Calling All Campy Gurus
 

I think that the Campy 10-speed Ergo shifter (RH) on one of my bikes needs to be overhauled. My question is, since these are 2007/2008-vintage parts, am I faced with having to search for NOS for replacement parts or have these remained essentially the same in the intervening time, thereby allowing me to use new stock?

Thank you so much!

No. Campagnolo still sells G-springs and carriers for 1998-2008 ergo levers. You can even buy them from Amazon.

Stock up in case Campagnolo discontinues them as they did with 1992-1997 and 2009+ shifter small parts.

Fortunately, Campagnolo replaced the G-spring mechanism with Ultra Shift in 2009 which has ball bearings engaging the shift detents with separate coil springs behind them. My 2010 Centaur Carbon levers made it 24,000 miles before requiring service, which is 3X the time it took for my G-springs to fail because they abraded or broke from fatigue. The front paddle return spring broke, although that part is similar to the one used in the older shifters which fail the same way.

If you want to do that, you'll want 2010 10-speed levers (the 2009 model year had soft detents); or 2014 (the levers changed in 2015) 11-speed Ultra Shift levers with a 10-speed index cam + front ratchet from crashed levers or EC-CE100 10 speed lever body (you can get then for $70).

OTOH, the move to the 90 degree cable guide in the shifter body cut rear shift cable life in half and I'm now on a 2000 mile cable replacement interval (4000 for housing). Pick your poison.

Wow--that was fast! Thank you so much for your help. I appreciate it.

The issue is that I was riding earlier today and all of a sudden my right shifter would not take up more than one gear per shift.

So I need to buy G-springs and carriers. Got it! Thanks again.

That's probably something different. Shifting gets softer as the G-springs wear and when they break or wear too far the shifters don't stay in gear, especially with larger cogs.

If you can't shift multiple cogs larger I'd suspect a problem with the front ratchet pawl not engaging correctly. With the 1992-1997 levers it has a tiny baby spring not sold separately from the paddle. 2009+ Ultra Shift levers use the main paddle return spring. I don't know what levers do between those times.

You probably want to replace G-springs and carrier as long as you have the lever apart because they are wear items, although they're not your (only) problem.

@gfk_velo runs the Campagnolo UK service center and probably has useful comments on what's going on.

I was suspecting the ratchet pawl after watching the Campy video on this overhaul. I'll get the whole lot of parts if I can find them. I really hope I don't run into problems, though, because I absolutely love the Campy 10-speed Ergo drivetrain/performance. I have another bike with Campy 11-speed that is only a couple of years old; I like the 10-speed better.

Thanks again!

I had sent my 2005 Chorus 10 shifter in to be rebuilt after a crash when it was still pretty much new, and 12 years later it still shifts flawlessly. I think it was Branford Bikes that did it, at one time in Connecticut, then in Idaho or Montana, and then in Seattle right on the route that I used to take almost daily when I lived there. They also sponsored the site CampyOnly, or were at least somehow associated with it. I just checked and a version of it is still around. And I just checked Branford and they are still in Seattle, and specialize in Campy.

Anyway, I don't know the specifics of the levers, except to know that you can rebuild them, unlike a certain other brand.

They are, indeed. Thank you so much for this information. They sell all the parts that I need and will even rebuild your levers for you if you wish. This is an invaluable resource for everybody who runs Campy.

I appreciate the help!

When you say it won't take up more than one gear per shift, do you mean that when you push the finger lever (lever 2) all the way across, it will only move you one sprocket at the rear "easier", or do you mean that a full stroke on the thumb lever will only move you one sprocket "harder"?

Is it *really* a sudden thing, or has it been getting progressively worse? The most likely cause would usually get gradually worse, or, you'd leave the bike un-ridden for a while (maybe wet, or maybe with perspiration accumulated on the levers), then come back to it and find that you had this problem.

If you consider how the shift mechanism is triggered by the levers, the reason is clear.

The shifting itself is actioned by the cable either being wound around the cable bushing (pushing lever 2 across), or the cable bushing being driven the other way whilst the spring in the rear derailleur tries to pull the cable through the housing (pushing lever 3 down).

Both levers 2 and 3 have a two stage action. In the first part of the movement, you are working against a small, light action spring, to move a drive pawl into contact with a drive ring.

In the case of L2, the lever pivots slightly at the top against a spring built into the very top of the lever, so bringing a pawl into contact with the drive ring. Lever 3 does the same, the first 10 -15 degrees of motion are against a small spring with the part of the L3 assembly that pivots being allowed to move "down" to bring a pawl into contact with a drive ratchet built into the cable bushing.

If those pivots are "sticky", usually as a result of corrosion, it can be that the pivot action of the lever that allows the pawl into contact with the drive ring needs a lot of resistance before there is enough counter-force to drive the pawl against the drive ring / ratchet.

It's unusual, unheard of, even, for that corrosion to happen suddenly in a bike that is used daily, or even a few times a week ... although it can get progressively worse even in a regularly-used bike (my winter training / turbo bike does it if I don't drop a small amount of oil onto the L3 pivot and work it in once every couple of weeks in the winter).

Another possible cause which is fairly rare but would give you an overnight failure, is normally partnered with slightly flaky shifting all around, is a failure of the either the return spring at the back of the lever (very, very rare) or a failure of the post on the spring mount ring that it hooks around (not so rare but still not something we see very often).

The reason this causes a problem is because the whole spring mount ring can rotate about 10 degrees inside the lever - this is what allows the slight overshift that you need to go from a small sprocket to a bigger one - the gear actually goes past where it needs to be and then settles back onto good alignment under the sprocket. The return spring is responsible for "helping" the mount ring back, amongst other things. If the spring fails or if the post it hooks around breaks, the mount ring will rotate those 10 degrees but not necessarily be pulled back. Added to the 10 to 15 degrees L2 needs to move before the pawl engages out of a 45 degree / 3 gear total motion and you have the ability to shift only one, or occasionally 2 sprockets at a time.

A full strip, clean, lube of the pivot points and inspection of the parts will show you the problem. The guys at Branford will certainly be able to sort this for you. Very few parts of the 10s levers of that generation are unavailable, even now ... the cable bushings and body shells are all finished from the factory (though complete lever bodies are still on inventory, so at VeloTech we just buy those and frag them) and one or two of the smaller spacing / shim washers - but all of the other parts are still to be had.

Hope that helps!

Safe miles, and thanks, Drew, for the name-check!

Well, first, let me thank you for having taken the time to answer my question in such detail!

1) I mean that it won't shift more than one gear when I depress lever 2, across; the downshifter (i.e., harder) continues to work fine

2) This is, predominantly, my summer or dry-weather bike and almost never sees moisture. I don't naturally perspire gobs, so it is not sweat on the shifters that has caused this (moreover, I wear headsweats head gear that also helps)

I love the drivetrain on this bike because it always shifts as smoothly as cutting into soft butter--perfection! I guess that it really was not as sudden as I have made it out to be; I've actually noticed a slight degradation over the last few rides (I mean that the shifting became erratic); but when it failed, it did so suddenly.

I have now ordered the parts from Branford because these are original from 2007. I'm surprised they have performed as well for so long, frankly.

Now, I have another question. Will I need any specialized tools to do this work? I have a lot of tools already, but I don't know if I will need any exotic "Campy" tools.

Again, I thank everyone on this thread who has take the time to help me out!

No, no particularly special tools are required - in fact with Campagnolo, apart from the chain rivetter, there never have been, particularly ... it's a bit of an urban myth. You don't need any tooling that any decently-equipped workshop hasn't got, other than tools for jobs that don't get done that often, such as crank removal. I can't actually remember the last time I took a chain of for cleaning, either, for that matter.

What I would advise is that you watch the video of the job being done, on the Campagnolo website through, with close attention, several times before you start. When you come to do the job, you won't necessarily have a hand free to pause the video when you get to the tricky bits!

We use a 5mm ball-ended allen key mounted vertically in a vice to hold the lever for most of the process - the "front end" of the lever can all be done "freehand" but once that is in place, the lever is best fixed to the vice this way, by putting the ball end of the 5mm key into the socket on the central spindle.

There comes a point where you have to rotate the internal mechanism from top gear to bottom and that is very easily done with the lever mounted that way, more diffucult by other means.

Apart from that, you'll need a T20 Torx key (if it's a 2007 lever, a 3mm allen key, if not), a 4mm straight blade screwdriver, an 8 mm straight blade screwdriver, a pair of fine nose pliers and a good quality, light grease - Campagnolo use Kluber NB52 Topas but any light synthetic grease will work OK, it's mostly to control corrosion anyway. Avoid mineral-oil based grease, the slow breakdown of the oil tends to rot the hoods and make them go "baggy".

Enjoy ...

I just wanted to thank everybody again for your help with this problem. I ordered the parts from Branford (they are fast!), installed them on my bike and now my baby's good as new!

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6415...7i13312!8i6656

Small operation, but note the Campy logo on the right window. I stopped dead in my tracks when I was going down that hill on my visit to Seattle about 7 years ago with my bike with the rebuilt lever. I had heard the story about the fire in their Montana (or was it Idaho) store, and that they moved to Seattle.

And just the other day I ordered some new hoods. The old ones are worn completely smooth and my hands slide all over them. I think these levers will last another 10 years easily.

:thumb:

Thank you! I'll certainly remember them in the future!