Campagnolo 11 / 12 speed compatibility

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rhysldavies
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2019 8:34 pm

by rhysldavies

Hi all, apologies if this has been asked but i couldnt find an answer via the search function.

I have a new Argon 18 Gallium Pro 2019 frame on a crash replacement after my old frame got smashed up in a car collision and ive always been a campag man.

I have a couple of parts that survived the crash - namely the 11 speed chorus brake calipers, 11 speed chorus front mech and a stunning 11 speed Super Record chainset. Which (if any) of these would be compatible with the other components in a 12 speed campag set up? Otherwise i will either stick with 11 speed components or maybe even move to the dark side and put Dura Ace 9100 on it as that would also look pretty smart in the black colourway.

I would build 12 speed up bit by bit via ebay and online deals as i'm in no immediate rush to build the bike so i could hopefully do it at a decent price.

Thanks all

Rhys.

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AJS914
Posts: 5392
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

The crankset and brake calipers will not be a problem.

JoO
Posts: 439
Joined: Thu May 04, 2017 7:30 am

by JoO

Sorry to hijack your thread but would a pre 2015 crankset also work with 12 speed chain and derailleurs?

DaveS
Posts: 3913
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:26 pm
Location: Loveland Colorado

by DaveS

11 speed cranksets should all work the same. AFAIK, only the shift levers, FDs and RDs were changed in 2015. You might get the 2015+ FD to work, since the 12 speed left shifter works about the same, but with the small cost of a FD, I'd buy a 12 speed. The new maximum smoothness cables are a must, IMO.

Crossdrop
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2019 3:43 pm

by Crossdrop

Do you have some details if 11s crankset really workds well with 12 speed everything else? Got the issue as I want to upgrade from 11s to 12s but am not willing to replace to 11s Comp Ultra Crankset as it's got totally different BB and bearings.

joeyb1000
Posts: 487
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2016 8:37 pm

by joeyb1000

The only real issue is that 11s HO and 12s cranks have 8mm spacing between the chainrings. All other 11s chainrings have 7.6mm. The 12s front derailleur now has 4 clicks (11s had 3) - now and extra position on the large chainring.
I've used an 11s crankset with a 12s derailleurs. It works just fine, but you will need to spend more time fine tuning it. I eventually switched to 12s cranks, but mostly for looks.
This does not matter on EPS since you can trim both the small and large chainrings separately.

robertbb
Posts: 2179
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:35 am

by robertbb

Further to the comment above, here are the similarities and differences between standard 11s, 11s HO and 12s cranks/chainrings:

- As Joey said above, 11s HO and 12s cranks have 8mm spacing between the chainrings (standard C/R/SR 11s chainrings have 7.6mm)
- The chainline on 11s HO and 12s cranks (and Centaur as well actually) is 44.5mm whereas standard C/R/SR 11s cranks have a chainline of 43.5mm

I did a fair bit of research (and emailed back-and-forth with graeme_f_k) after a bike fit necessitated a move to a shorter crank. Originally I had wanted to use a Potenza HO crank with my Chorus 11s groupset because I could get it for half the price. I was told that while it was technically backwards compatible with my groupset it would be a bit fiddlier to set up the FD and I *may* have issues in certain gear combinations depending on my frame's specs.

In the end I didn't want to accept compromise and decided to sell my Chorus groupset complete (sold last week) and have since purchased a full Potenza HO (rim) groupset on sale and given the compatibility with the 12s chainline actually picked up a 12s chorus sub-compact crank. Broken even dollar wise too, which was nice.The HO Potenza shifters have an updated left shifter to play nicely with the HO/12s cranks/rings. And while I never thought I'd say this - I actually prefer Power shift to Ultra shift.

Crossdrop
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2019 3:43 pm

by Crossdrop

Hey guys,

thanks so far! So now I know that it would all work (most probably quite perfect). However, I think I stay with 11s for the moment. Campa's Comp Ultra Crank also requires special tools to remove and I defenitely would change from 50/34 to 52/36 with 12s. As I guess 12s will remain for a couple of years, I can replace later on. For now I keep my SR. Maybe even nicer, as due to the price I'd just buy Record so I'd actually downgrade the bike somehow :roll:

BigPoser
Posts: 172
Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:42 pm

by BigPoser

I'm in a silmilar boat here. I've just sold my race bike that had 2017 Chorus and building another. I have a P2M power meter with Praxis chainrings and will be putting in on the new one. Centaur is out everywhere for a while and I can get 12s Chorus but don't want to have issues with the crank.

Will the 12s chain play nicely with my 11s Praxis chainrings?

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MayhemSWE
Posts: 867
Joined: Thu Mar 12, 2015 12:44 pm
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

by MayhemSWE

BigPoser wrote:
Fri Sep 04, 2020 5:34 pm
Will the 12s chain play nicely with my 11s Praxis chainrings?
No idea about real world experience, but according to Praxis themselves their current chainrings does not work satisfactorily with Campy 12. They did hope to have new fully compatible chainrings available sometime this coming winter though.

mnmasotto
Posts: 581
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:16 pm
Location: Irvine, CA

by mnmasotto

Has anyone had any sucess using a 12 front SR/R mechanical on a 11 speed system? I am building another 11 speed mechanical groupset and have noticed the 11 speed Sr/R front mechanicals are getting harder to find.

LateNight
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2020 2:23 am

by LateNight

mnmasotto wrote:
Sat Sep 05, 2020 12:17 am
Has anyone had any sucess using a 12 front SR/R mechanical on a 11 speed system? I am building another 11 speed mechanical groupset and have noticed the 11 speed Sr/R front mechanicals are getting harder to find.
I have the samefront mech question, I think it will depend on the cage width, since I "think" the shift ratio is the same between the 11s and 12s.

Anyone know the front mech cage width of SR/R 11s vs 12s?

ghisallo2003
Posts: 742
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:10 pm

by ghisallo2003

My experience: 12 speed front quite fussy and noisy. Not helped by the spacing difference between 11 (non-HO) and 12 speed cranks. It does not sound like big difference but in the sub-mm world of 12 speed front trim, it sadly is.

coasta007
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:10 pm

by coasta007

I guess it's important to know the inner width of the chain as this will be the determining factor if the 12s chain will work with 11s sprockets.

I know the chain width has decreased from 5.5mm to 5.15mm but if the inner width is the same then it should work just fine.

I'm also searching for answers about a 12s conversion from 11s.

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ChristianB
Posts: 145
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:09 am
Location: DK/Slovenia

by ChristianB

I have an existing 11-speed Power2Max chainset (4-arm) that I would like to use with an upcomong 12 speed build. Is this possible? Can I use the 11-speed chainrings or should I install 12-speed?

by Weenie


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