spacing, which is the same as Shimano 7-speed. Shimano 8 is 4.8mm spacing, which is close enough to 7-speed so as to be cross-compatible. So let's forget about cog spacing - it is not the issue.
I experimented quite a bit with different configurations on this bike. My conclusion is that Sachs New Success Ergos are functionally identical to Campagnolo shifters. As in, they used the same 8-speed shift disk, and they pulled exactly the same amount of cable per 'click'.
I pulled off the Sachs derailleur and replaced it with Shimano 600 Tri-color. It over-shifted. XT rear derailleur: the same problem. Then I installed a Campy rear derailleur from roughly 1995. Worked perfectly. I then took the Sachs rear derailleur and installed it on a bike with 8-speed Ergopower levers. Worked perfectly.
Let's think this through: why would Campagnolo have made a custom shift disk for Sachs for use with Shimano-compatible derailleurs? My conclusion is that they had no motivations to do this, and they never did.
To the topic of making 9-speed Ergopower levers work with a Shimano 9-speed cassette? Use the later vintage of 9-speed levers with the earlier generation of 9-speed Campy derailleurs. Run the math. The result is a perfect matching of cable pull, derailleur mechanical actuation and cog spacing. I've been running this combo for 10 years - perfect shifting.