Compatibility Discovery...Winter Mechanicals

[dbrk]

I think that most Serottapals don't do that much mixing and matching with bits but for me it's a sort of passion. I just need to know if what The Industry tells us is true and, better yet, I want to find out they are wrong (not too hard to do). Yesterday's discovery, however, was quite odd though it makes sense (even if I haven't looked up the exact tolerances). Sooooo, just in case you are riding Campagnolo 9 speed and you need a wheel and your pal next to you has a 7 speed Shimano...A few minor adjustments to lock out the two bottom clicks on the Ergo shifter and voila!! You have essentially perfect shifting. This also works for you fellow-knuckledragger downtubeshifterpals, though methinks there are very few of you here in Serottaville...

I suppose this is no great shakes but it's sort of interesting.

Anyway, senor jerk is sending me some tires and when I'm not playing with derailleurs I'm looking out the window looking for the postman.

Also, as a sure sign of my procrastinations (I'm working on all sorts of book projects), I fired off a virtriolic missive to the Velonews yesterday accusing them of ruining their publication. They replied politely, thanked me for my opinion, and talked about these revisions as a work in progress. Readers have clamored for more pictures, apparently, and they claim there is more content. Of course, what good is the content if you can't tell the articles from the ads. Well, they were nice to me and I refuse to be nice to them. So there.

dbrk

[Ozz]

sorry to hear about your trials with VeloNews...

I believe it was "JohnS" that hit it dead on when he essentially said that "fringe sport" publications are dumbing down to reach a wider audience. As a result, they will lose their core subscribers.

The readers gained with this marketing, will be lost quickly when they decide to try the next fashionable sport.

Wasn't beach volley-ball a big deal about 15 years ago???

It seems everyone is shooting for their 15 minutes of fame without realizing that life is a lot longer....this comment seemed relevant a couple minutes ago. I better go get some more coffee...

[Tom]

My sad tale is that I do have a Shimano 7-spd on the old bike, the bottom rung STI went the way they will, I lost the box with the downtube shifters so after visiting 3 or 4 shops in the area one set me up with shifters that didn't even make it to the ladder. This winter they reached their 500-shift lifetime limit. I was heartened to see e-Bay has about a dozen different Shimano 7-spd offerings but the idea of slapping a set of decent Campag shifters on the bike really appeals, cause I think they're comfy. Are the adjustments something I can look up, or is it arcane lore you might detail here? My many thanks for turning me on to this alternative!

[dbrk]

It's a simple adjustment with the limit screws, certainly not in any manual. The Powers That Be would not want you to try this unauthorized adjustment FOR YOUR SAFETY. Now if you believe that, please don't try. But if you think that is a pile of hookum (a large, smelly, unpleasant pile), then it's about 5 minutes in the stand to get this aworkin'...

Now I will try with Shimano 9 speed STI. Why? Well, because Enquiring Minds wanna know.

limit screws reveal truths not in Sutherlands,

dbrk

[pbbob]

Tom, I am using campy with 8 speed innard to shift a shimano 7 on 1 bike. shimano 7 is 5mm spaced and so this works perfectly. From what I understand the innards are still readily available and if you like to tinker this could be a good thing to learn how to do.

[SPOKE]

add this one to the collection of "working no-no's". new DA 10spd brifters and rear derailleur works just fine with campy 10spd cassette. i actually think it feels a little smoother than the DA cassette.

[dbrk]

Put the DA STI 9 on...works great with the Shimano 7spd rear (better than the Campagnolo).

Just knock out the extra two bottom clicks using the limit screws.

jury rigs'r'us,
but of course all derailleurs shift friction,

dbrk

[Too Tall]

Below is a reference for using Shimano STI(9) with Ergo(10) levers.
http://www.hubbub.com/ergoleverswshim9.htm

Saddly, it works ;)

[Tom]

Bumping it up to the top with no new content except for thanks to dbrk in widening the options. I didn't make it on to the road this weekend, the sleet stuck around a little longer than I figured it would. It was a good thing, because Karen's trying to kill me - she bought me a 3 hour interval spinerval dvd which arrived this week. It involves shifting back and forth in the big ring, and the silly shifter on that side had about a 50 shift lifetime limit, which probably is the only thing that kept me from dropping stone dead. I was happy to put Phil and Paul back on and look at sunny Alps.

Index shifting is fine but if I bugger up the 9-spd Dura Ace option (downtube shifters can be had cheap!) I am flipping the washers over and definitely going friction. At this point my decision is based on whether I think I can break the parts in less than a year, like the ones I have on there.

I'm not calling to find out how the CSi's doing until next Monday. Not that I'm obsessing or anything.

[Too Tall]

Hey Tom, I had dinner last night with one of Troy Jacobs clients....seemed to have a funny twitch. (kidding...about the twitch). Talk about an awesome age group Triathlete, she is amazing and was part of an all woman's RAAM team. OMG. His methods are good. I find the orig. spinerval tapes too hard if done the way he dictates.

Live another day my friend!

[Tom]

I know HR numbers vary widely from person to person and I haven't refined my monitor's numbers in a very long time, but it's amazing when they're saying that the people on the tape are pootling along at less than 80% max and I'm peaking at 92% and recovering to 90! A good thing the shifter starting acting up after 40 minutes or I wouldn't be able to walk today. I'm thinking I'll adapt, since I haven't done any intervals up to now. Or maybe I'll croak.

[Spinner]

are 8 speed da rings compatible with da 9 speed?

[dbrk]

You'll need a new big ring. The small ring works fine with the 9spd chain.

dbrk