Campy 10 speed cassette question

[NHAero]

OK, may be a dumb question (which are great, 'cuz they are the easiest to answer):
I pulled the 10s Chorus 11-23 cassette from my new Casati, which looks basically unused, and replaced with a 13-29 Veloce cassette for lower gearing. The Veloce is all loose cogs. The Chorus (that's what I think it is from Googling images) has the 21-23 and 17-19 cogs as assemblies on a carrier. The first eight cogs 13-23 on the new Veloce are the same as the last eight cogs on the Chorus. With the exception of the first small cog, are these interchangeable? Could I replace the 14-15-16-17-19-21-23 loose cogs on the Veloce cassette with the 14-15-16-17-19-21-23 cogs/carriers of the Chorus? Or should I just sell the Chorus.

[Ralph]

If you could get the spacers right. You will notice the spacers separating the assemblies on the
Chorus are different than the spacers on the Veloce. And the 29 on the Veloce is designed to follow a 26.

All my Campy cassettes came new with instructions that show spacer width for all Campy cassettes. Just like your Veloce....the 2.5 gold one goes between 6 and 7. And the real thin one goes between the two large cogs. Well....the Chorus uses spacers even different than that. Maybe having something to do with overlap on the carrier or something. You might figure it out by eyeballing.

I know how they go...or how to answer your question....just can't figure out how to say it.

There must be some latitude in spacer width....because the 10 speed 12-27 and 12-30 use 2.5 MM spacers between all the loose cogs, and the 3 largest are pinned. So I have often mixed with perfect success some of the cogs from the loose cog Veloce with them. Even though the spacers are 2.4, 2.5. and 1.9 on Veloce.

[NHAero]

Thank you Ralph. I might have figured that there would be some arcane incompatibility :-) Or maybe it's just a puzzle!

Is there any decent reason to want to do this besides saving a couple of grams (which on this bike, at about 21 pounds even, is not a priority :-)

If you could get the spacers right. You will notice the spacers separating the assemblies on the
Chorus are different than the spacers on the Veloce. And the 29 on the Veloce is designed to follow a 26.

All my Campy cassettes came new with instructions that show spacer width for all Campy cassettes. Just like your Veloce....the 2.5 gold one goes between 6 and 7. And the real thin one goes between the two large cogs. Well....the Chorus uses spacers even different than that. Maybe having something to do with overlap on the carrier or something. You might figure it out by eyeballing.

I know how they go...or how to answer your question....just can't figure out how to say it.

[Black Dog]

Quick answer is yes.

[Ralph]

OK...here goes....Maybe the spacer between 2 pinned cog assemblies doesn't need to be same width as loose cog cassette spacer, to wind up with same width between cogs.

[NHAero]

Got it - have to take both of them and lay them out and look/measure

OK...here goes....Maybe the spacer between 2 pinned cog assemblies doesn't need to be same width as loose cog cassette spacer, to wind up with same width between cogs.

[Ralph]

BTW....If you decide to keep one of the pinned assemblies, sell the others on E Bay. Chorus and Record 10 cassettes sometimes sell in parts.

[NHAero]

Yes it can be done, or yes it makes sense to do?
:)
Quick answer is yes.

[Mark McM]

That will almost work. As you say, the two cassettes have sprocket sizes 13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23 in common. And these sprockets are all from the "A" series and their shifting ramps all line up the same. However, if you look carefully, you'll see that the largest sprockets on each cassette have a "step" so that the toothed outer portion overhangs the bottom of the freehub splines (the outer toothed portion of the sprocket closer to the spokes than the center of the sprocket). This stemp is 0.8mm On the Veloce, the 29 tooth sprocket has this step, and the 23 tooth sprocket is flat. On the Chorus cassette, the 23 tooth sprocket has this step. If you were replace the Veloce 21 & 23 sprockets with the 21/23 assembly from the Chorus cassette, this step would cause the 23 tooth sprocket to be too close to the 26 by the 0.8mm step width.

In order to keep the spacing correct, you could only replace the 14, 15, 16, 17 & 19 sprockets in the Veloce with the Chorus sprockets.

A far as, does it make sense? The main difference is that the Chorus sprockets have a shinier nickel coating, vs. the duller galvanized coating on the Veloce sprockets. I doubt you'd notice a performance difference.

Edit: The spacing between the 23 and 26 is normally 2.4mm. Because the 0.8mm 'step' on the 21/23 Chorus assembly, you'd need to use a 3.2mm spacer (+/- 0.1mm or so). If you could source a wider spacer, then that could work.

[NHAero]

OK, got it, thanks so much!

Sounds like I will have a Chorus cassette FS. Am I correct in identifying it as a Chorus, with the last two pairs each on a gray carrier?

That will almost work. As you say, the two cassettes have sprocket sizes 13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23 in common. And these sprockets are all from the "A" series and their shifting ramps all line up the same. However, if you look carefully, you'll see that the largest sprockets on each cassette have a "step" so that the toothed outer portion overhangs the bottom of the freehub splines (the outer toothed portion of the sprocket closer to the spokes than the center of the sprocket). This stemp is 0.8mm On the Veloce, the 29 tooth sprocket has this step, and the 23 tooth sprocket is flat. On the Chorus cassette, the 23 tooth sprocket has this step. If you were replace the Veloce 21 & 23 sprockets with the 21/23 assembly from the Chorus cassette, this step would cause the 23 tooth sprocket to be too close to the 26 by the 0.8mm step width.

In order to keep the spacing correct, you could only replace the 14, 15, 16, 17 & 19 sprockets in the Veloce with the Chorus sprockets.

A far as, does it make sense? The main difference is that the Chorus sprockets have a shinier nickel coating, vs. the duller galvanized coating on the Veloce sprockets. I doubt you'd notice a performance difference.

[rwsaunders]

All you need to know...

https://branfordbike.com/new-page-1

[NHAero]

Thanks so much. I knew this had to be somewhere, but I couldn't find it via the Google machine. An excellent case of LMGTFY!!!

All you need to know...

https://branfordbike.com/new-page-1

[Black Dog]

Yes it can be done, or yes it makes sense to do?
:)

What mark said. Switching around the free sprockets is what I was referring to.