Campy 9s shifter and derailleur with Shimano cassette hack

[Jimbo]

Hello All:
I wanted to set up a bike with Campy 9s Ergo shifters and derailleur to work with a Shimano 9s cassette. I have a bike set up like this already using the Shiftmate but I wanted to see if I could make it work without spending another $60 or so.
Sheldon Brown's (RiP) website provides a wealth of information. First his cassette spacing crib sheet includes the distance between cogs: 4.55mm for Campy 9 and 4.34mm for Shimano 9s, a difference of about 5%.
Next, he shows that alternative cable routing can be used to alter the distance traveled with each gear change. I needed to decrease the travel for each click by 5% which means I need to move the cable 5% further away from the pivot. He shows this example: .
In looking at my 9s derailleur I measured that the distance from the pivot to where the point where the cable normally pulls to be 35.57mm.

By wrapping the cable around the pinch I was able to increase that to 37.46mm, an increase of 5.3%.


The results, at least for this proof of concept test were really good. I've done my best to show with the pics that the pulley is perfectly lined up on the small and the large cog but it was hard to get the camera angle just right.


Will set this up on a bike and take it for a ride this weekend.
Cheers,
Jim

[thwart]

Looks good.

Of course, the party line has been to use a 10 spd Campy ergo with an otherwise 9 spd Shimano drivetrain, and then also wrap the cable attachment at the RD around a bit like you've done to alter the travel.

Keep us posted.

[Ronsonic]

Depending on your standards, you can also just stick the Shimano wheel in there, adjust the stops and cable and go ride. Not the silky smooth shift of the official Campy setup, but it won't explode or otherwise misbehave.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by thwart

Looks good.

Of course, the party line has been to use a 10 spd Campy ergo with an otherwise 9 spd Shimano drivetrain, and then also wrap the cable attachment at the RD around a bit like you've done to alter the travel.

Keep us posted.

ctr cog to ctr cog on Campag 10s very close to shimano 9s..and no need to route the rear der cable any differently..

PLUS Campag 9s and shimano 9s? Find some yellow Campag 9s spacers, put those into a shimano 9s cogset-go ride.

[thwart]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

PLUS Campag 9s and shimano 9s? Find some yellow Campag 9s spacers, put those into a shimano 9s cogset-go ride.

Good idea, I've never tried that.

105 cassettes are loose cog, IIRC. Anything higher in the Shimano hierarchy and the largest 3 cogs are attached to a carrier.

Re: the 'best' setup for Campy 10 ergos and Shimano 9 spd drivetrain... some folks in the UK came up with this compatibility table several yrs ago. They like the alternate RD cable attachment better for this application... they call it 'hubbub'...

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Campag 9s and shimano 9s? Find some yellow Campag 9s spacers, put those into a shimano 9s cogset-go ride.

Thanks Peter, this is really interesting to me. Where does one find the yellow spacers? I assume the additional width is not too great for the combination to fit on the freehub.
Cheers,
Jim

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Thanks Peter, this is really interesting to me. Where does one find the yellow spacers? I assume the additional width is not too great for the combination to fit on the freehub.
Cheers,
Jim

No, since the last 1 or 2 won't have the spacers..decent LBS that 'qui si parla Campagnolo' ought to have them..box of toasted cogsets, keeping the spacers.

[Jimbo]

Great, thanks!

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

No, since the last 1 or 2 won't have the spacers..decent LBS that 'qui si parla Campagnolo' ought to have them..box of toasted cogsets, keeping the spacers.