campy brifters and the rest shimano
 

So i found a pair of campy athena 8 speed shifters on Craigslist for 40 bucks. My current steed is 7 speed shimano sis Downtube shifters with a hg cassette. And I currently have a newer 8-9 speed 105 rear derailleur on it. My question is, will these shifters work on this drivetrain.

I know that the pull is off by .05mm which does not overly concern me. What does though is the rear derailleur being shimano. I realize I will have a ghost shift also which also does not concern me. And without a shiftmate will this work? Im willing to try this because I dont like the DT shifters and I have little money to upgrade the whole drivetrain. I dont want sora brifters or barends either.

Any feedback is much appreciated.

Thank you.

This should solve all of your problems. http://jtekengineering.com/shiftmate.php

First off - your 105 RD is actually 6/7/8/9/10 speed compatible (with Shimano that is...) Virtually all Shimano "road" and most "mountain" RDs are the same with a few note-able exceptions.

I THINK I remember someone saying that Campy 8-speed brifters will shift a Shimano 7-speed cassette, but I can't remember if that was with a Shimano RD or a Campy RD. Maybe someone will know for sure. I would probably hook it up quick and see.

Your kinda out of luck. While the cog spacing is the same for both Campy 8 and Shimano 7 (5.00mm), your pull differences are way off; the Shimano shifter pulls 2.9mm while the Campy shifter pulls 3.5mm, so you either need to use a Campy rear derailleur or use a Shiftmate.

ok this is what I was beginning to think, thanks for the specs.

edit: I would assume that an 8 speed campy rd, or the 8 speed jtech shiftmate, is what Im looking for.

and last question if anyone can answer, is the 8th speed going to be in the large or small ring of the cassette, and could this extra ghost gear cause me to shift my derailleur into the wheel?

thanks

Identical cog spacing of 5mm means the 8spd Campy levers & RD will shift 7spd Shimano cogs; Shiftmate required if using a Shimano RD.

I gather pre-2001 Campy RDs are hard to find due to a bad batch and subsequent warranty claims...

You decide.
Either you set the system up with the last click aligning with the last sprocket or you use the limit screws to prevent the last click from ever happening.
There are pros and cons to both options. Both S and C use (slightly) longer pulls on the 1st shift, to allow the highest gear to be governed by the limit screw rather than the shifter, the extra pull is needed to take up the slack.
If you use the 2nd click for the 1st shift, you miss out on this feature, which may or may not be an issue for you.
OTOH, your risk of overshifting is the same as for any regular setup.

If you use the 1st click for the 1st shift, and forget which gear you're in, then you'll be trying to shift against the limit screw.
With liberal application of force, it's possible to get the derailer to flex a little beyond its intended position, which may or may not be an issue for you.
OTOH, you may get cleaner shifting the whole way through.

When I ran 8-of-9 on a Shimano 7-speed body, I had last click aligned with last sprocket, which worked well there.
On my Shimergo I have the opposite setup. I needed it for good shifting, but I do catch myself trying to shift against the limit screws occasionally.
On a commuter it's a non-issue, but I wouldn't want it in a race setting. Maybe not even a group ride.

Possibly, but readily avoidable - see above. If you're shifting "blind", not paying attention to what your bike is telling you - sure. With a bit of consideration and attention, it shouldn't happen.

No. If you adjust your derailleur limit screws properly, the extra gear on the shifter will be locked out and you won't be able to get to it.

Although if you have the extra click below first gear, you'll give the shifter a bit of a hard time if you manage to compress the housing enough to make it click into 0th...

Worse for Shimano and SRAM than Campy though, at least for first and second generation Ergos... dunno about the later stuff.

The canonical site (IMHO) for Campag/Shimano mixed shifting is at: http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-libra...gears/shimergo