Campy drive train with Shimano cassette

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shannon123
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2015 3:25 am

by shannon123

Brief rehash before question.

I know the cog spacing on Shimano (10sp) cassette is 3.95mm vs 4.12mm on Campagnolo (10sp) which can result in 'not perfect' shifting.

My question is simple....why can't you just change the spacers on the Shimano cassette to those of Campy spec ? You would not need to replace every spacer, perhaps just a couple to make shifting 'close to perfect'

FWIW...I have a Campagnolo 10 speed drive train and use a shimano cassette with it....it shifts VERY WELL, but not perfect. I was just thinking out loud with this post to see if anyone has fine tuned this setup with perhaps a couple cog spacer changes ?
Last edited by shannon123 on Fri Jan 26, 2018 4:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

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MJB
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Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:17 am
Location: bottom edge of Australia

by MJB

I run Campagnolo 11sp. on all 3 of my road bikes.

Some years back I was keen to take advantage of a great price on some Boras, however, I was confronted with only a Shimano freehub option remaining for sale.

I purchased the wheels and borrowed a Shimano 11sp cassette from my mechanic and frigged about with tuning and spacers with functional but (by my standards) very ordinary results. I passed it off as there being too many cogs clustered together on which you cannot change the spacings. From memory we had it shifting smooth enough one direction but it was cluncky and difficult to get right in the opposite direction - can't remember which way though..........

Luckily for me I purchased a Campag freehub for the Boras and sold the Shimano freehub for the same cost so I lost nothing but my sanity for a few weeks.

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shannon123
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2015 3:25 am

by shannon123

MJB wrote:
Fri Jan 26, 2018 3:58 am
I run Campagnolo 11sp. on all 3 of my road bikes.

Some years back I was keen to take advantage of a great price on some Boras, however, I was confronted with only a Shimano freehub option remaining for sale.

I purchased the wheels and borrowed a Shimano 11sp cassette from my mechanic and frigged about with tuning and spacers with functional but (by my standards) very ordinary results. I passed it off as there being too many cogs clustered together on which you cannot change the spacings. From memory we had it shifting smooth enough one direction but it was cluncky and difficult to get right in the opposite direction - can't remember which way though..........

Luckily for me I purchased a Campag freehub for the Boras and sold the Shimano freehub for the same cost so I lost nothing but my sanity for a few weeks.

Thats odd, because everything I read on the 11 speed is that they are all so close in spacing, that they should work just fine. The spacing on the 10 speed is definitely a bit more challenging.

Having said all that, i just remembered that I have a spare campy cassette in my garage and will pull it out and play with the cog spacers a bit.....and yeah, on the clustered cogs no way to spread them, but I figured my shifting is close enough that I can fine tune from the middle cogs to the larger cogs.......knowing that my space diversion will be forced more towards the smaller cogs where I can use the campy cog spacers.

Hopefully I will be able to report back with 'perfect shifting'...

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silvalis
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Location: Aus

by silvalis

I've had no issues with an ultegra cassette on my SR11. Need to tweak the adjuster a bit of course
Chasse patate

RussellS
Posts: 916
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:31 am

by RussellS

shannon123 wrote:
Fri Jan 26, 2018 4:08 am
everything I read on the 11 speed is that they are all so close in spacing, that they should work just fine.
"close" "should" Hard to beat precision like that. You're spending two, three, four, five thousand dollars on the bike and you are willing to settle for close and should to save a couple hundred bucks?

RussellS
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Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:31 am

by RussellS

silvalis wrote:
Fri Jan 26, 2018 5:00 am
I've had no issues with an ultegra cassette on my SR11. Need to tweak the adjuster a bit of course
"no issues" EXCEPT "need to tweak the adjuster" ???

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MJB
Posts: 173
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:17 am
Location: bottom edge of Australia

by MJB

I should clarify :-

My experience with 2012 SR mechanical and a Record chain using a Dura Ace cassette was perfectly functional but was penalised with noisy shifting in one direction to the point of being distracting and in my case very disappointing.

Put it this way -my Giant XTC 2 with Deore 9x3 was quieter........ I kept my sanity intact by playing my external speaker MP3 player a bit louder.........

Add a Chorus cassette and attained the same perfectly functional shifting but also near silent performance with the exactly same clean and well lubed chain.

I can't comment on the technical reason but my experience tells me Campag with Campag works best.

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silvalis
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Location: Aus

by silvalis

RussellS wrote:
Fri Jan 26, 2018 5:13 am
silvalis wrote:
Fri Jan 26, 2018 5:00 am
I've had no issues with an ultegra cassette on my SR11. Need to tweak the adjuster a bit of course
"no issues" EXCEPT "need to tweak the adjuster" ???
yes.
just like you have to tweak it when you change wheelsets of different brands/models with the same cassette on it.

if you think having to turn the barrel adjuster is an issue....... :roll:
Chasse patate

Catagory6
Posts: 612
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:36 am

by Catagory6

Theres a jtek thing you can put on the RD to make it work, no?
You have to look up yoour combination in a chart

wingguy
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Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:43 pm

by wingguy

MJB wrote:
Fri Jan 26, 2018 3:58 am
I purchased the wheels and borrowed a Shimano 11sp cassette from my mechanic and frigged about with tuning and spacers with functional but (by my standards) very ordinary results. I passed it off as there being too many cogs clustered together on which you cannot change the spacings. From memory we had it shifting smooth enough one direction but it was cluncky and difficult to get right in the opposite direction - can't remember which way though..........
Hehe, the problem was probably caused by the spacers you did change, not the ones you couldn’t. Shifting should be absolutely fine with any campy/shimano/Sram 11sp cassette on any campy/shimano/Sram 11 speed derailleur.

Unlike 10sp, the spacing from centreline to centreline of each cog is the same. ‘Tuning’ spacers will only throw it out.

shannon123
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2015 3:25 am

by shannon123

I'll have to order some cog spacers to 'tune' the shifting (the campy spacers did not help)....I think the correct spec spacers can make the difference between a 'minutia' of chatter and nothing at all on the 10 speed campy with shimano cassette setup

magicnumbers
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2018 7:56 am

by magicnumbers

Running fine 10 sp chorus system on a 10s tiagra cassete for more than 12K..you have to choose the right lenght of the last cable housing entering the rd..too short mishifts,too long makes it sluggish.

jih
Posts: 596
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:54 pm

by jih

Good image at the top of the page here showing how small the differences are: https://www.bikerumor.com/2012/12/12/in ... ur-wheels/

I've always been able to set it up so that there's no noticeable difference vs a stock setup.

dfischer1
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2014 8:19 pm

by dfischer1

11sp Chorus rear derailleur with 11sp 105 cassette here. No issues whatsoever. No tweaking either.

audiojan
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Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:38 pm
Location: New Hampshire

by audiojan

shannon123 wrote:
Fri Jan 26, 2018 3:37 am
Brief rehash before question.

I know the cog spacing on Shimano (10sp) cassette is 3.95mm vs 4.12mm on Campagnolo (10sp) which can result in 'not perfect' shifting.

My question is simple....why can't you just change the spacers on the Shimano cassette to those of Campy spec ? You would not need to replace every spacer, perhaps just a couple to make shifting 'close to perfect'

FWIW...I have a Campagnolo 10 speed drive train and use a shimano cassette with it....it shifts VERY WELL, but not perfect. I was just thinking out loud with this post to see if anyone has fine tuned this setup with perhaps a couple cog spacer changes ?
The conversion cassettes are basically a Shimano cassette with Campy spacing. I'm not aware of a spacer kit you can use though... so changing the spacing yourself might be a tall task. You can use a 10 speed Shimano with a 10 speed Campy drivetrain, but it won't shift perfect. With a conversion cassette, you have perfect shifting without the hassle.

For 11 speed, the spacing is MUCH closer and you can use a Shimano cassette with Campy drivetrain without really noticing much of a difference. It's there, but it's tiny...
"Suddenly the thought struck me; my floor is someone elses ceiling" - Nils Ferlin

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