Shimergo

[turglebird]

Hi

I have a 8spd/triple shimano drive train with busted Sora STI's and would like to fit some Campagnolo shifters in a shimergo set up. I am planning to use some 2011 Veloce "powershift" ergos for £77. Does anyone know if these will be compatible? I am wondering whether these levers have the escape mechanism and if are they comparable to the earlier quickshift system (which I hear doesn't really work with shimano kit).

My other option is to buy some Microshift 8spd SB-R08 shimano compatible levers off ebay for £70 from Hong Kong. Is this a better solution compared to the Shimergo route?

[NUKe]

yes its compatible
take a look at CJ's article
http://www.ctc.org.uk/desktopdefault.aspx?tabid=3946

[CJ]

Campag have chopped and changed their shifting parameters so much in the last 5 years that I wouldn't be at all confident of two parts of different groupsets and/or model years working together - even if they're both Campag!

To be sure of 8-speed Shimergo you need to find older 10-speed Ergos, preferably pre-QS, although QS that is not also "Escape" (means front indexing) is also good to go.

Since all the recent changes, a big question-mark hangs over the Shimergobility of Ultrashift. It is reported that the shifter detents are too light to hold other makes of mech, or even older Campag ones, which will then slip at random into a smaller sprocket or chainring. But maybe the latest tweaks have removed that. Not that Campag wanted to, the rep I spoke to at last year's London show made it quite clear that "the buttonhole flower of the made in Italy cycle industry" does not approve of us using their stuff with anyone else's. But maybe this lightening of the detents went so far as to lose the mechanical crispness that people liked about Campag's shifting.

We need more reports from people who have tried to Shimergo with the current stuff, where it is stated EXACTLY what they've used.

[turglebird]

Thanks for the Info Chris. Unfortunately there does not seem to be much info out there about the 2011 campag 10spd range in general. Might have to go the microshift route after all.

[rjb]

I used Campag xenon 10 speed QS shifters with my shimano rear end. Only problem i had was with the shimano road front mech. I eventually changed it for a campag xenon front mech but have heard that a shimano mtb front mech is compatible. I prefer these campag levers to the shimano 105 shifters i have on another bike, and i like the feel of the levers with shimano dual pivot brakes, they now feel more powerful and responsive. I purchased the levers from Ribble, http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... 0000000000

[turglebird]

Thanks rjb - did you install the ergo's with a double or triple chainset? Also was the fd issue to do with the shimano spring being too strong?

[Edwards]

I have used the Xenon 10 speed shifters for a few years with Shimano MTB Alvio front mechs. I have heard that some of the newer top end mechs have a stronger return spring.
The rear matches Shimano 8 speed.

[DaveP]

FWIW, I bought these and used them with an XT 8sp rear and a Tiagra triple 9sp front mech. Easy installation, and no problems so far:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2010-Campagnolo-V ... 53e3a65764

read all about it here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=38862

Good Luck!

[steady eddy]

I am running Centaur carbon 10 speeds ( purchsed Jan 2011) with a Shimano deore 9 speed set up at the back and a 48 38 26 at the front. The back is fine but the odd skip down has recently crept in, possibly due to a worn chain. It will be interesting to see if a new chain and cassette solves that problem or if the cable is slipping. The brake levers seem to cope with the cantis as well but you have to keep on top of the adjustment or they are back to the bars fairly quickly.

The Centaurs didnt like the Tiagra front mech - as posted before I restate that Campag front mechs have an actuating arm which is around twice the length of the Tiagra so with twice the leverage needs half the effort to operate. I have used a cheap Campag front road triple mech, which is somewhat beyond capacity, but works fine but I have had to set it up very carefully and it is very close to the big ring to cope with the drop. I am tempted to create a Shimergo front mech as the pivot points on the parallelagram appear to be in the same place. The pivots could easily be drilled out and replaced with bolts, this way I could have the leverage of the Campag mech with the reach of the Tiagra, but have so far resisted the temptation in case I cant get it to work and wreck both in the process!

What I have found is that occasionally a shifter lever locks up and won't change - mainly on the front mech - a press or two on the side mounted button appears to clear this - otherwise it all works fine.

[rjb]

Hi Burdturglar, in answer to your query above i use it with a compact double stronglight chainset allthough the levers are compatible with triples. The campag xenon front mech is designed for 10 speed chains and comes with a small plastic rubbing strip in the cage. I had to remove this (just clips out) to accomodate an 8 speed chain which is wider. The original problem when trying to operate the LH lever with a road shimano mech was that the force required to effect a front shift was i considered to be excessive due to the pull ratio. Allthough i got it to work i thought the excessive force would ultimately reduce the life of the lever (I was concerned about snapping the shift lever off). Shimano mtb front mechs have a pull ratio closer to campag front mechs and several forum posters have posted favourable results here.

Hope this helps, roger

[turglebird]

Thanks for the useful info guys. However, I am still a bit clueless about the compatability of the 2011 veloce range. The "powershift" mechanism seems to be a return to escape - as you can only downshift one gear at a time. The campag website also states that they have "front derailleur micro-adjustment possibility". Anyone have any idea what this means and whether the escape system makes them effectively untrimmable and therefore unsuitable for shimergo?

[CREPELLO]

Thanks for the useful info guys. However, I am still a bit clueless about the compatability of the 2011 veloce range. The "powershift" mechanism seems to be a return to escape - as you can only downshift one gear at a time. The campag website also states that they have "front derailleur micro-adjustment possibility". Anyone have any idea what this means and whether the escape system makes them effectively untrimmable and therefore unsuitable for shimergo?

Powershift will be a derivative of Ultrashift I'd imagine. Previously, all Ultrashift appeared to have essentially the same mechanism (with some minor differences), which didn't really offer much in the way of performance difference (once Campag had rectified issues with the indent disc on Veloce and Centaur*).

So, on the face of it, Powershift simply looks like a downgrade over the previous Ultrashift incarnation, albeit at a lower price. But I couldn't speculate whether changes have taken place that alter spring tension in relation to derailleurs.

Still, Campag do seem to excel at baffling everyone, including their qualified technicians - it's all part of their mystique, you see I've heard them contradict what is compatible and advise me on things that simply aren't true. Example: One guy said that there had been no changes made to 2009 Veloce controls, when the indent disc had been changed and the kit is even available!

Anyone care to conclude what the 2011 Athena controls are? Powershift or Ultrashift? Click the Athena Instruction doc.

*EDIT: Actually, it's just occurred to me that Campag may have attempted a material difference on the lower Veloce and Centuar 2009 models, by giving the RH down shift paddle the silent/softer feel. That they changed this back to the more positive feel of all other Ergopower controls suggests that this change was just too unpopular. It ceratinly was with me and I'd never used Ergopowers before.

Afterall, Campag and others have to create differences in groupsets that aren't always easy, if the entire range has been designed at the same time, as the Ultrashift controls were. Often a difference is merely a different finish and a bit of a Teflon coating somwhere. Do I sound a little cynical?

[turglebird]

Jerry, I'm pretty sure that Aethena shares the powershift mechanism alongwith Centuar and Veloce. But I think your cynicism regarding the differences between groupsets is well placed.

RJB - did you purchase the 2010 escape xenon levers? Might just use these with a mtb front mech as there isn't enough info out there about the powershift compatability.

[rjb]

Hi burdturlar,
My 10 speed xenon levers were circa 2008, I vaguely remember that the terms qs and escape went together in the description but the docs i have only refer to the description as ergopower and qs. The current ribble web site refers to 2 different prices for 2010 10 speed Xenon levers. I dont know what the difference is. My LH lever has 6 clicks to change from a small ring up across a triple. This does leave room for a small amount of trimming but only on the change to a bigger ring. When dropping down to a smaller ring the thumb paddle changes down the equivelant of 3 clicks in one go.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/product/b ... non%20ergo

You could always contact mercian who are Campag lever specialists for further advice.

http://www.merciancycles.com/home/1/mer ... cycle-shop

regards, Roger

[turglebird]

In the end decided not to risk it and purchased a set of microshift shifters. For anyone wanting to go the shimergo route with received this information from campagnolo mechanic:

"My guess re Shimano 8s x 2011 Veloce LH is no. I think you'll get chain scrape. It might be possible to minimise that by making up a shaped cable guide to tune the throw of the gear per incriment of cable recovered, and maybe by running a narrower chain (9s will run OK on most 8s systems).

It'll also depend on the rear centres length of the frame - the longer it is, the more likely you are to be able to get it to work, as the chain will have to span a narrower set of angles on a long rear triangle."