professorbob

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a final question here on the performance of a Jtek Shiftmate in regards to coupling a Campagnolo shifter to an otherwise Shimano drivetrain. I said that I'd report back when I had it installed, so now that the work is done here's what I've got. Below is an excerpt from an email that I sent to my nephew who works at the shop where the work was done.


"When we picked up the tandem, Heidi and I rode over to the ferry and then around S. Glastonbury. Again, another great day. The rear shifting with the new setup is very smooth, even under a lot of pressure. It's odd that the shifter is making the difference. I thought you'd need all the components of a drive train to have that much of an effect. I have to say that I need to get used to shifting in the opposite direction as Shimano. We went up that steep little hill on Old Maid's Lane and instead of going down to the granny, I put it on the big ring. I got a nasty little pinch in the ass for that one! The XT rear was great. We had an issue with the front shifting, in that it needed further adjustment. It was giving off a really good scrape when on the big ring. So on that ride, we just stayed on the middle and the granny (we did hills). The shifting to the granny was also much smoother. I still needed to back off on the pressure a little, but when it jumped onto the granny ring it did it without the big clunk that we're used to. At the end of the ride I brought it back and they fussed with the adjustment for awhile, but I think it was Dan who rescued us and got it working well-really well, to be truthful.

The next day we did a 30 miler on the trail. One of Peter's friends was doing a project for her batmizvah. She arranged a charity ride to benefit the local animal shelter. Not many people were there-friends and family. But we rode at all speeds and the front der, was working beautifully. Smoother shifting with less effort. I'm not going to touch the adjustment screws!

I'm really glad that I stumbled upon this combination. I've read good things about it and I must say that if any of your customers ask, then the answer is YES it works very well!"


So the drivetrain as it sits now is:

Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed shifters
Shimano XT rear der.
Shimano Ultegra front der
Shimano 9 speed cassette

jnbrown

I have Centaur shifters with JTEK on both my tandem and single and both work great.
You must have an older front der because I found on my single there was a mismatch with the tension of the der being too high and throw too short to work well with the Centaur shifter.
I had to change the front der to Centaur to get it to work. I actually think Shimano front shifting works better than Campy, but I like the Campy rear shifting and everything else better (less expensive, lower weight, better ergonomics, repairable, works with brakes that don't have a QR)

WebsterBikeMan

I have Veloce 9 speed shifters with an otherwise Shimano system (JTek for the rear), and the front shifts fine. All new in 2009. And at the time, Shimano didn't offer trim on the front, so Campy was superior. I understand that has now changed.

professorbob

I can't say how old my shifters are. They are 10 speed old new stock and I think the current model is 11. At the shop, they did say that Campy uses a different amount of throw in the front, which may have been why the adjustment was so finicky. However, as it sits, the front is an noticeable improvement over the older (5500, I think) 105. On the 105, it took considerable effort to move the chain to a larger chainring, much different than the Ultegra on my single, which is smooth and easy.

zonatandem

Well ProfBob found ou that JTek works as advertised!
Set up a couple tandems that way for folks who wanted Ergo shifters instead of STI with other Shim components.
Shimanglo . . . or is it Campano . . . whatever works!

Butcher

I love my Jtek set up, All Record 10 with a Dura Ace 10 cassette. No adjustments needed in the last 2 years.

pathdoc

I also use a Jtek setup, Campy brifters with a Shimano drivetrain (mostly 105 level components)

professorbob

Zona, it's great when something works as well as advertised! Did another ride today and I think it's a winner.

ibis_ti

Just an FYI,

Da Vinci sells modified x9 rear derailleurs to work with 10 speed campy/shimano shifters and 9 speed shimano/sram cassettes or campy shifters and 10 speed shimano/sram cassettes.

rdtompki

Ibis_ti
I e-mailed Todd at daVinci about a month ago regarding the 10 speed conversion on their SRAM RD; the website still shows "available soon". Todd indicated. He said they would be working on this over the winter. Still, it wouldn't hurt to call. I suspect the problem they are having has nothing to do with the RD. The daVinci has a long chainline and based on what Bryon at Crank-2 describe I wonder if they are having a problem with the chain slapping the chainstay - the daVinci small chainring is only 12t after all and with the extra-long chainline there isn't much clearance to being with. The 10 spd chain is lighter and it may be there is some sort of standing wave set up.