Attention: My Campy Brethens!

[weisan]

I am calling out for help from my dear "Campy-Only" pals. It's time to put your mouth where the money is. :D

As a self-professed Shimano fan, it's probably hard to believe but I do own an older set of campy 8-speed ergo carbon shifters. Check it out:
http://alicehui.com/serotta/ergo/ergo3.jpg

I think the pair would go very well on the 50th anniversary paramount...except we have a small "technical problem" which I am sure, my campy pals would be quick to point out that it's a non-issue :p

The body of the right shifter is cracked and in need of repair/replacement. If you take a quick look at the pictures below, you would know what I am talking about.
http://alicehui.com/serotta/ergo/ergo4.jpg
http://alicehui.com/serotta/ergo/ergo2.jpg
http://alicehui.com/serotta/ergo/ergo1.jpg

So, I have been thinking of putting the "re-buildability" of campy shifters to the test and I hope to achieve this without burning a hole in the pocket or ended up spending more on replacement parts than I would getting another pair of shifters. If any of my campy pals can offer help in the way of instructions/spare parts/where to look etc. I would surely appreciate it. :banana:

weisan...moving over...or away from the dark side, depending on how you look at it! ;)

[Bill Bove]

Weisan, buddy. i have a set of eight speed levers that I do not anticapate ever using, pm me your address and I'll send them to you. you can use them as is, swap out the body for practice or just wear them around your neck, the point is I don't need them, if you do, they're yours.

[weisan]

Bill-pal!!!

Where are you these days?!?!? Is the new shop location getting you busy?

I was getting worried...and now, it takes a post like this to vent you out of the hole! :D

You are too generous! I will pm you my bank account #, my social security # and my credit card #...erh...I mean, I will
send you my address in a PM.

Hey! Let anyone who is still standing by the sideline or new to the forum know this: the bonds of Serotta-pals are the closest thing you will get in tasting heaven. Trust me on this one...and you can do it without exsposing your...well, "you-know-what" :D

weisan

[William]

I see rubber and aluminum. Where's the "carbon". :confused:


Wondering William

[weisan]

I think it's the "body" that's carbon. Now wonder they broke...haa..haa... okay okay, bad joke. Campy are the greatest thing on earth, repeat after me.... :D

[Jeff N.]

You sure don't have to look hard to find the carbon on TODAYS Campy stuff.Jeff N.

[wasfast]

I think it's the "body" that's carbon. Now wonder they broke...haa..haa... okay okay, bad joke. Campy are the greatest thing on earth, repeat after me.... :D

It's funny how far folks go to be able to say it's "carbon". The implication is that it's carbon fiber like the woven material you see on frames, jets, F1 cars etc. Carbon is commonly used as an filler in injection molded plastics. Fiberglass is also ("glass filled" is the designator usually)

The Campy part in this case is merely a plastic with carbon filler, usually between 10-25%.

[weisan]

I know I am sloooooow...but I just realize sumthin' abot these campy levers...would my campy brethens confirm this for me...are the left and right shifters interchangeable as far using them for hooking up to the rear shifting?

The reason I ask is b'cos I was playing with the left-hand shifter and it seems to allow about 9~10 clicks, now that's a tell-tale sign to me that if I hook it up to the rear derailer, it may actually work?!! Can anyone verify?

If it turns out to be true, then I must say the campy guys have a leg up compared to Shimano in terms of portability of design. But I have to ask the question...why would anyone wants to shift the rear using their left hand...isn't the common setup is to do it on the right, regardless of whether it's campy or shimano??

[Larry D]

I looked on the Campy Only website , but could not find any info on the portability question you raise. You might try sending an email to the resident expert on the Campy Only website, http://www.campyonly.com/

Tin Laflin tlaflin@campyonly.com

It is a great site for Campy efficenatos.

[weisan]

Thank you Larry-pal. ;)

[Tony Edwards]

I know I am sloooooow...but I just realize sumthin' abot these campy levers...would my campy brethens confirm this for me...are the left and right shifters interchangeable as far using them for hooking up to the rear shifting?

The reason I ask is b'cos I was playing with the left-hand shifter and it seems to allow about 9~10 clicks, now that's a tell-tale sign to me that if I hook it up to the rear derailer, it may actually work?!! Can anyone verify?

If it turns out to be true, then I must say the campy guys have a leg up compared to Shimano in terms of portability of design. But I have to ask the question...why would anyone wants to shift the rear using their left hand...isn't the common setup is to do it on the right, regardless of whether it's campy or shimano??

I'm about 95% sure this won't work. The "indexing" for the front shifter is more akin to a ratchet, and feels completely different from the rear shifter. I'm fairly certain you'd have the noisiest, rattliest drivetrain in town (and I LOVE my 8-speed Chorus/Record drivetrain, even more than my 10-speed Chorus/Record drivetrain).

[wanderingwheel]

When I got my first pair of 10 speed ergo levers, I connected the cables to the wrong derailleurs. :crap: I didn't realize it until part way through my first ride with them. The front shifter actually shifted the 10 speed cassette well enough that it took me a few weeks to finally fix the cables. Hey, it worked and I'd rather spend my time riding then wrenching. So there's one data point for you, don't know how that translates to the 8 speed stuff.

Sean

[weisan]

Thanks Sean-pal.

I found something on the campy-only site that talks about this very topic...
http://www.campyonly.com/howto/lefthandshifting.html

Quote:
"Converting the left-hand Ergo lever to shift (and index) the rear derailleur is basically a matter of switching the internal cam for a version which has indexing indents which mirror the right-hand lever. In most cases, the left- and right-hand cams are slightly different, which means that the left-hand lever will not index the rear derailleur properly. Therefore, this conversion requires the machining of a new left-hand cam which is basically a mirror of the right-hand version. This work can be done my many qualified machine shops--we are not aware of any after-market source for this part..."