Normal or not? Lateral play in Long Cage 10 Speed Chorus rear derailleur.

[phoenix]

A question for you Campy gurus out there. While building up this 10 speed chorus group I noticed some lateral play in the rear derailleur. The play is isolated to the "main pivot" bolt area, and is a long cage for whatever that’s worth.

I can't seem to find anything useful in my searches. If this is not normal, is it safe to assume that the hanger bolt bushing/s are worn and should be replaced? If that is the case, I figure it couldn't hurt to replace the spring and hangar bolt as well? I posted a video below showing the concern.

I've been away from Campy for a around 6 years or so, and am stoked to be back! Any advice is appreciated, thanks in advance.


https://vimeo.com/366123905



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[thwart]

I've got about that same amount of play in a similar vintage Chorus alloy 10 spd RD, and somewhat less in a newer carbon 10 spd Centaur and newer carbon 10 spd Record... all are mid-cage.

The alloy Chorus functions as well as the others... just as you'd expect, very well.

'oldpotatoe' is one of the resident Campy experts, ex-shop owner. IME he usually peruses these pages in the early AM... or you could PM him.

[Dave]

Disassemble the main pivot and install a shim washer to reduce the lateral play. IIRC, I made a shim washer from .010 inch aluminum flashing material. I probably used a step drill or tapered sheet metal drill bit to make the right size hole and then used tin snips to cut around the hole. It doesn't have to be round. Cut a square first, then trim off the corners.

[zmalwo]

if shifting is not affected then I would just leave it as is.

[ultraman6970]

THis.

if shifting is not affected then I would just leave it as is.

[phoenix]

The indexing is pretty good, but not as good as my 10 speed carbon Record group. I’ve played with different amounts of cable tension, adjusting the indexing via barrel adjuster in various cogs etc. The drivetrain is a little noisy as well with a Record chain that doesn’t even drop in at .75 on my chain checker and the cassette (pretty sure Chorus level) looks pretty good as well. Cables/housing are new, Jagwire Pro, but I doubt that would really contribute to this. I’ve contemplated trying a different chain as well, another 10 speed Record, maybe a KMC or even a 10 speed Dura-Ace (hoping not to summon Krampus this early).

These are the reasons I started thinking about that main pivot. If there is slop at the pivot, that mm or two of play will be exaggerated the further it gets from that point, thus affecting indexing on the cassette.

[boywander]

You mentioned noise. I would check the alignment of the derailleur hanger. You’ll be surprised to see how much it’s off.

[phoenix]

You mentioned noise. I would check the alignment of the derailleur hanger. You’ll be surprised to see how much it’s off.



Ah yes, I neglected to mention that i did check the hangar and it’s nice and straight.


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[boywander]

And aside from the noise.
There’s a screw on the outer plate below the pivot that adjust the distance of top pulley to the cogs. This adjustment makes a huge difference ether shifting.

You want to get it as close as possible but not that it interferes with the largest cog when back pedaling.

[phoenix]

And aside from the noise.
There’s a screw on the outer plate below the pivot that adjust the distance of top pulley to the cogs. This adjustment makes a huge difference ether shifting.

You want to get it as close as possible but not that it interferes with the largest cog when back pedaling.



I should edit my original post, because I also have the B tension screw is adjusted pretty well.

On a side note I also have some Campagnolo 10 speed dt shifters that I have run with the same rear derailleur. When I had the dt shifters on the bike, the indexing was even less id than it is now. It’s not THAT bad now, but I just know that it could and should definitely be better. This is another reason why I’m beginning to look at the rear derailleur as a possible culprit.


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[oliver1850]

I've seen some slop on the pivot of some C10 RDs, but can't recall one that was bad enough that it affected shifting. Have you checked hanger alignment?

[boywander]

I should edit my original post, because I also have the B tension screw is adjusted pretty well.

On a side note I also have some Campagnolo 10 speed dt shifters that I have run with the same rear derailleur. When I had the dt shifters on the bike, the indexing was even less id than it is now. It’s not THAT bad now, but I just know that it could and should definitely be better. This is another reason why I’m beginning to look at the rear derailleur as a possible culprit.


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What’s the possibility of the ergo shifter has some slop in it? Compared my old chorus alloy ergo to my record carbon, it’s definitely less crisps. Trial and see if that same derailleur on the other..

[Dino Suegiù]

'oldpotatoe' is one of the resident Campy experts, ex-shop owner. IME he usually peruses these pages in the early AM... or you could PM him.
This. ^

If the shifting is not making you happy then wait for Old Potatoe to reply, or just PM him. He is an incredible source of knowledge on all things Campagnolo, really great.

[phoenix]

What’s the possibility of the ergo shifter has some slop in it? Compared my old chorus alloy ergo to my record carbon, it’s definitely less crisps. Trial and see if that same derailleur on the other..



Definitely can’t rule that out. How do I determine if it is something with the shifter? I did run this rear der with 10 speed campy dt shifters and the shifting still seemed improved once I went to the integrated chorus shifters that I’m running currently which is why I’ve been inquiring about the derailleur.




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[phoenix]

This. ^



If the shifting is not making you happy then wait for Old Potatoe to reply, or just PM him. He is an incredible source of knowledge on all things Campagnolo, really great.



Maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll read this so I don’t have to send him a whole novel! Haha!


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[Dino Suegiù]

Maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll read this so I don’t have to send him a whole novel! Haha!


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Ha. No need to send a novel at all. OP is really nice, very knowledgeable, and will likely reply. Like thwart said he's on here early in the AM, in Colorado.

But if you want to be sure you can just PM him saying, "What's your opinion regarding this?" and the link to this thread. That's it, and he'll post his his reply here so we can all learn from it.

The other really experienced Campagnolo person here (there may be others) is gfk_velo. I think he might be the UK Campagnolo representative, some position like that. Also very helpful, very experienced, very thorough replies.

EDIT:
I am definitely no expert, but I would advise you to not dis-assemble your rd until you have more advice as to the probable cause of the issue, first, and then some suggestions as to specific solutions as well.

[oldpotatoe]

if shifting is not affected then I would just leave it as is.

What he said, not uncommon..check for cracks around the bolt. Not that uncommon. As dave has mentioned, it IS possible to shim it but if the shifting is OK, leave it alone.

BTW-if it DOES go south, find a 11s long(er) cage rear der..it will shift with 10s shifters just fine.

The ERGO shifters have a post on the spring carrier that 'can' break..that makes shifting really hard to dial in. BUT, since they put shoulders next to the post, the post doesn't break but the shifting gets really soft..that doesn't sound like an issue.

Thanks to dino and others for the nice words..happy to try to be of help here.