askrom

Do I need Campagnolo-brand cables for Campagnolo Ergo brifters? Or is just about any brand of Derailleur and Brake cableset compatible with Campy Ergo brifters?

Thanks!

roadfix

My personal experience:
You must use Campy cables as the nubbed anchor ends are a bit smaller in diameter than Shimano or other generic cable. I found this out the hard way a few months back...

askrom

But don't many derailleur cables come with double-ends, one end Campy, the other Shimano? That's what I want to find out.

roadfix

My personal experience:
I haven't seen those around in a while.....
I know brake cables still come with road and mtb nubs on each end...

askrom

Thanks, Fixer, but... I hope you'll forgive me for second-guessing you, as your replies still don't sound like you are 100% sure.

I can't find hardly any web stores that even bother to specify whether the derailleur cables they sell are intended for Campy or Shimano. Why would they omit such critical information if cable incompatibility was possible?

Example:
https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...2&category=845

Does anyone else know the answer to this? Of course, I will ask any vendor before pulling the trigger and buying something, but it's hard to even shop around if it looks like my options are limited to paying $35 or more for specifically Campagnolo-compatible cables.

Thanks!

juicemouse

I've never had a problem using generic QBP shift cables in Ergo levers, but their generic brake cables wouldn't fit my Mirage levers. It's been a while since I replaced the cables on my Record-equipped bike, but I don't remember having that problem with them. Campy cables are available separately, so you definitely don't have to buy the entire set (brake & shift cables & housings). Your LBS should be able to order them through QBP.

thomson

I agree with juicemouse. I always use generic cables with my Veloce brifters with no problems. Brakes and derailleurs.

fmw

Because they have a shimano unit at one end and a campy at the other. You just cut off the one you don't need.

CPcyclist

I have only had one cable end get stuck in a brifter. It came out easily with a little heat.

mactheknife68

Yes you do have to use Campy-specific cables. Wire diam. are the same as Shimano but the cable-ends are different enuf to cause potential problems. Dont muck around, use the right stuff. Its not for Campy use unless its branded Campy-compatible. Yes they are ridiculously more $$$ the Shimano, but guess which is more common? Kinda like PC and Mac. Ever see anything Mac-compatible thats cheap? As for the double-ended brake cables, those are Shimano road or ATB. I personally have never seen a Shimano/Campy cable. The Ergo-cable kits, including housing are usually found for $35-50. Save yourself potential heartache and do the Right-Campy thing... Hope this eases yer mind

FarHorizon

Yeah - the OWNERS!

askrom

This is hilarious. Half of you are saying that I have to buy Campagnolo cables, and the other half are saying that there exist derailleur cables that have both Campy and Shimano ends.

Half of you are talking out of your asses. It discredits this message board to answer a question when you don't know the correct answer. If you aren't sure, you really should hold your tongue, or at least qualify it by saying "I am not sure about this".

I still don't know who's correct, but to those who are correct, thanks!

UPDATE: I just got an email from universalcycles saying that the derailleur cableset I linked to above does in fact have both Shimano and Campagnolo ends. I suppose it's possible that they, too, could be talking out of their asses, but somehow I doubt it.

juicemouse

Tell that to my Ergo levers. They disagree.



The wire diameters are slightly different too, but that doesn't cause a problem either.



Shimano branded cables cost just about as much. Their mountain bike cable set (XTR branded) costs $39 at one online retailer. Their road bike cable set (Dura-Ace branded) costs $31 from the same place. The Campagnolo Ergopower set costs $43 from the same place. I wouldn't call that ridiculously more. And there are plenty of other manufacturers that make Campy compatible cables (though I agree there are more that make Shimano compatible cables).



I know this is a bike forum, but I just have to point out that it isn't the '90s anymore. Microsoft sells MS Office Standard Edition 2003 for $399. Apple sells MS Office Standard Edition for Mac 2004 for $399. They sell their own more powerful software, iWork 2006 (fully compatible with Office), for $79. Ever see anything Mac-compatible that was more expensive than it's PC counterpart?



See these?
https://www.evanscycles.com/product.j...t3?style=12613



Save yourself a buttload of money and don't worry about it.

juicemouse

I could not agree more.

fmw

What's hilarious about it. The derailleur cables I use "Pyramid brand" have campy at one end and shimano at the other. Just because you haven't seen them yourself is not a reason to ridicule others who have.

juicemouse

He's clearly irritated at the posters who are giving him incorrect info. You are not one of them.

askrom

Thanks Juicemouse. FMW, you're blaming the victim! ... Please reread my posts and redirect your ire at those who are disseminating misinformation instead of at those, like me, who are being misled.

HillRider

It's not "misinformation" that's being disseminated, it's different experiences. Some Campy users have used Shimano (and everyone else's) cables with no problems and others have had the cable ends stick in the brake or shifter recesses. They are reporting what happened to THEM. They are not trying to mislead you.

I expect it's a matter of machining tolerances, cable end tolerances and how much maintainance is done between cable changes. As with a lot of things, YMMV

askrom

Hillrider, I respectifully disagree. On this thread, there are examples of different experiences and outright false information.

A couple of people described using cables that were not designed for use with Campagnolo with Campagnolo brifters, with mixed success. That's useful information, and I have no beef with that (even though it wasn't exactly what I was asking about). I wouldn't want to try that, even if it does work for some people.

I was simply asking if Campagnolo-brand cables are the only ones that will work, or if other brands exist that will also work. Maybe I should have been clearer, but my question really is "does anyone besides Campagnolo make cables which are 100% intended to work with Campagnolo brifters". It seems trivial to me that no cable manufacturer would bother to make a cable with a nub on the end that fits specifically in a Campagnolo brifter. Yet several people answered my question with a definitive and unequivocal NO.

For example, Fixer said that I had to use Campagnolo, and yet he hadn't heard of dual-ended derailleur cables. I now know that they do exist. Therefore, Fixer gave me advice about something he didn't know all the facts about. I know he meant well, but honestly he probably should not have said anything at all.

Mactheknife said the same thing: that I have to buy Campy. But he then proceeded to demonstrate that he, too, had not heard of the existence of double-ended cables. Again, he should probably have said nothing at all.

I didn't mean to suggest that anyone was deliberately distributing misinformation. Obviously Fixer and Mactheknife both meant well, and it's perhaps perfectly understandable that neither of them would have known about the double ended cables. Still, they should have looked at my question, asked themselves if they really knew whether generic-branded-but-designed-for-campagnolo cables existed or not, concluded that they did not know, and then moved on.

As for the people who are using Shimano-style cables in Campagnolo brifters, I did not intend at all to suggest that they were the ones being misleading. Clearly they were simply describing their personal experience with a hardware "hack". It's the people who made flat-out incorrect statements that I take issue with.

biker7

It is you that are talking out your a$$ disrespecting those taking the time to offer advice that have more experience then you. If you had any comprehension you would fathom that Campy uses a slightly smaller head then Shimano. Some generic cables will fit and others will get stuck depending on which generic cable you are using. As recommended, Campy cables w/o housings are relatively inexpensive and it would serve a goof like you to go ahead and buy a generic $2 cable and get the head stuck in an ergo leverl to learn what others have already found out and are trying to tell you. You don't deserve this information but some cheap skates buy the generic cables and lightly sand the soft head/end to make them fit better.
George

masiman

So he used a derogatory term to say that people were stating things without qualifications and in some cases with grossly wrong or incomplete qualifications. He did not disrespect them by calling them names but by pointing out the fallacies of their statements. You, on the other hand were the first to start the name calling and I think that is in poor taste.

I liked the way askrom has stayed in the conversation with intelligent feedback to the discussion. And I think he was correct in that what was offered could not all be true. I also think he is correct that the value of the board is lessened if bogus information becomes prevalent and uncorrected on the threads. It is much more to the boards benefit to call the kettle black. I would prefer if we could do that with as much civility as possible.

Your end description is one of the better ones, but that may be 20/20 from the other replies, I don't know.

My writeup from the beginning would have been that I do not know if anyone makes a completely compatible cable. I have had an off brand before but they did not work. In the end it did not matter because I did not like the thinner off brand quality. Campy at least used to make noticeably thicker cables. It has been ~5 years since I have purchased cables so that may no longer be the case in terms of compatibility or quality.

spinbackle

I'm a total cheapskate and dredged Campy cables up here:

https://www.icyclesusa.com/

You'll have to do a little hunting for them on their website but they're there.

biker7

Please. You don't have a clue...not a single post was incorrect. The OP was right about you however...lol.
George

HillRider

I hate to interrupt this ever-so-civilized discussion but Bike Tools Etc. (www.biketoolsetc.com) lists double ended derailleur cables with both Campy and Shimano ends as P/N JW-SCUSS at $2.65 each. So they definitely exist.

masiman

We got you biker7. Attack whomever to make yourself look better. Sorry you can take neither a compliment nor a criticism.