I'm getting back into cycling after 10 years off a bike and I wanted to glean some tips and "know how" from you regulars on the best way to switch to campy, given compatibility issues. The more I read up on it, the more questions I have. However, I want to upgrade little by little and still be able to ride my bike (yeah, I do things the hard way). I recently bought a bike on the cheap with a mish mash of parts; Tiagra Brifters, FSA Omega Cranks/BB, Tiagra rear derailleur, 105 front derailleur, Alex Wheels on a Windsor Fens frame. I have now logged some time in the saddle and I'm totally into it again. I bought this bike knowing I would upgrade little by little and to make sure I would actually ride before throwing down money. Well, I have a good idea of the options I want and Campy gear is one of them. So, given my current set up, what would be the best process to converting to Campy? My thought is right I off I would need to get the ergo shifters, campy rear and front derailleur and a rear campy wheel. Anyone know about the FSA Crankset? I would think I would need a new bottom bracket, what about chain rings? Anything else I'm not thinking of? Thanks for you help.

If you really wanted to do it one part at a time, you could get a campy right brifter, campy rd, rear hub, and campy cassette. Your FSA crankset should be fine. Then you can change left brifter and FD later. But that would be an incrediblyt frankenstein set up when running different brifters!

Yeah, that would be a crazy set up. I could afford to throw out for the brifter set and front derailleur. Especially if I could use my crank set and BB until later. So it sounds like I'm on the right track, thanks for the quick reply n00bL35.

Save your pennies and do it all at once, the right way. Buy your parts new, from the UK, not used on E-bay, unless you really find E-bay parts cheaper than UK parts.

Campy is quickly moving away from 10 speed and into 11, so you're getting into it at the wrong time if you want to pinch pennies.

10 speed cranks usually work OK with 11 speed. I've posted info on the easy method of converting a 10 sped RD to 11 speed.

The cheapest place to start would be 2009 Veloce ultrashift brake/shift lever, RD, cassette and a rear wheel with a Campy hub. The levers could be converted to 11 speed later, but the final cost will come close to that of starting with 11 speed Chorus.

FD doesn't matter.

Get the ergo shifters and a shift mate.

Then save up and get the crank, BB, rear wheel, cassette, chain and derailleurs.

https://jtekengineering.com/shiftmate.htm

so campy parts are cheaper from the UK? I guess that makes sense but everything is way more expensive there. I just looked at that shiftmate... so I would need the Model #3? Good cue on that one Mongo. As for getting into it at a bad time, thats my game. I bought an original iphone just before the 3g came out and a Mac Powerbook just before the Intels came out. So, this doesn't surprise me at all. thanks thanks thanks for the info.

Check out www.chainreactioncycles.com https://www.wiggle.co.uk www.probikekit.com https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk.

Also shop around Performance and Nashbar, they have some good deals and can be better on certain items.

When I put my campy group together I bought the main parts from ebay, either new take offs or used then got the rest from UK stores.

Re: Shiftmate, how many speeds does your bike have now?

New cassette. Campy's cassette won't work on a Shimano/Sram compatible wheel. There are a few cassettes being made with Campy spacing that will fit on the Shimano/Sram wheel.

I'm currently using a 10 speed triple.

American Classic and Wheels Manufacturing both make campy compatible cassettes for shimano hubs.. I found the wheels to be a little harder to adjust than the am. classic..

Look for older ergo brifters on ebay.. Make sure to stay away from the low end QS models, the limit your up and downshifts.. I bought some Veloce ergo brifters new for 100.00 last month.. You will also need to get Campy Cabling and housing, which can be bought online for around 40-45.00..

All 10 speed campy is compatible with double or triple setups.. There is no need for special brifters, like shimano.. You will need to buy a medium or long cage rear derailleur for a triple setup..

I would just go with this myself:
https://cgi.ebay.com/Campagnolo-Centa...1|293:1|294:50

I built up a veloce equipped bike part by part, and I think it cost me more than that due to shipping costs.

That set looks cool, but the brifters are QS and supposedly they are the lower end. I know the score, I will end paying more by piecing it part by part, but that's my life right now. Later, when hopefully I find myself with a larger play fund, this is the only way it will happen. Yyanis for all the input, great information on how to get this going.

Don't fool yourself, QS ergo levers are not "low end". Being able to upshift 3 in one stroke and down once per click is as much as you need. You think all those pros on Shimano stuff are loosing because they can't downshift 3 cogs at a time?

None of you mentioning QS seems to understand what QS means (quick shift). QS is merely a change to a $6 front rachet on the left shifter that reduces the dead travel in the left finger lever. Record and Chorus shifters are also QS from '07-'08.

The '07-'08 Centaur and lower level shifters have the escape mechanism, which is entirely different than the mechanism used in Record or Chorus shifters in those years or any level of shifter '06 or older.

The escape mechanism was moved up the line from the cheap Xenon level. The thumb button will only shift 1-cog at a time (to smaller cogs) instead of up to 9 with one push. It also has limited trim function for the FD. Campy realized their mistake and have almost completely quit making it. For '09 all of the shifters from Veloce to Super Record have the new ultrashift mechanism, which is also entirely different than any previous model. Ultrashift shifters all have the new larger brake hood and longer brake levers, so they are easy to spot. Campy is still making the escape shifter at the Veloce level, but I suspect it's aimed at low level OEM applications. It has the smaller brake hood and lever.

You can get '09 Veloce ultra shift levers, with cables for about $140 from the UK.

Yes.

I was going to point out QS vs escap. I don't really have an issue with either. QS has one trim click for each ring, which on my bike is enough to stop chain rub in any combo, even when in big/big or small/small. Call me a retrogrough, but Campy is really good at making stuff that solves problems that don't really exist so all the dentists have an excuse to buy new stuff each year.

You're still confused. It's not a matter of "either". '07-'08 escape shifters are QS and so are the non-escape models (Chorus and Record). QS affects the finger lever, not the thumb button.

One of the best features of the non-escape models is the ability to shift 2-3 cogs smaller with one push of the thumb button after shifting to the little ring. With escape, you have to push the button 2-3 times. All Campy shifters had the multi-shifting thumb button until 2007. The escape shifter was just a lower cost shifter, with more limited function. It didn't force or lure anyone into buying something new.

The new ultrashift levers are a major change to an entirely new mechanism that should require much less maintenace than the previous (non-escape) design. The ergonomics is improved and there are no g-spring to wear out. All this was done without sacrificing function.

No, I'm not confused. QS applies to the FD only. QS shifters have indexed front shifting, while nonQS shifters had/have a ratchet-type nonindexed FD.If you run a QS shifter and a nonQS FD it actually takes less clicks to go from the small to big ring. Switching back and forth between the two is kind of stupid, and just a way to make you buy more crap. QS doesn't affect the RD, since it's already indexed.

Escape vs nonescape ergo levers is more up to your own choice. The escape levers are not "lower quality" or whatever, they just have a less complex shifting mechanism. I would rather shift one at a time personally, since there is no way to overshift past where you want to go. All the people that go around saying they are inferior are just being misleading.

I hate to keep telling you this, because you are confused. QS can be had with both the lower level escape shifters and the higher level Chorus/Record. Adding the QS feature to the Record/Chorus shifters did NOTHING but reduce the amount of dead travel from the left finger lever. Those shifters could be used with QS, pre-QS or any triple FD. There is no such thing as a Campy "indexed" FD. Indexing is in the shifter, never in the derailleur. Derailleurs must have the proper actuation ratio to work with the cable pull produced by the shifter, but that does not make them "indexed".

The QS FD has a longer lever arm that requires one more click to cover the full range of travel. That extra lever arm length also reduces the force required to actuate the FD. It is in no way indexed. It can be operated with the same 4 clicks from a QS shifter or any pre-QS shifter. You can also convert an '06 or earlier shifter to have the QS function, by changing only the left front rachet.

The escape shifter is a reduced function shifter, brought up from the Xenon level to save a few bucks. The fact that Campy has all but abandoned it after two years says plenty.

The new ultrashift levers are better than anything before and still very inexpensive. With the introduction of ultrashift, all the shifter from Veloce to SR now have the same capabilities.

So, to sum up, QS is good, escape is bad. I think everyone is agreeing on that. One last question. With a compact crankset(50-34), will I need a long, medium or short cage derailleur? Thanks for all the help.

Short or medium cage would be fine.. Short cage will give you quicker action.. Just go with the 2009 centaur shifters then you can just avoid all the issues with QS.. Controlling multiple downshifts is not a real issue.. Campy has a unique feel and is easy to control..

Is this possible with a Chorus 8 spd left shifter? If so, how difficult / expensive?

Since I'm buying a house at the moment, I'm squeezing one more year out of my Chorus & Record 8 setup before upgrading to 11.

But I put a Record QS FD on recently since my old mirage FD was getting funky. It works great, but I'd like to feel the QS -- I have a chorus QS left shifter laying around, but I would like to avoid having a frankenbike.



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