campy says this about 10-speed cranksets
 

Campy says all of their 10-speed cranksets must use a 10-speed chain etc. due to the cranksets chainrings being closer together and machined differently so does anyone know if this is also the case for FSA and Shimano 10-speed cranksets? Anyone running a 9-speed chain etc. with a new 10-speed crankset?

gee....I'm running my Veloce 10 speed with 9 speed sram chain and its shifts just fine.....imagine that?

i'd imagine that they'd tell you to use a 10spd chain.

Imagine, the shifting would be even better with the correct chain.

actually it wouldn't....I'm running full campy 10 speed with 9 speed shimano wheel/cassette. :)

They don't call him a chemist for nothing. ;)

Again we come back to what is acceptable. I rode behind yet another guy, on Saturday, using a Shimano 9-spd wheel with a Campagnolo 10-spd group (Centaur). He had some other chain on there and his shifting worked (sort of) but it was louder and more finicky than any of the others in the group regardless of Shimano, Campy or Sram. I've see this so many times now that all the anecdotal stories you can heap on me won't outweigh my own anecdotal stories.

It will work but there is a performance decrease once you start using Shimano chains on Campagnolo and visa versa. Do you really believe that it is so easy to make a chain and, other than materials (durability) they are all pretty much the same? It may seem that way but I assure you it isn't. The entire group is designed around the chain and it's limitations. It is the single most difficult component to design and manufacture (all things considered).

I used to test chains for KMC (they make most Shimano Chains). I probably used 20 different chains on the same DA group. The differences at time were subtle but occasionally there would be a vast improvement or an absolute disaster when I would change chains. To the naked eye the differences would be hardly noticeable but, during the stresses of riding, the differences would make themselves clear.

I also tested a KMC Super Narrow chain designed for Campagnolo. It lasted a fraction as long and never shifter as smoothly during a sprint or climb when new, than the record chain I had put 10,000km on previous.

I even gave one to Campagnolo for their own, in-house, testing. They reached the same conclusions in the lab that I found on the road. They were not impressed.

To sum: Chains matter. Mixing chains will usually work fine. OPTIMUM performance comes from staying within your own brand (whatever it may be).

+1


I agree totally, but you're never going to convince anyone here. Remember, this is the group that wants to use a SunTour rear derailleur with a Shimano cassette and shift it with a Campy 8 sp brifter but only use 7 of the 8 gears. Oh, I forgot to mention that they want it to index perfectly. Never to worry though, someone will say they use the same setup with a Shiftmate and it shifts better than an all Campy group.

Tim

With the notable exception of the essential "don't use indexing, use friction DT shifters" dissenter without whom BF would not be the mixed vegetable dish it is.