AndyGrow

I think I recall seeing a website/page somewhere where someone had a conversion kit, or did the conversion themself, to use the Campy Ergo shifters (which I much prefer!!) with Shimano drivetrain (f and r. der.).

Anyone know what I'm talking about...what website that might have been at?

Thanks!
Andy

TandemGeek

https://www.hearingoffice.com/downloa...ion_screen.pdf

AndyGrow

Yup...that's the one.

Now, what about front derailleurs? Can I use Campy ergoshifters with ShimaNO front der. or is it easier to just buy a Campy front der?

Thanks!
Andy

TandemGeek

Front deraillers are like nails... fairly crude in their basic design & function to the extent that they work pretty much the same no matter what kind of hammer/shifter you use.

Either brand will work so long as you use one that's compatible with triple chainring set-ups. None of them are rated for the capacity that most of us use on road tandems, but they still get the job done.

zonatandem

JTek's ShiftMate lets you use Ergo shifters with Shim. rear der. Works as advertised, about 30 bucks, if I recall correctly.

vosyer

I bought a JTEK last year from Peter White plus 9 speed Campy shifters and tried to get 2 shops to do the conversion including R&E in Seattle. Frustrating experience, I went ahead and built a new single bike with the shifters. R&E builds a number of Campy shifter Shimano casattes combinations. They tell me it entails a shimano front der, a campy long cage rear der and they use a really long cage - I didn't didn't know there were three lengths of campy cages - usually it's a veloce, but they say it can work with record to. It will be a while before I try this again because 9 speed shifters are getting harder to find. I will be interested to hear how your conversion works.

galen_52657

There is no shortage of 9 speed ratchet barrels from Branford Bike so you could convert a 10 speed to 9 if you wish.

TandemGeek

What was the obstacle; it's an easy 30 - 45 minute job to change out shifters and add a JTek, including a re-wrap of the bars.

Reference Point: Even though I've had no trouble running Campy 9 Ergo + Record Long-Cage RD with Shimano 9spd cassettes (12x27t & 12x32t) on our tandems, I went ahead a stuck a JTek Model 1 on our travel tandem just to see if there was any difference. It took all of about 5 minutes to add it into the derailleur cable run.

jesnow

I have done this, it works perfectly. Note that only the Shimano 8-speed STI (and presumably 7-speed) will work. I got a pair of Campy xenon shifters for $90 with shipping, the whole thing went flawlessly, but be sure you follow the directions carefully. The warnings about serious injury and death look funny at first but are probably true if you think about it.

Now: Do I *like* riding campy? I haven't decided that yet.

WebsterBikeMan

When setting up our (adult) kids' bike, I called around to all the local bike shops in hopes of locating a JTEK that I could just go pick up instead of doing mail order. The majority of them told me such a device didn't exist and it couldn't be done. So I didn't even think about trying to get one of them to do the work once I had the parts in hand. And yes, it's perhaps 2 minutes more work than installing new brifters (and cables) to slip a JTEK into the line on the way. Add 5-10 minutes the first time, carefully reading and re-reading the instructions, and figuring out which model you needed, and whether you need to turn the wheel around.

TandemGeek

Zombie thread that died in January 2006.... Awakened from the dead for some reason.

mercury168

I'm running into a problem doing this. The front derailleur spring (Shimano 105 FD-5503) seems to be somewhat overpowering the ratchet mechanism in the Veloce Ultrashift 10 speed Ergo levers.

It will somewhat hold, but if I tug on the inner cable at all, it makes the mechanism slip. Do I have a faulty Ergo lever or is this how it's going to be?

professorbob

I drank the kool-aid as well. I got some Veloce shifters to go with an XT rear der, Ultegra front and Shimano cassette. Got the #2 Shiftmate. I'll not have time to put it on for a couple of weeks, but will report back when it's (hopefully!) up and running.

jesnow

My experience is only with ergo 10 speed shifters plus shimano 8-speed mech. this works perfectly, after 2 months of hard riding, I like the crispness of the shifts *way* better than the worn-out STI shifters. That said, I'm going with DA for my new bike, as the Campy levers just aren't comfortable for my big hands.

manako

have you had any luck figuring this one out? I did the conversion this weekend, the rear dr works great with the jtek, Record 11 shifters and Ultegra read derailleur.

the front is a different story, the campy shifter will work with the small and middle chainring, but will slip/jump out of the big chainring (it's a tiagra dr).

thanks...

jnbrown

I have found that Campy shifters and Shimano front derailleurs in general don't work well together. Shimano usually has a shorter throw.
Try using a Campy Comp Triple front derailleur.
I had the same problem with the ratchet mechanism slipping due to the higher cable tension from the Shimano front derailleur.

manako

thank you... we'll try that

I started to have that idea when I was tuning the rear end and the right shifter was slipping out of gear...

jesnow

My Shimergo (sounds lik "chimera") bike is alive and well after ~1K miles. The veloce levers are plastic and bendy, and seem to require a lot of force to move the Shimano mechs. I have not had the ratchet slippage reported elsewhere on this thread. I recommend this only as a way of keeping a bike alive after the ratchet pawls on the 8-speed STI give out, as they eventually will. Setting a bike up this way deliberately doesn't make much sense to me, but now that I have one, I can live with it. To ride in the rain with.

One consequence is that the ride once-wash-lube cycle results in a much better maintained drivetrain than this bike ever had before when I rode it every day.

waynesulak

The best summary of mix and matching various shimino - Campy - Sram shifters RD and cassettes. Gives the math behind the components.
<https://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3946>

enbakken

-I'll explain the reason(s) quickly...

1. 7,8,9 speed is essentially dead in 2011
2. Shimano brifters are like hard drives; it's not a question of "if", but "when"
3. New 10 speed Shimano brifters are "outrageously" expensive, yet disposable, cannot be repaired.
4. Campy brifters are "surprisingly" cheap, and (with exception) RE-buildable!
5. America is still in the grips of the worst recession since the Great Depression, i.e. "I have no money, energy, or ego to waste on bike parts"

My Shimano Ultegra 9 speed right-side shifter recently went bust, both levers locked together and would not shift. I called Shimano and got the answer I was expecting ("you need to buy new ones"). Normally, I would do just that, maybe through Craigslist first as that is how I came to the Ultegra 9 speeds. I only spent $50 for the pair and they lasted two seasons but now, here I am again, needing new shifters.

Here is where I should interject that I am a lay-off casualty of the economy and have no money to be spending on anything but my mortgage, so price was my primary concern. I went to the local PerformanceBike store and bought their version of the Micro-tek 9-speed shifters, for $142 out-the-door. As I was about to install them, the cheapness of the overall package (that had plenty of hard, shiny, cheap-feeling plastic) led me back inside to double-check craigslist to see if I could find anything better, used, locally.

Rather than throw more money into "used" equipment, I came upon this thread and similar others and decided to drink the "Shimergo" Kool-Aid. Never knowing anything about Campy (other than it's Italian heritage, and perceived luxury-brand status), I read a few things here and there over the internet and decided to buy 10-speed Veloce ergo shifters to mate with my all Shimano 600/Ultegra drivetrain with a 9 speed Dura-Ace cassette and 9-speed SRAM chain. After reading about all the changes in the Campy line-up with the intro of 10, and then, 11-speed systems, I took away that I should get "Ultrashift" levers, rather than newer "PowerShift", or substantially cheaper "Escape" shifters.* Amazon.com delivered the new "Ultrashift" levers and new set of Campy cables to my door in June 2011 for $169.XX.

Installation was fairly uneventful. I found it sort of difficult to get the derailleur cables to go from the lever body into the cable housings, requiring repeated poking with a flathead screwdriver to keep the cable end down to go into the TINY hole in the lever body. All laced up, I clamped the rear derailleur cable via sort of the "hubbub" method, deciding to forego a ShiftMate until I had tried the "free" option. My old Shimano 600 rear mech does not have a tabbed clamp, nor could I find one of the two-tabbed variety mentioned in the "hubbub" method. I took an older, 1-tab clamp I had lying around and notched a vertical cable groove onto the topside of it with a Dremel tool, on the far side of the clamp bolt. So my cable exits the derailleur body, goes on the bottom of the clamp bolt, but over the 1 tab (rather than under the clamp and in the horizontal groove already there), and then sharply up against the clamp bolt in the groove that I had just made. The cable is held in place by the finishing nut, not any other clamp, as there is no more thread purchase available after going over the 1-tab clamp. (I should take a picture)
I'm probably .1 to .2 mm off from the Hubbub pull ratio if I were to guess.

The rear shifts flawlessly from the big cog down 7, and then jumps the 8th to rest on the smallest (9th) cog, in 8 clicks of the shifter. The front shifts better (more quickly and easily) than either of my other two Shimano Ultegra brifter set-ups, also utilizing the original Shimano 600 front mech, and stays quiet with two trimming clicks. All in all, I am quite pleased. If I could keep all 9 gears in back, I would be happier, but I'll keep the money I would have spent on a ShiftMate to eat this week, at the expense of 1 gear.

Aesthetic considerations...

1. I thought the new Ergo levers, with the tops leaning toward the center, looked weird at first. But I think they look better than new Shimano 10 speed stuff. They do feel very nice on the hoods.

2. I wear a size M glove, so did not add the inserts designed for large hands.* As such, I think the hoods feel very nice in the hand and I can more comfortably and easily reach the brake lever in the drops.

3. The Veloce levers feel cheaper than my Ultegras while adjusting them on the repair stand, probably the lever itself as there is no return-spring and it rotates on a plastic bushing, not a ball bearing. In practical application (i.e. riding), I don't notice any difference.

4. Separation of function.
The fact that the internal shifting mechanism resides in the hood body, and NOT in the top of the lever that moves, results in a more quiet ride, without the plastic "slap" of the levers hitting the inside top of the hoods on Shimano, when going over a bump or crack in the pavement. I've noticed newer Shimano models seem to have a thin rubber "skirt" designed to address this but I was amazed on my initial test ride that the front end made no noise whatsoever when going over sizable cracks, speed bumps, manhole covers, and the like. Old habits die hard and I find myself trying to rotate a brake lever that isn't meant to occasionally but I did ride STI for about 10 years.* I'm sure I'll adjust, eventually.

5. Multiple shifts on Ultrashift.
You can shift 5 down or 3 up at one time, rather than click by click with Shimano. By no means a deal breaker for me, but it's kind of nice sometimes.

6. Shimano rotating levers versus Campy thumb button and behind-the-brake-lever shifter paddle.
As I've said, I used STI Ultegras for the better part of 11 years, so it's taking a little getting used to. There's an upside to getting laid off I suppose; I have more engrossing things to worry about than exactly how my shifters work.

To close (finally),

I took the time to write this because so many others took the time to add their experiences, without which my road bike would probably still be in a heap in the basement. "Shimergo"ing worked for me and was the overall least expensive option for keeping my otherwise-fine 9-speed drivetrain going. I would have bought Campy levers purely because of the cost but the added bonus of hopefully being able to repair them when one little pawl wears out in the future, is something for which I give credit and respect to Campagnolo, and will add a "Shame on You" to Shimano for their attitude of throw a lot of your money and some of our crap into the landfill every couple of years. Support companies that don't solely practice a non-repairable, throw-it-away and buy-a-new-one business model

masiman

That neither made sense nor was it quick. I only scanned for a zombie awakening reason. Double disappointment.

DubT

Why not use Shimano bar end shifters with Shimano components. Use the old brifters as brake levers and use the bar ends to shift gears. Cheaper and completely compatible.

Ranger63

This is one of 'those times' when searching the archives probably saved me a ton of coin.
Found a vintage bianchi specialissima frame and fork (haven't checked the numbers yet but the cottered steel crank probably dates it back to the late 50s early 60s)
The bike is being converted into my hill bike via a velo orange gran cru (46/30)and 7 or 8 cog rear setup.
Sence the brake levers/hoods were missing I figured I'd go with 8speed brifters.
All the oem campy equipment had me looking at campy ergo brifters (over shimano 105s)and a record rear derailleur. (with the hope I could ressurect the oem front record derailleur)
Via this thread and two others (along with some 'hmm' input from both yellow jersey and harris cyclery) I'm going to simply go with the nos mid cage 105 and shimano flite dek brifters.
I need everything to shift right the first time (hill climbs are like that)

Philly Tandem

For those that might be interested in using Ergo shifters with Shimano 8-speed cassettes, I have a nice pair of Sachs (Campy) Ergo shifters for sale that were designed from the factory to work with Shimano 8-speed cassettes. In case you aren't familiar with them, they are Campy-made, Sachs-rebranded Ergo shifters with a Shimano gear inside rather than a Campy one. They work perfectly with Shimano rear derailleurs and Shimano 8-speed cassettes while giving you the Ergo shifting that many like better than STI.

See my ad on the BF classifieds section for more details and photos.

I also have the matching Sachs New Success long-cage rear derailleur and an XT 11-28 8-speed cassette in very good condition if you are interested in a complete package. I'll sell all three for $155 shipped in the USA.

I had basically this same setup shifting very nicely on a Santana Sovereign that I recently sold (using XTR RD and FD). I was saving these as backup parts for that bike, but no longer need them.