Ergo lever compalability

[Vetus Ossa]

I have a bike equipped with Campagnolo Racing T components. I was hoping to use some new Veloce ergo levers with them but read somewhere that they are not compatible. Opinions please.

[Brucey]

how many speeds? Which years?

cheers

[Vetus Ossa]

Well I'm not sure I can date the Racing T groupset exactly but mid 90's I think. I want to used 10 speed levers with them.

[Brucey]

there are several issues;

1) front shifting; campag have changed the shift ratio of their front mechs, so you may need to use a widget to extend the arm on the front mech. Part of the benefit of this is that it reduces the spring force of the mech on the shifter, which IIRC can cause problems with new shifters when they are paired with older mechs. Not all permutations of front shifter and front mech will work that well.

2) rear shifting. There are two shift ratios for 9s campag and new 10s shifters will only work (easily) with one of them. You can tell if a 9s mech is 'old' or 'new' by looking at where the b tension screw is situated.

hth

cheers

[tatanab]

If the mech is Racing T then it is 9 speed. If Racing Triple it is 8 speed. Either way I do not believe it will work with the current generation of Veloce. Pull ratios etc changed in something like 2010 so that even 10 speed before that date is not guaranteed compatible with 10 speed post that date, and as Brucey says the 9 speed pull ratios changed years before that too (something like 2000). There's a compatibility chart of pre/post that date somewhere on the Campag website but of course it will not go back far enough for 9 speed or 8 speed bits. This is not to say that definitely will not work, if you have the bits then you could try it.

[Valbrona]

Worth a try, but you would be better off with a 10 speed or 11 speed triple RD.

There have been no changes in Campag actuation ratios across both 10 and 11 speed systems until the introduction of Super Record/Record/Chorus in 2015. The obvious guess is that a 9 speed RD will be most probably be compatible with any 10 speed Ergo lever.

[tatanab]

Campag issued an errata update in 2011 showing workable combinations from 2010 and 2011. I know it is in a couple of threads here, if I could link to the pdf on this machine I would. This was the time when they introduced the modern (ugly to my mind) design of rear mech. I was particularly interested because I had bought a Comp Triple rear mech and the compatibility table showed me I needed 2010 Ergo and that 2011 were not guaranteed to work.

[Vetus Ossa]

Thanks for your comments all. I appear to have an 8 speed Racing Triple (on the way to me,) so doubtful if that would work with that lever.
The rear mech was part of a bundle of parts I bought.
I never thought of this before but as the rear mech is en route to me I will fit it to my other 10 speed bike with veloce levers when it arrives and see if it works smoothly.
I’ll let you know in case anyone else is interested in doing likewise.

[Brucey]

The obvious guess is that a 9 speed RD will be most probably be compatible with any 10 speed Ergo lever.

obviously not the case, given that there are two different 9s versions....?

cheers

[mattsccm]

Been there.
My older 10 speed Veloce Ergos worked well with both Racing and Comp triple mechs, front and rear. No idea how old the Ergos are. They are the Ultra shift versions with QS on them. (I think)
The right one gave up when the plastic dog wore and sadly they are not replaceable. I bought some new ones last year. These are the ones with the drooping thumb tab and curved hoods. Sadly neither end worked with my older mechs. The front didn't give enough throw even as a double. Can't remember what the problem was at the back but if it was enough to make me spend more money on a new mech it must have been noticeable.
If any bright spark has a cabling modification please say.

[Vetus Ossa]

Been there.
My older 10 speed Veloce Ergos worked well with both Racing and Comp triple mechs, front and rear. No idea how old the Ergos are. They are the Ultra shift versions with QS on them. (I think)
The right one gave up when the plastic dog wore and sadly they are not replaceable. I bought some new ones last year. These are the ones with the drooping thumb tab and curved hoods. Sadly neither end worked with my older mechs. The front didn't give enough throw even as a double. Can't remember what the problem was at the back but if it was enough to make me spend more money on a new mech it must have been noticeable.
If any bright spark has a cabling modification please say.

Oh dear, it was the levers with the drooping thumb tab I have been looking at
Strangely enough my Argos has a similar set up, the above ergo levers, Racing T front mech, Centaur medium cage rear (not sure if its 9 or 10) Stronglight triple and 10 speed cassette. It works flawlessly.
Anyway, when the 8 speed Racing T shows up I will fit it to the Argos and see how it performs.
Fingers crossed it works, but think I may be looking for a new rear mech somehow or older 10 speed levers.

[hamster]

Any ergo with the number of speeds on it is post-2001 when the leverage changed. If your rear mech has a conventional 'b' tension screw by the hanger bolt then it is pre-2001. Later rear mechs have a big knuckle where the cage joins the parallelogram with the screw located there.

Shifters and mechs are incompatible between these two eras, although with a worn mech and clean cables they can often be persuaded to index tolerably well if somewhat tetchy about dirt.

[De Sisti]

The obvious guess is that a 9 speed RD will be most probably be compatible with any 10 speed Ergo lever.

obviously not the case, given that there are two different 9s versions....?

cheers

Yes. I have 10 speed ergo levers on my 3 bike. All of them have 9 speed rear mechs. No problems with shifting.

[Mick F]

You're lucky then.

Campag 9sp and Campag 10sp are just about the same width cassette. They fit on the same hub with the same lockring.
9sp has 9 cogs and 10sp has 10 cogs ............. obviously.

ie the spacers are wider/thicker on 9sp
ie end to end is 8 clicks for 9sp but 9 clicks for 10sp.
ie one click of a 10sp RH Ergo isn't enough to shift one cog of a 9sp as the gap is too wide.

[Brucey]

Yes. I have 10 speed ergo levers on my 3 bike. All of them have 9 speed rear mechs. No problems with shifting.

but are they all the same type of 9s mechs? You can tell the difference between 'old 9s' and 'new 9s' by the position of the B tension screw. I think if you get the wrong sort (a 'new 9s' shifter with an 'old 9s' rear mech or vice versa) it may sort of work but be noisy in some gears and a bit tetchy in terms of adjustment.

http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/components/transmission-gears/derailleur-gears/shimergo

shows that 10s shifters with a 'new 9s' rear mech will (as you might expect) suit a campag 10s cassette, but the same shifters with an 'old 9s' mech (or 8s mech) will be a better match for a 10s shimano-spaced cassette, which is slightly narrower spacing.

cheers