Campagnolo Ergo lever help.

[Godlykepower]

I've just acquired a lovely early nineties Colnago Master and I've spent some time making it my own.

I've never ridden with Campag before this, having been a Shimano man since day one and the levers seem to operate completely differently to STI.

The bike has an 8 speed Record cassette and I was told by the seller, 9 speed Chorus Ergo levers. But with the way they ratchet, how do I tell if my levers are I deed 9 speed? Or, more accurately, if I wanted to replace my current levers with newer versions of Ergo's that I know say 9 speed on them, will they be compatible with the 8 speed cassette?

[Brucey]

using your hand to pull on a cable that is not attached to a rear mech, just count the clicks in the RH lever.

8 clicks means you have 9 speed.

If you want replacement ergos that are 8s compatible, you need to buy 8s ergos. 9s ones won't pull enough cable per click.

If you look at the CTC's shimergo page you can see how much cable the various shifters pull and how much you need for the mech to work on 8s.

Some other options;

1) get 8s parts installed in 9s ergos (sometimes but not always possible)

2) alter the cable mount on the rear mech so that you need less cable pull per shift, thus making them work with 9s ergos.

IIRC a complication with any 9s ergos is that there are two versions that are slightly different in terms of their cable pull.

cheers

[Godlykepower]

I loosened the cable and counted the clicks...they're 8 speed.