Campy for cross?

[FastforaSlowGuy]

I'm putting together a new (to me) CX build, and I'm thinking about using this as an excuse to give Campy a try. Hoping to tap the collective wisdom of the forum to resolve a few questions. As background, the bike would be my gravel road, wet weather and CX machine, and all my other bikes (and my wife's bikes) run Sram or Shimano.

1. How does Campy do in the mud? I hear it's a little more finicky to keep in tune, which seems problematic in a cross bike.

2. Since I don't want to drop big $$ on my backup bike, I'm thinking of running Campy 10 speed. Any known issues with any of the 10sp components I should be aware of (akin to the well-known secret that the old Red FDs stunk)?

3. To make wheel sharing across bikes easier, I'm toying with doing this as a Srampagnolo setup (full 10sp Campy with a Sram RD). The few postings on here about the concept seem to be reasonably favorable. Anyone want to weigh in on whether I'm an idiot who is cheating myself out of the Campy experience?

[christian]

I've been running Campagnolo 10 all year on my Zanc - an unholy mix of Centaur shifters and Mirage (!) rear derailleur. Couldn't be happier with its (not my) performance. Shifts GREAT!

I have no opinion on Srampagnolo. Not something that would interest me.

[elliott]

I know some guys who have done the shimergo thing for cross. They like it. C10 shifters with 8s shimano drivetrain would be good for mud clearance on the drivetrain. Or you could do C11 with a 9s shimano cassette.

[AngryScientist]

anyone who tells you campy is more finicky than anything else to set-up is a bad mechanic. no harder than any other group.

i am anti-srampagnolo. there are a number of options that work, but none as good as a matched group. anything less is a compromise. getting campy shifters "just to try" campy and using a bastardized drivetrain is silly IMO. making stuff work with parts you have is one thing. actively seeking and purchasing parts that are not made to work together is another. people can say whatever they want, the reality is that the campy pull ratios are different from anything shimano or sram, and while they may work "good enough", it's still a compromise.

other than that, full campy 10 speed is pretty bulletproof, and certainly no more prone to failure than any other group. in cross, it mostly comes down to luck...

[Steve in SLO]

I've used 8 and 10 speed Campy on my CX bikes for years and haven't noticed any finickiness. The 10 speed seems just as easy to keep in good trim as the 8 speed. FWIW, I live in Calif and although I do most of my riding in the dry, my CX bikes get pretty muddy at times.

[FastforaSlowGuy]

I should have added that I have a spare Sram Force RD in my parts bin and extra wheels (all dished for Shimano/Sram) in my garage, so my motivation to start this as a mixed-bag build is largely to make things simpler & cheaper.

[canham]

I disagree with angry-scientist's post. I've had a campy-sram mix (campy shifters and sram rd) on my bike for several years and I couldn't be happier. The shifting is very clean and precise--in fact, it feels better than what I had when I was running a full sram setup. And there is, in fact, a good reason to purposefully mix components: unlike sram, campy shifters let you shift up AND down multiple gears in one lever through--something that is particularly useful for cross. On the other hand, changing all your wheels and cassettes over to campy just to get that benefit is annoying. I am purposefully buying components to mix campy and sram on a new bike for this reason.

[oldpotatoe]

I'm putting together a new (to me) CX build, and I'm thinking about using this as an excuse to give Campy a try. Hoping to tap the collective wisdom of the forum to resolve a few questions. As background, the bike would be my gravel road, wet weather and CX machine, and all my other bikes (and my wife's bikes) run Sram or Shimano.

1. How does Campy do in the mud? I hear it's a little more finicky to keep in tune, which seems problematic in a cross bike.

Not true.

2. Since I don't want to drop big $$ on my backup bike, I'm thinking of running Campy 10 speed. Any known issues with any of the 10sp components I should be aware of (akin to the well-known secret that the old Red FDs stunk)?

Yes and 10s Levers and sram RD..shifts your shimano/sram 10s spaced cogset.

3. To make wheel sharing across bikes easier, I'm toying with doing this as a Srampagnolo setup (full 10sp Campy with a Sram RD). The few postings on here about the concept seem to be reasonably favorable. Anyone want to weigh in on whether I'm an idiot who is cheating myself out of the Campy experience?

See above, it'll work fine.

[christian]

Here's a dumb question about Shimano and SRAM - is it possible to brake and shift at the same time?

On my bike, coming into the barriers, I start braking with both levers and simultaneously sweep down 2-3 gears (move the rear derailleur up the cogset), before finishing braking with my left hand and moving my right hand to the top tube.

Can this be accomplished with Shimano or SRAM? Since you have to move the whole big brake lever to move the derailleur against the spring tension, is it difficult?

(Genuine question, I've never used STI)

[pakora]

There's some folks around here running Campy for cx and they don't seem to have any problems. The biggest issue seems to be starting with Campy road cranks (because you already have them or bought a complete group) and getting rings/guards with tooth counts reasonable for 'cross.

Easy to avoid by not using a Campy crank or using a 110BCD one.

[tiretrax]

I have had no problems using Campy, nor braking and shifting at the same time (so long as I could think it through and work the levers correctly).

[djg]

It'll work just fine wet or dry -- it's not especially finicky, either to setup or to maintain.

[efuentes]

I run Shimargo combo (10 speed Campy levers with 9 speed shimano drivetrain) works perfectly and can use the very nice Campy ergonomics with all my MTB shimano stuff..

[EDS]

Here's a dumb question about Shimano and SRAM - is it possible to brake and shift at the same time?

On my bike, coming into the barriers, I start braking with both levers and simultaneously sweep down 2-3 gears (move the rear derailleur up the cogset), before finishing braking with my left hand and moving my right hand to the top tube.

Can this be accomplished with Shimano or SRAM? Since you have to move the whole big brake lever to move the derailleur against the spring tension, is it difficult?

(Genuine question, I've never used STI)

SRAM brake lever is just like Campy - i.e., brake only and does not move laterally. Shifter blade moves independent of the brake lever and you can shift while braking.

[weiwentg]

yes

[DfCas]

Campy ergos are great because you can open them up for more brake clearance in extreme mud. been using ergos in cross since'94.

[Lovetoclimb]

Used Centaur 10 speed (2005/06 stuff with a Chorus RD) last year on a Surly Cross Check with zero problems, still able to shift well enough in HORRIBLE mud. This year I have been using Athena 11 speed and like it even better. Crisp shifting, better feel than the heavily used Centaur bits. Only done a few muddy races and some with a fair bit of sand but again have had nothing but positive experiences. I did see a lot of snapped derailleur hangers last year on Campy bikes, but that is just the hanger failing when the derailleur still wants to shift.

[JanG]

I've been racing CX with Campy for almost a decade and like having wheels, cassettes, etc. that are compatible with my road bike. Until this year I used an older crankset from the brief period that Campy made them with a true 110mm bolt circle. Now I'm been using a power-torque CX specific crank without any trouble. I also took advantage of the serviceability of Campy recently. About a month ago I crashed and wiped out my 2001 right Daytona shifter in a race. When I got home I realized that only the body was cracked, the old ergo guts were OK. I got in touch with Oldpotato who promptly sent a replacement body (which he had on hand). I moved the mechanicals over to the new shifter body and was rolling again on that bike by Thursday.

[Litespeed_Mike]

I sense a larger issue here: Why would one be asking to use Campagnolo for Cyclocross? As in, why would one not be using Campagnolo for EVERYTHING already?!?!?!?!

That includes a corkscrew too!
http://www.amazon.com/Campagnolo-BIG-Corkscrew/dp/B001KKOEFG

[Irony intentional]

[oldpotatoe]

I sense a larger issue here: Why would one be asking to use Campagnolo for Cyclocross? As in, why would one not be using Campagnolo for EVERYTHING already?!?!?!?!

That includes a corkscrew too!
http://www.amazon.com/Campagnolo-BIG-Corkscrew/dp/B001KKOEFG

[Irony intentional]

They don't do videos as nice(or dopey, not sure)...YES that was Brian Worthy...he is everywhere!!

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/12/video/must-watch-sramgnam-cyclocross-style_268853

Marketing is alive and well at sram!!

[jamaris]

Been using campagnolo 11 in the mud and all the fun stuff for cx. In some serious mud this past weekend, my rear derailleur and cassette were working just like they were in the beginning of the race.
No problems.
I don't know what is finicky about it. Sram and shimano's marketing dollars maybe?

[umami]

I have record shifters and a SRAM X.9 RD on my cx ride. Shifts just fine. Usually people can't decide which to get more upset about: the bastardized shifting or the 11-34 rear cassette.

[anomaly]

I've run it 2 seasons now, it works well.
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6031/6342945737_b01ae43eb6_b.jpg

[djg]

I sense a larger issue here: Why would one be asking to use Campagnolo for Cyclocross? As in, why would one not be using Campagnolo for EVERYTHING already?!?!?!?!

That includes a corkscrew too!
http://www.amazon.com/Campagnolo-BIG-Corkscrew/dp/B001KKOEFG

[Irony intentional]

I know that the corkscrew is a joke, but the first bit makes sense to me. I've had a couple of generations of cross bikes that I've built with Campy because I liked Campy on the road and wanted to be able to make the best use of my wheels -- glue some cross tires on road wheels and you've turned them into cross wheels. Same idea works (without cement) for clinchers. Cassettes, cables, parts, etc.

10 speed works dandy. Built a bike up with 11 this year, but had a crp worthless cross season due to a knee problem and lousy fitness. But it worked fine as much as I worked it.

No, not at all trying to start a Campy vs. Shimano vs. Sram thread -- don't care at all what groups or mix-and-match other folks prefer. I'm just saying that for folks who like Campy kit . . . they can keep on going in the dirt.

[DHallerman]

MY reality is that the campy pull ratios are different from anything shimano or sram, and while they may work "good enough", it's still a compromise.

In my experience, not true, so fixed that.

Either you have never used the Jtek Shiftmate, or your mechanic who tried to set it up was skilled enough at that particular task.

But I run Campy Ergo shifters -- both 9-speed and 10 speed -- with Shimano 9-speed "mountain" cassettes and rear derailleurs.

And it works perfectly. Not "good enough," but just as good as a pure Dura-Ace or pure Campy drivetrain.

Dave, who loves the freedom of being able to mix and match but wouldn't do it if it didn't index perfectly since a dragging drivetain is a major PITA