Campy Compatibility ?

[don compton]

I noticed that the new Campy shifters come with a plug to allow for a shorter reach. That would be a great help for my wife. My question is: are the new Centaur shifters with my wife's 5 year old chorus triple 10sp. equipment?
Don

[ultraman6970]

I noticed that the new Campy shifters come with a plug to allow for a shorter reach <-- well actually u go from normal reach to longer reach. Not from long to short.

As long is 10 speed will work. But i believe you have to look in your statement of shorten the reach, when u get the brifters u get a small rubber thingy that is place behind the brifter and is to extend the reach, not to shorten it (standar). U can pull them back more than its own design, but u can extend them tho. I have one of those brifters u are talking about I even believe the old record is the same way.

Hope this helps.

[don compton]

I noticed that the new Campy shifters come with a plug to allow for a shorter reach <-- well actually u go from normal reach to longer reach. Not from long to short.

As long is 10 speed will work. But i believe you have to look in your statement of shorten the reach, when u get the brifters u get a small rubber thingy that is place behind the brifter and is to extend the reach, not to shorten it (standar). U can pull them back more than its own design, but u can extend them tho. I have one of those brifters u are talking about I even believe the old record is the same way.

Hope this helps.
Thanks, but I just back from the bike shop and Campy has a new piece that fits inside the lever( the lever has to be removed in order to install) and acts as a stop and reduces the reach by not allowing the lever to return to its normal unsprung position and therefore shortening the reach. It works like the plugs Shimano uses but its internal. What I was worried about was whether or not the new Centaur left lever would work with a Campy triple derailleur and triple crank.

[ultraman6970]

Oh you are talking about the lever?? interesting, have fun with the new centaurs, they click really nice.

[don compton]

Oh you are talking about the lever?? interesting, have fun with the new centaurs, they click really nice.
Thanks, I am just worried whether the left lever has enough travel for the triple setup.

[Ralph]

I use 2010 Centaur Ultra shifters with Record Triple FD and Record triple crankset. Works fine. I have cable adjusters welded to head tube, so can keep all the slack out of the shifter cable. There may be a couple less "clicks" available than older units. But advertising says they work with triple, and my experience is that is so.

[don compton]

I use 2010 Centaur Ultra shifters with Record Triple FD and Record triple crankset. Works fine. I have cable adjusters welded to head tube, so can keep all the slack out of the shifter cable. There may be a couple less "clicks" available than older units. But advertising says they work with triple, and my experience is that is so.
Thanks for your reply. Are the 2010 and 2011 Centaur levers the same?

[ultraman6970]

Outside i dare to say yes, the insides not sure because the one I have is not power shift, is ultrashift and i believe is 2010 but not sure, darn campy is so inconsistent with models, well always being :D Triple, wouldn't surprise that it works fine with triple.

[Ralph]

Thanks for your reply. Are the 2010 and 2011 Centaur levers the same?

The 2011 Centaur levers are Power Shift....but are advertised to work with a Triple. I believe it.....they still sell 2011 Triple cranks and FD's. The very hi quality (Chorus level) "Comp" line includes crankset (30-40-50 or 30-42-53), FD and real long cage (not med) RD.

I usually (at least lately) run a 30-42-53 Record set up with Med cage RD. Cassette of 14-29 (combination of 13-29 and 14-23).

[don compton]

The 2011 Centaur levers are Power Shift....but are advertised to work with a Triple. I believe it.....they still sell 2011 Triple cranks and FD's. The very hi quality (Chorus level) "Comp" line includes crankset (30-40-50 or 30-42-53), FD and real long cage (not med) RD.

I usually (at least lately) run a 30-42-53 Record set up with Med cage RD. Cassette of 14-29 (combination of 13-29 and 14-23).
Thanks,
That's the info I was looking for.

[oliver1850]

Just to reinforce what's already been stated, the 2011 catalog says both Centaur and Veloce are triple compatible.

[don compton]

Just to reinforce what's already been stated, the 2011 catalog says both Centaur and Veloce are triple compatible.
Thanks. The Campy catalog is not easy to migrate. After all the imput from the forum, I'm pretty confident that buying the latest Centaur shifters and adding the new Campy inserts to shorten the reach, I have a winner for my wife.
Don C.

[don compton]

I was looking for "Old Potatoe's" idea on this subject.
Don C.

[oliver1850]

He definitley knows the guts of the parts. The catalog says the Centaurs have ball bearings. I'm not sure where they are, but Veloce evidently has bushings. I think that's the only real difference. I will probably have some of these in 10 years, and can tell you all about them then.

[Dave]

Campy has always made the left shifter to be capable of operating a triple FD. One of the first thing that I checked, when the new ultrashift levers came out in late '08 was the total cable travel. It's enough to operate a triple FD, but uses only 6 clicks instead of the previous 7 (of 12 available). You can no longer do a sloppy job of adjusting the cable tension, since there are no spare clicks.

Previous models had 12 clicks an far more cable travel than ever needed. Some triple users believed that it took two sweeps of the finger lever to shift from the little ring to the middle ring. The cause of that was insufficient cable tension. 1-2 clicks were being used to take up slack.

[oldpotatoe]

I was looking for "Old Potatoe's" idea on this subject.
Don C.

Just back from Interbike and yes 2011, PT shifters are triple compatible. As Dave said, UT left levers are triple compatible also but work best with 2006 and older triple FDers.

Didn't see the reach adjust thingy, but didn't ask about it either.

Electronic Campagnolo to be in the distribution chain about March. No word on $ or even the name. Light(lighter than Di2), expensive probably. Hard wired battery(plug it in,not into a charger), multiple shifts in both directions, 1 to 11, just hold the shift lever or thumb button down. No der limit screws in the typical sense. Limits adjusted electronically. FD has auto trim.

Campagnolo and Fulcrum is awash in new and older, redesigned wheels...a BUNCH of them. Plus cross brake canti's, shimano has cross canti's also.

Nothimg new from sram, seems they are just talking about their 2011 palmares.

shimano ulterga Di2---works----

New XT/XTR is beautiful, very refined, same price points as sram but much more refined looking.

A hydro brake road shift lever set is very close.

2 other things I liked, Phil Wood has a Campagnolo compatible rear hub and DT is making a $200 rear hub, the DT350, that has 95% of the 240 'stuff' at almost 1/2 the price..same axle/freehub, bearings, heavier, less machined body..still no QR.

Velocity has fixed the lockring hitting frame issue on their Campagnolo compat. hubs as well...

Ritchey Swiss cross..getting my 3 in 2 weeks, nice.

Soulcraft rigid 29er-getting one of those as well..best tig welding there is IMHO.

[jr59]

I was looking for "Old Potatoe's" idea on this subject.
Don C.


He is in Vegas @ Interbike!

I guess he is back!

[don compton]

Just back from Interbike and yes 2011, PT shifters are triple compatible. As Dave said, UT left levers are triple compatible also but work best with 2006 and older triple FDers.

Didn't see the reach adjust thingy, but didn't ask about it either.

Electronic Campagnolo to be in the distribution chain about March. No word on $ or even the name. Light(lighter than Di2), expensive probably. Hard wired battery(plug it in,not into a charger), multiple shifts in both directions, 1 to 11, just hold the shift lever or thumb button down. No der limit screws in the typical sense. Limits adjusted electronically. FD has auto trim.

Campagnolo and Fulcrum is awash in new and older, redesigned wheels...a BUNCH of them. Plus cross brake canti's, shimano has cross canti's also.

Nothimg new from sram, seems they are just talking about their 2011 palmares.

shimano ulterga Di2---works----

New XT/XTR is beautiful, very refined, same price points as sram but much more refined looking.

A hydro brake road shift lever set is very close.

2 other things I liked, Phil Wood has a Campagnolo compatible rear hub and DT is making a $200 rear hub, the DT350, that has 95% of the 240 'stuff' at almost 1/2 the price..same axle/freehub, bearings, heavier, less machined body..still no QR.

Velocity has fixed the lockring hitting frame issue on their Campagnolo compat. hubs as well...

Ritchey Swiss cross..getting my 3 in 2 weeks, nice.

Soulcraft rigid 29er-getting one of those as well..best tig welding there is IMHO.
Olpdpotatoe,
Thanks for the info.
Don

[sg8357]

Can the cage be removed from the Triple rear derailer and installed
on a Chorus rear derailer ?

Trying for a high zoot(bling) long cage rear mech.

[Dave]

Can the cage be removed from the Triple rear derailer and installed
on a Chorus rear derailer ?

Trying for a high zoot(bling) long cage rear mech.


I'm fairly sure that there is a thickness problem with the long cage installed on a short cage RD, but works if installed on a medium cage. With some searching, you might find a NOS Record or Chorus 10 long or medium cage RD. The long cage is only needed if you're using a 13-29 or some other extreme range setup. A medium cage RD will handle a triple with a 12-25 or 13-26.

An 11 speed RD doesn't have quite the same actuation ratio as a 10 speed RD. Unless you're making an 11 speed triple, the RD will have a little more travel than needed. A little excess travel is usually tolerable, but the opposite, a lagging RD is annoying.

[oldpotatoe]

Can the cage be removed from the Triple rear derailer and installed
on a Chorus rear derailer ?

Trying for a high zoot(bling) long cage rear mech.

No sir, the cages are different but you can use a Comp RD on 11s stuff...

As for reach adjust, just to make sure I didn't miss anything..the only 'reach' adjust for 2009+ levers is a plug for the rear of the lever, that rests against the handlebar that increases distance, not reducing it. Campag offers nothing that goes onto the brake lever, ala shimano, that reduces how far the brake lever moves. If a bike shop has something like this, it was manufactured there.

[Dave]

Regarding the shorter reach question, I've been modifying my ergo levers to reduce the reach to the brake lever for many years. I place a small amount of epoxy putty on the body of the shifter, right behind the quick release pin. This prevents the lever from reaching it's fully open position.

Placing the putty is a bit tricky. I've got a write-up on how to do it that I can e-mail. The putty doesn't adhere so well the it can't be removed.

Prior to using epoxy putty, I used 5-minute epoxy glue. That was a lot harder to apply.

[don compton]

No sir, the cages are different but you can use a Comp RD on 11s stuff...

As for reach adjust, just to make sure I didn't miss anything..the only 'reach' adjust for 2009+ levers is a plug for the rear of the lever, that rests against the handlebar that increases distance, not reducing it. Campag offers nothing that goes onto the brake lever, ala shimano, that reduces how far the brake lever moves. If a bike shop has something like this, it was manufactured there.
Okay, after a week I have found out that the short reach adjustment doesn't exist. Oh well. Anyway, I bought 2012 Centaur levers and while they shift great, they lack the trim adjustment of the old Chorus levers. On the plus side, the reach is much less and that is a big deal for my wife. If I had to do over again, I would buy Shimano for her. When it comes to woman's needs, Campy is a dinosaur. I have come so close to changing my bikes.