Hi all,

I have a few old parts that I plan use to build up a new bike, mostly c-record, including aero levers, front derailleur, deltas and a 2nd generation rear derailleur, which I think is from the end of the 7 speed friction era. As the frame is set at 130mm in the drop outs, and I have non-ergo levers, I thought 8 speed with downtube friction shifters would be best. I'm concerned about the RD being able to travel far enough to allow proper shifting. I've already done a bit of searching here for like topics, but the learning curve is steep and I don't have much experience with multiple gears, having come from a single speed/fixed gear background.

I was wondering if anyone has had experience with this. Would there be any problem in using this setup?

should not be a problem.

Just to add, indexing would be an issue. So don't plan on upgrading to Ergo shift. I tried using an early gen Chorus with 8 speed indexing and it was just never quite right. I'm pretty sure the derailleur itself was made for indexing (7s era), as it had an adjusting barrel, but I gave up and went with a 9s Chorus on the 8s drivetrain. Shifts much better. YMMV

Thanks cyclotoine, and bob for the extra info. Good news!

Hello saibura. are you still looking at this? I have two things to add, I am not sure what you mean by 2nd gen C Rec rd. if I recall correctly there was only one and it was not a slant parrallelagram design. although they tried to make it work (as all the derailuers) with Synchro it never really did. if you can find 8spd Campi DT shifters get me a pair too!!

Bob is your Chorus the one with the parrallelogram that can be swtiched from A to B? after I gave up Synchro I never had much luck with those for anything but retrofriction.

I find the A/B Chorus a great derailleur for friction shifting. I haven't experimented with it in an indexed situation.

I think indexing C-record was in the Synchro system and possibly Synchro II, right? One possible exception could be that the C-record styling was used on some Record 8-speed cassette rear hubs with 130 mm OLD. I'd assume that hub is compatible with 8-speed Ergo levers. This still doesn't say anything about your rear mech. I'll go out on a limb and say that it your rear mech isn't slant parallelogram, it's not going to index well, even with all the other right compatible stuff.

Thanks for your post Bianchigirl. I'm still trying to figure all of this out, but I think the derailleur I have is the same as this one

https://velobase.com/ViewSingleCompon...=108&AbsPos=19

I'm planning to use it with friction shifters, as all advice I've had so far (including yours) is to avoid Synchro/indexing like the plague. Although, I've also seen that Synchro has an index AND a friction mode?

I have the same one and it works ok with my Syncro shifter. Syncro does have a index and friction mode. Which Syncro shifter do you want to use?

I'm planning to use friction levers, and am also looking into what would be the best set-up. Any recommendations for a good matching pair of friction shifters to use? Is it worth getting a pair of synchro if I plan to only use them in friction mode?

It was one of the A/B models. Didn't work as well as I wanted w/Ergo in either position.

If you're gonna run friction...Get some Simplex RetroFrictions. They rock and look good too.

IIRC, the Syncho DT shifters have a friction mode and an index mode. i bet these would work well.

I'm using a pair of C-Record DF (retrofriction) ****ers on my Klein Performance with a bosses on top of the DT. These bosses are sometimes called aero bosses. The C-Record DF shifters fit these bosses perfectly and work very well. I tried a pair of Spidel (Simplex) retrofriction shifters, but they just did not fit the bosses.

OH I should have posted this with my original reply to aleive confusion over the rearderailluer

also theose C-Record DF shifters are great. I use them on my Rigi with a C Rec rd

Darn, that Campy gruppo was one of their best! Especially the "forked" brake calipers - really would have liked to get a pair of those sweethearts.

OH those Monoplanar brakes are simple the best looking brakes ever! if I can find some really nice ones I am replacing my daul pivot Records with them too bad I can't get another set like these

Kinda late to the party but the setup you're talking about will work fine. I've got an old Super Record D and shifters with an 8-speed cluster on my Gianni Motta.

As far as buying some friction shifters - the Dia Compe/Rivendell Silver shifters are pretty sweet . As mentioned there are all sorts of options for old shifters IF YOU CAN FIND THEM. It's not always easy to lay hands on old parts.