P!N20

Is that why you include the h?

mackgoo

Behold.... Delta's and Syncro II. And it all works perfectly.

RobbieTunes

Are you a Scwinn fan?

Andy_K 

My King of the Mountain Serotta had Syncro shifters when I got it, though for some reason this is the only picture I have of them on the bike:



The indexing was actually much better than I was expecting. It hit the gears pretty well but with almost no distinct feeling of a "click" for each gear -- just kind of mushy, not smooth like friction but not crisp like indexing. Maybe I just had the magic combination of derailleur, freewheel, chain, and chainstay length.





Being the heretic that I am (but mostly just badly needing lower gearing) I replaced this with 8-speed Veloce shifters and Racing T derailleur after just a few rides. That shifts much more to my tastes, though it certainly lacks the panache of the previous drivetrain. Panache hardly ever survives me getting on the bike anyway.

T-Mar

Saying that Syncro was introduced without any components available to use with it, is incorrect. The whole premise of Syncro was that Camapgnolo claimed it to be backwards compatible with existing Campagnolo derailleurs. In this context, there were components available that it was supposed to work with. However, the degree of compatibility was tenuous and placed Campagnolo last in the indexing competition between the Big Three.. Things were a lot better once they started designing new components to function with the levers. I have Syncro II with 1991 C-Record on a Marinoni. It shifts fine but still isn't up to Shimano of the same era. Still, Campagnolo couldn't shake Syncro's bad reputation with the consumer. There was a definite stigma about any indexed, down tube shift levers, that had a Campagnolo logo. It took the move to Ergopower brifters to turn things around.

Choke 

IMO the Campy Doppler (retrofriction) work great and are easily the equal of Simplex Retrofrictions.

embankmentlb

I remember those days. Campy made a half hearted attempt at indexing with Syncro. In their defense, indexed shifting was looked at as a joke by most experienced riders. In Europe probably more so. I was right there with them and didn’t own a click shifting road bike until the 2000s.

The late 80s C-record era groups are still my very favorites. Campy’s retro-friction is pretty nice.

RobbieTunes

And not all school buses are yellow.

Leggo my Campy bashing!!

P!N20

I’m sure there’s some monks in a Dura-Ace temple somewhere you could be chanting with.

cadillacmike68

You must mean the blasphemous altar. NR / SR forever.

P!N20

“Forgive me Father for I have Syncro.”

vespajg

I'm about to embark on a build with Campy Record 8 speed downtube shifters - the 1995+ three spring version - paired with an 8 speed exa-drive cassette and NOS Rohloff 8 speed chain. From all the internet chatter here and elsewhere (Tears for Gears, etc.), that appears to be the best Campy indexed downtube shifters set up one can get. I also have a set of 8 speed Synchro 2s and a pre exa-drive cassette in case it doesn't work out.

I realize this is an exercise in mediocrity compared to DA indexing and Campy friction shifting, but wondering if anyone here has experience with a similar set up?

P!N20

I wish I had the three spring Record shifters, but it's just the two spring version for me. My shifters were the bane of my life until I chanced upon this thread that solved the issue. What RD are you planning to use? What are you hanging all these parts off?

Technically 8 speed Campy isn't Syncro (well, apart from a tiny overlap with the dual mode shifters) but we welcome all pilgrims into the house of Tullio.

vespajg

Indeed, there is 8 speed Syncho 2 - complete with the larger take up barrel (noticeably larger than the 7 speed version), 8 speed insert, and dual mode shifters with the knurled knob for changing to friction. From what I have read, they were introduced in 1990 along with the 8 speed cassette system. In 1992, the two spring index only shifters with the curved levers were introduced and I believe used the same or a similar 8 speed insert as the Synchro 2s. Development of the now ubiquitous cassette system in 1990 eliminated the need for the multiple inserts as different combinations were no longer possible unless you were using a freewheel. In 1995, the third spring was added and the insert changed accordingly. The downtube version of these lasted into the early 2000s and until 2010 or so still existed as the Record bar end shifters.

The three spring inserts were offered in both 9 and 10 speed before they were discontinued. You can still find 9 and 10 speed inserts, but 8 speed inserts are pretty rare. The three spring internals are shared with the similarly shaped Veloce shifters (no small barrel adjuster on the lever and most did not have engraving, although the earlier two spring units do as pictured above in this post). So if you can find a set of those, and a used set of 9 or 10 speed bar ends, you can swap it all out if you really want the three spring units..

My C-record group is 1991 NOS with the Syncho 2 8 speed set up described above. But I found a NOS set of the 8 speed bar ends and also a set of the Veloce 8 speed shifters for trouble shooting purposes and to make sure I have an extra 8 speed insert. The third spring provides a much firmer index click - much more like Shimano than the two spring units.

It's all going on my 1992 Lemond Team Z frame for the time being. Building it as a rider, not to hang on a wall, so I tried my best to gather all the various options to make sure it rolls as smooth as possible.

kunsunoke 

I tried NOS Syncro 2 shifters on the Marcel Calborn. The rear indexing did not work at all, no matter what the insert was. A switch to Ergopower 8 and a proper slant parallelogram Record C rear derailleur cured the problem instantly.

I'm sure I was missing something in the Syncro 2 equation - something that would have helped the system to work better - but I recall trying a lot of different Campagnolo rear derailleurs, freewheels, chain and cassette combinations and shifter inserts, none of which provided reliable and predictable indexing. The issues were the same as others have mentioned - ghost shifting, inability to maintain shifts (or shift at all), need for double-clicks to get a single cog shift, and a squishy, vague feel. It was as if Campagnolo was expecting riders to dump the inserts in favor of friction. "Signore, you don't really want this 'brutal' Japanese innovation, do you?"

Campagnolo gave it a nice effort, but ultimately, that effort failed. There were too many chain, cable and derailleur issues for them to manage with one system, however flexible that system might have been.

ofajen

I bought a 2nd gen C-Record RD back in the day. I was spared the shifter issues because my Witcomb lacks shifter bosses, so I just stuck with Cyclone friction shifters.

I’ve it used a lot, but at this point, I like both my Suntour and Shimano RDs better, so if I start running multiple gears again, I’ll use one of them.

Otto

embankmentlb

Retro-friction shifters are a great alternative besides Campy was just made to be shifted by feel an finesse.
Who wants to drive a sports car with an automatic trany and no clutch?

P!N20

Bicycling magazine's 1987 review of Syncro: Equipment/Product Review (1987) CAMPAGNOLO Syncro