9 speed campy shifters

[troymac]

Trying to build up a CSI and was planning on using campy shifters was curious of the differences in the models and what if any recommendations do you have. This will be my "new commuter" so just need reliable and functioning.... Thanks Troy

[maunahaole]

There is pre and post 2001. Different cable pull due to RD redesign in the post 2001 RD. The post 2001 9 spd RD is identical in geometry to the 10 speed and will work on a 10 speed cogset with 10 speed shifters.

[Ralph]

My daily rider, the bike I sweat on almost every day, is also Campy 9 speed. Instead of buying used, I recently put new Mirage 9 speed on it. About $90 from Ribble Cycles including cables. They shift same as older Record and Chorus 9 speed I think. Hoods feel the same as older Record and Chorus I have used. I believe internals are the same (not Escape) except for bushing instead of bearings. Will work good with Campy 9 triples also. I know folks with lots of trouble free miles on these....like well over 20,000, etc before over haul. Keeping internals well lubed vastly improves shifting. I also think 9 speed chains and cassettes last longer than 10 speed for a commuter or training bike. Parts generally cheaper, also. The other bike I ride is a 10 speed, but I don't mind riding 9 for a daily rider.

Only issue I see with them is they don't have the higher end name stamped on them which you don't really notice since they are all black. I run a 10's sq taper Centaur 39-52 front, 10's Centaur FD with resin spacer removed, Campy 9 chain, and long lasting 14-28 Veloce cassette (usually) with last design 9's Centaur short cage rear derailleur. Shifts perfect. Don't have much in it. I even use some new Centaur 32 hole 9/10 hubs (about $100 from Ribble) with some old Campy rims I had used before. I see no reason to spend much on my "sweat on" bike, and it rides the same as if I has 1000's in it.

[oldpotatoe]

Trying to build up a CSI and was planning on using campy shifters was curious of the differences in the models and what if any recommendations do you have. This will be my "new commuter" so just need reliable and functioning.... Thanks Troy

Just a note. the whole pre and post 2001 thing is vastly overplayed. I use modern, current, as in 2010 Campagnolo Rders as replacement Rders for all Campagnolo shifting systems, having used these on everything from DT 8s shifters to 1992 ERGO. Works just great, no need to modify anything, truly plug and play. For 9s ERGO, 1999/2000 can be converted to 10s, 1997/8 cannot.

[acorn_user]

I have Mirage 9 speed shifters on my cross bike. They are cheap and have the same guts as the Veloce and Centaur shifters of the time, and the same as Chorus and Record but with bushings instead of ball bearings. The one downer is that the brake lever blades are made from steel reinforced plastic rather than aluminium. If you're ok with this, then they are great. The 9 speed Xenon shifters have the "escape" mechanism and the plastic levers. They're supposed to be ok as well, and they very cheap....

[weaponsgrade]

Just a note. the whole pre and post 2001 thing is vastly overplayed. I use modern, current, as in 2010 Campagnolo Rders as replacement Rders for all Campagnolo shifting systems, having used these on everything from DT 8s shifters to 1992 ERGO. Works just great, no need to modify anything, truly plug and play. For 9s ERGO, 1999/2000 can be converted to 10s, 1997/8 cannot.

My experience has been the same. I've used post-2001 shifters w/ a pre-2001 RD, then later a post-2001 RD, and couldn't notice any difference in shifting.

[Marcusaurelius]

I used both the pre 2001 and post 2001 9 speed and did notice a significant difference in the shifters. The post 2001 stuff shifted a lot better and the shifting was a lot easier. I would not mix pre 2001 with post 2001 parts. They are different very different. I don't like sloppy shifting--I like perfection--or as near as I can get to it.

[Dave]

The facts about the pre and post 2001 models are this: The earlier models used more cable pull to move the RD by the same amount. Measurements done by others claim that the average cable pull is 3.2mm for the old models and only 3mm for the newer ones. If you make a simple calculation based on the cog spacing of the current 10 speed to 9 speed, the average cable pull for the newer models should be 3.1mm.

Personally, I'd go with realiable and functioning 10 speed so I didn't have to worry about sourcing outdated parts. Veloce 10 is cheap and functional, but I'd get the 2010 shifters before they disappear. That's the last year of cheap ultrashift ergos without the 2011 downgrade.

[oldpotatoe]

The facts about the pre and post 2001 models are this: The earlier models used more cable pull to move the RD by the same amount. Measurements done by others claim that the average cable pull is 3.2mm for the old models and only 3mm for the newer ones. If you make a simple calculation based on the cog spacing of the current 10 speed to 9 speed, the average cable pull for the newer models should be 3.1mm.

Personally, I'd go with realiable and functioning 10 speed so I didn't have to worry about sourcing outdated parts. Veloce 10 is cheap and functional, but I'd get the 2010 shifters before they disappear. That's the last year of cheap ultrashift ergos without the 2011 downgrade.

Tell ya what Dave, I'll go mess with some at Interbike and give a report on whether or not it is truly a 'downgrade' or not. On higher cog at a time isn't a show stopper for me, as I have mentioned, it doesn't effect my (non) sprint at all.

As for replacing rear derailleurs 'in the trenches' , modern rear derailleurs work really well with older Campagnolo shifting systems, way back to the intro of ERGO(1991/2-ish) along with 2 spring DT shifters, like Syncro 2. Don't know what the cable pull is, know they work tho.