Shift 11spd with Campy Downtube shifter

[Alessandro]

Hey there

I have recently aquired an old italian steelbike (Olmo) for commuting and as a winter bike. I've been debating with myself whether I should swap the wheels (Tubies with 6spd Cassette) to clinchers or tubeless. This lead me to the question whether I could just swap in a 11spd derailleur, widen the frame and swap in some 11spd wheels that I happen to have as a spare from my road bike. Obviously being friction based it wont be totally smooth/precise but since the ramps on newer cassette are much better I still expect smoother shifts, let alone almost twice the gear ratios that I get.

Has anyone done/tried this?

Thanks a lot
Alessandro

[jekyll man]

I suspect the main problem would be not getting enough lever throw; old school friction shifters werent expected to cover that much sprocket width.
From 6spd to 11 is about 10-12mm extra in width i think.
An easier way (possibly) is to put a shimano cassettehubbed, (presume at the moment its screw on?) wheel in and and space it down to 7 or 8 spd, and you may get away with it.

[joejack951]

If you have most of the parts might as well give it a shot. Worst case you have to set the derailleur limit screws such that you lock out certain cassette cogs if the shifter won’t pull enough cable to get you all the way into that gear. In full friction mode I think you’ll probably be ok though. Interested in hearing how it goes.

I wouldn’t bother cold setting the frame either. I have installed more 130mm wheels in 126mm frame than I can remember including two 11 speed conversions sitting in my garage. No shifting issues at all. A slight tug on the rear stays is all it takes to install a wheel.

[silvalis]

dia compe sells a dt friction shifter that will shift 11s
velo orange stocks them.

I've used it on a thumbie/flatbar to shift 11s sram and 10s campy. It had more than enough (with extra) to shift those two so should pull enough cable to shift an 11s campy. Not that easy to do single cog shifts though...

[campagowlo]

Ive used a Campagnolo downtube shifter with an 11sp Super Record RS front derailleur, 11 speed chain, overtorque chainset and super record RD, with 10 speed cassette and shifters. Works perfectly.

[Gary71]

It should be no problem. I had a Ken Evans steel that 11 months had a Campagnolo 9 speed Chorus on it and for one month of the year I converted it to downtube shifters to use in a Strata Bianche event that required downtube shifting bikes to enter.
If your RD works with the cassette you have on the rear wheel, then with gravity shifters & the righ cable pull - your RD will shift.
The more cogs you have on the back, the more precise you need to be

[bm0p700f]

You can use an rear deraileur you like and almost any down tube shifter. You dont need to spend on 11 speed parts if your RD works with the cassette you have. If it works with campag 10 speed it will with campag 11 speed

[morrisond]

I used Campy 11sp TT shifters mounted in the Ends of the Bar with Problem Solvers Cable Stops mounted on the DT Shifter Bosses - works great and you get 11sp.

Plus they Return to Center and are fully indexed.

[AJS914]

Just install Ergopower shifters. If you are going to install other modern parts I see no reason to stay with downtube shifters. Integrated shifting is possibly the best cycling invention in the last 30 years. An old school bike with a modern groupset makes for a nice ride.

[Butcher]

I used Campy 11sp TT shifters mounted in the Ends of the Bar with Problem Solvers Cable Stops mounted on the DT Shifter Bosses - works great and you get 11sp.

Plus they Return to Center and are fully indexed.

This. I did the same thing on my tandem 10sp Record. I did have the friction type but it was difficult to hear the rear derailleur so I went with the TT.

Yeah, I did convert it to Ergo shifters a year or two later but the TT shifter worked great. I cannot see that the 11sp shifter would not work as well.

To be clear, the TT shifters were able to mount on the downtube shifter mounts. Just a little butchery to make it work.

[bremerradkurier]

It would be kind of funny to graft rocker switchs controlling an electronic setup onto downtube shift levers, maybe even within the cutout of Simplex retrofriction levers for extra heresy.

[morrisond]

I used Campy 11sp TT shifters mounted in the Ends of the Bar with Problem Solvers Cable Stops mounted on the DT Shifter Bosses - works great and you get 11sp.

Plus they Return to Center and are fully indexed.

This. I did the same thing on my tandem 10sp Record. I did have the friction type but it was difficult to hear the rear derailleur so I went with the TT.

Yeah, I did convert it to Ergo shifters a year or two later but the TT shifter worked great. I cannot see that the 11sp shifter would not work as well.

To be clear, the TT shifters were able to mount on the downtube shifter mounts. Just a little butchery to make it work.

Me too - they work great - but I just saw a deal on Bike24 for H11 Shifters at about 50% off which I couldn't pass up - so that bike is getting converted to Ergo.

Anybody want to buy some barely used Campy 11sp TT Shifters and TRP Hylex RS Post Mount Brakes? They work great - less than 200km on them.