Campy cassette with Dura Ace chain?

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TonyM
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Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2015 4:11 pm

by TonyM

Hi,

Can I use my campy cassettes 11 speed (record) with Dura Ace 11 speed chains without any problems?
(I am thinking of swapping my campy SR mech. for a Dura Ace Di2 but I have so many campy Record cassettes that I would like to use these and avoid having to buy new DA cassettes and freewheel body/ wheels)

uraqt
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Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:53 am

by uraqt

I am sure people who have done this will chip in ... but ..

You should be just fine, ALL 11 speed is very very close... I use SRAM 11 speed cassette with a 11speed Campy rear and 10 speed shifters, yes it not perfect but it's close enough.

I read some place that somebody was going to make extra 1 mm spacers for Campy 11 speed cassettes to work with Shimano, but they decided it's so close that it wasn't worth it.

C

by Weenie


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RussellS
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by RussellS

Using any and all 11 speed CHAINs with any and all 11 speed cassettes is fine. Chains are interchangeable between brands or systems. As long as you use 11 with 11, 10 with 10, 9 with 9, etc. Although you might be able to use 11 with 10 or 10 with 11. And 9 with 10 and 10 with 9. No real problems using a chain one number different. But won't shift as nicely.

Delorre
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Joined: Sat May 24, 2014 12:09 pm

by Delorre

TonyM wrote:Hi,

Can I use my campy cassettes 11 speed (record) with Dura Ace 11 speed chains without any problems?
(I am thinking of swapping my campy SR mech. for a Dura Ace Di2 but I have so many campy Record cassettes that I would like to use these and avoid having to buy new DA cassettes and freewheel body/ wheels)


Been doing this for almost 40.000 km. No problem, except, for some reason I can't figure out, the shift between 15t and 16t (12-25 cassette) is not always smooth, in both directions. All the others are perfect. Chain runs perfectly smooth on both cogs, so that's not the problem. Never tried a DA cassette, will see how a 12-25 DA behaves once I have the new bike...

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zappafile123
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by zappafile123

Gotta disagree with the mix and match advice above:

Shimano chains destroy the pullys of campag rear mechs - I've seen it first hand. Within a couple of thousand kms of riding on a shimano chain, the teeth on my SR RD started to fray heavily. Would you really want to introduce a bunch of friction into your drivetrain and wear out components way faster than you need to just cause of a chain? Its best to use the chain of whoever manufactured your rear derailleur. Perhaps some of the lower-end campag RD's dont use plastic pulleys in which case you'd probably be fine.

Swapping cassettes between manufacturers OTH isnt a big deal. Nevertheless campy with campy feels smoother than when you use a shimano cassette.

I have no experience with KMC chains and other after market chain manufacturers so cant comment on how they affect other components in the drivetrain.
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bikerjulio
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Location: Welland, Ontario

by bikerjulio

redacted duplicate
Last edited by bikerjulio on Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
There's sometimes a buggy.
How many drivers does a buggy have?

One.

So let's just say I'm drivin' this buggy...
and if you fix your attitude you can ride along with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GekiIMh4ZkM

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bikerjulio
Posts: 1900
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:38 pm
Location: Welland, Ontario

by bikerjulio

I'm not going to contradict @zappa because I've never tried a Shimano chain with Campy components.

What I can say is that as an ex high mileage Campy user I've mostly used a variety of other chains without issues - mostly Wipperman, and KMC without any problem. So if I was OP I wouldn't be adverse to trying one of those. (doesn't KMC make Shimano chains anyway?)
There's sometimes a buggy.
How many drivers does a buggy have?

One.

So let's just say I'm drivin' this buggy...
and if you fix your attitude you can ride along with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GekiIMh4ZkM

Bridgeman
Posts: 742
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2005 6:04 am
Location: USA
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by Bridgeman

I am running Dura Ace Di2 with Shimano DA chain and Campy cassette. Shifting seems only slightly slower. Bottom line; it seems to work really well.

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kgt
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Location: Athens, Greece

by kgt

IME all these 11 speed combinations work and work really good but... not perfectly. The question is can you discern a perfectly tuned system from a non perfect one? Do you care?

uraqt
Posts: 1108
Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:53 am

by uraqt

@zappafile123

So I had a setup where I used a DA chain with campy drive train, then replaced the chain with campy after a winter of riding and the whole set up vibrated like bad under load. The cassette had less than 400 miles so I swiped out the chain ring and the pulleys. Vibration gone... so you could be right the pulleys didn't look chewed up that much but it could have been the issue.. I just thought it was the chain ring and ordered the pulleys on a lark.

That said diving in to the OP use the DA DI2 with a Campy chain... most people think the Campy chain is better/wears a little better

C

by Weenie


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