noglider 

I have to rebuild my rear wheel which has Shimano-compatible hub and 10-speed cassette. It's a hodgepodge drivetrain: 105 10-speed shifters, Ultegra front derailleur, and Sora rear derailleur. I grabbed a spare wheel with Campagnolo hub and Miche Campagnolo-compatible 10-speed cassette. It works! I know why it shouldn't work. I don't know why it does. I know the "centeron" feature adds slop in deliberately, so maybe that's it? Some shifts are delayed, and some shifts need a little nudging afterward, but that's how it's been with my purely Shimano drivetrains, so this is no worse.

Dave Mayer

Lessee: Campy 10-speed spacing averages out to 4.12mm cog to cog. Shimano is 3.95mm. So mixing the two should produce decent shifting for most of the cassette, except at the ends of the cassette.

Also depends on your definition of 'works'. If you've ever run a dialed-in Shimano Alfine (internal gear), then you'll appreciate a new definition of what is good mechanical shifting.

No hesitation in shifting, no missed shifts, ghost shifts, no in-between gears. Shifts are instant, precise and totally reliable.

Many folks I ride with, even regular experienced cyclists, use drivetrains that are a clattering noisy mess, and they don't know any difference.

noglider 

@Dave Mayer, absolutely, my standard is not one of perfection. Yes, I've tried an Alfine, and it's outstanding, definitely better than this. But I'm surprised it works this well. I don't understand why my Shimano derailleur drivetrains aren't much better than this mixed drivetrain, either. Maybe it's because I cobbled them together out of used and worn out components. I don't really know if they're worn, but they might be.

Camilo

I have Campagnolo 8 speed indexed shifters and derailleurs. When I first put the bike together I had a wheel with a Shimano hub with Shimano 8 speed cassette. I bought a J-Tek shiftmate adapter to use, but forgot to install it. I used the bike for several weeks before I realized I forgot the J-Tek. It shifted just fine and I never bothered installing the J-Tek. I eventually built up a Campy rear wheel of the same (8 speed) vintage. I really can't say if it shifts a little better or not. It was fine the way it was. Maybe I'm just not picky and tolerate less than optimum shifting, having "grown up" with 5hi++y shifting, cheap bikes in the 70s.

Kimmo

Campy 8s shifting 5mm on Shimano's 4.8mm spacing could work okay because it's overshifting. Could even work sweet, with the right sort of slop or mush in the system.

Not so much with an undershift. OP seems to be used to something petty sub-optimal. 2nd-gen Shimano 10s can be pretty crap out of the box, but any other Shimano system, and it'd have to be worn parts or excess friction or something. 8s should be quite precise, 9s a little less so and 10s a tad less still, although the actual shift of the chain from cog to cog gets nicer as the spacing narrows, if that makes any sense.

kalker

I use a 9 spd veloce with a 9 spd ultegra cassette and can honestly say it shifts better than any of my other bikes with either campy or shimano drives . It has also been very a very reliable set up with approx 8000 km on it . not sure why it quoted you Kimmo ( I am still figuring this post thing out )

Kimmo

Providence. Like I said, a slight overshift can work pretty well. Keep in mind though, the chain moves a bit further than it should when moving towards the edges of the cassette, which is okay, but on the way back to the centre it doesn't move quite far enough, which you may or may not notice.