Mixing Campagnolo and Shimano parts

[avanti]

I'm leaning to Campagnolo for my next road bike (possibly a Colnago). However al my other wheels use a Shimano cluster. Has anyone used a Shimano cluster with a Campagnolo rear derailleur and chain, and did it create any problems?
Thanks.

 

[Fatclimber]

I'm leaning to Campagnolo for my next road bike (possibly a Colnago). However al my other wheels use a Shimano cluster. Has anyone used a Shimano cluster with a Campagnolo rear derailleur and chain, and did it create any problems?
Thanks.

Shimano and Campagnolo have different spacing between cogs. Some claim they can get them to work adequately but to get them to align nicely you would need something like this: http://jtekengineering.com/shiftmate.php

I have used Campy chains with Sram crankset/cassette with good success, but it still is not as flawless as keeping the same manufacturer's parts throughout.

I would suggest seriously reconsidering cross contamination of bicycle components. I have gone through that and currently everything is compatible to my personal satisfaction, but man, life is just sooooo much easier to stick with the same brand. Of course which brand you stick with is a whole different topic....

BTW, there a quite a few threads regarding your question.

 

[ElChingon]

Psstt.. it works! Just try it out, its not like you have much of a choice if you want to use your Shimano wheels. I have been doing it for years and still do it to this day, sure its not always spot on but it beats buying all new wheels or changing all your cassette body's and cogs. But don't tell anyone or they'll say it doesn't work but it works. Some even go as far as to grasp the "it will wear out earlier than normal" straw but they aren't doing it so they have no data on that, but I do! Its wears the same, just as long as you lube your chain as you would normally do and clean it, which is what you should be doing even if the brand matched up all the way.

 

[42x16ss]

Psstt.. it works! Just try it out, its not like you have much of a choice if you want to use your Shimano wheels. I have been doing it for years and still do it to this day, sure its not always spot on but it beats buying all new wheels or changing all your cassette body's and cogs. But don't tell anyone or they'll say it doesn't work but it works. Some even go as far as to grasp the "it will wear out earlier than normal" straw but they aren't doing it so they have no data on that, but I do! Its wears the same, just as long as you lube your chain as you would normally do and clean it, which is what you should be doing even if the brand matched up all the way.

Why would changing the cassette body be such a big drama? It's something you would really only have to do once as Campag cassette bodies tend not to get chewed into the same way as Shimano ones tend to do.

As said above Shimano cassettes will work fine but can be a little noisier and don't quite shift as well when paired with Campag. It's your call, nothing wrong with sticking to Shimano but I like to keep to the one groupset. I can be a little OCD though

 

[Bustedknuckle]

I'm leaning to Campagnolo for my next road bike (possibly a Colnago). However al my other wheels use a Shimano cluster. Has anyone used a Shimano cluster with a Campagnolo rear derailleur and chain, and did it create any problems?
Thanks.

Yes. Campagnolo shifts shimano 9s (with a 9s chain) pretty well..use the limit screw for only 8s clicks(9 speeds). Campagnolo 10s shifts shimano 10s much more poorly. Campagnolo 10s ERGO coupled with a sram RD, shifts shimano 10s spacing. Use a 10s chain.

Wheels manufacturing makes a Campagnolo 10s spaced cogset for shimano hubs..called 'Accelerator-10'..works very well.

The Jtek thingys in my experience, don't work that well and eat der cables.

 

[JayKosta]

Is the rear cog spacing the same with Camp & Shimano?
Or are there any other 'dimensional differences'?

Just curious,
Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Is the rear cog spacing the same with Camp & Shimano?
Or are there any other 'dimensional differences'?

Just curious,
Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

No, spacing ctr cog to ctr cog is different.

see

http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-spacing.html

 

[Master50]

I know that Campy and Fulcrum wheels can be converted from Campy to Shimano by changing the cassette and the free hub.
Maybe Shimano wheels can go the other way?

 

[Fiemme]

http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-spacing.html

Going by the info on this website. If you make sure that the chain is perfectly aligned in the 5th or 6th cog, you would only be out of tolerance by 0.5mm in the 1st and 10th cog. This would probably be do-able but you could still experience slipping/catching problems with the chain at the bottom and top of the cassette.

It seems that the 11spd campag spacing may be more compatible with the 10spd shimano.

The rear derailleur and chain will not pose a problem. All of the shifting tolerances occur in the shifter. Use shimano shifters with shimano cassettes and campag shifters with campag cassettes for optimum performance. You can mix and match Chain and derailleur brand so long as you make sure that the chain matches the cassette system. 10spd chain = 10spd cassette, 9spd chain = 9spd cassette.

Don't like the look of that J-Tek thing. I agree with BustedKnuckle, I could only see it damaging cables, not to mention how ugly it looks. I think your best option is to try the Accelerator 10 cassette.

 

[Fiemme]

I know that Campy and Fulcrum wheels can be converted from Campy to Shimano by changing the cassette and the free hub.
Maybe Shimano wheels can go the other way?

Shimano only make there wheels with shimano splines. You would need to find an after-market maunfacturer to make the conversion from shimano to campag on a shimano wheel. But as you mentioned Campag manufacture wheels with shimano or campag splines.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Going by the info on this website. If you make sure that the chain is perfectly aligned in the 5th or 6th cog, you would only be out of tolerance by 0.5mm in the 1st and 10th cog. This would probably be do-able but you could still experience slipping/catching problems with the chain at the bottom and top of the cassette.

It seems that the 11spd campag spacing may be more compatible with the 10spd shimano.

The rear derailleur and chain will not pose a problem. All of the shifting tolerances occur in the shifter. Use shimano shifters with shimano cassettes and campag shifters with campag cassettes for optimum performance. You can mix and match Chain and derailleur brand so long as you make sure that the chain matches the cassette system. 10spd chain = 10spd cassette, 9spd chain = 9spd cassette.

Don't like the look of that J-Tek thing. I agree with BustedKnuckle, I could only see it damaging cables, not to mention how ugly it looks. I think your best option is to try the Accelerator 10 cassette.

Had a tandem with sram 10s cogset, all else Campagnolo...Could NOT get it to work with jtek thingy...the correct one. I think a big problem is the poor/sloppy attach point at the base of the jtek and the RD...I finally tried with no jtek thing and it worked the best...not great but passible.

I'm going to try Campag 11s with shimano 10s.ctr cog to ctr cog differences are less than Campag 10 and shimano 9s, which works pretty well.

Remember Campag 10s ERGO and sram RD(in spite of the poor reliability of sram Rders) shifts shimano/sram 10s spacing...

UPDATE-talked to a guy from shimano at Interbike..the guy has keys to the front door, so I trust what he says. 11s Campag and 11s shimano are completely intercompatible..he said he needed a 11s wheel, used a Campag 11s one and it worked 'perfectly' on his 9000/11s mechanical rig-in his words.

 

[FignonLeGrand]

I'm leaning to Campagnolo for my next road bike (possibly a Colnago). However al my other wheels use a Shimano cluster. Has anyone used a Shimano cluster with a Campagnolo rear derailleur and chain, and did it create any problems?
Thanks.

Last year during a cyclosportief in the UK the cassette on my wheel fell off. The organizers only had a 10 speed shimano wheel available as a spare and I got this to run on my 9 speed campag derailleur no problem. There was the occassional pop but it ran through all 10 speeds ok.

But I wouldnt reccomend it, to be fair if you are going to make the wise change to Campag get the freehub replaced for one that accepts campag or wait until you can and upgrade the wheels also.

 

[JayKosta]

It looks to me that the jTek requires that the cable housing loop be long enough so the the device itself can 'move around' somewhat to adjust for the change in cable pull amount. If the cable housing is too short or rigid, that would probably interfere with how it functions.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[maanderx]

Campag 10s levers, with a Campag rear mech, will shift (pefectly) a Shimano
9s cassette. I've been running this combination on my 3 bikes for years.

 

[r_mutt]

Shimano only make there wheels with shimano splines. You would need to find an after-market maunfacturer to make the conversion from shimano to campag on a shimano wheel. But as you mentioned Campag manufacture wheels with shimano or campag splines.

according o the shimano rep, shimano make a campy 11 speed hub to fit all of their wheels. i've never seen one though.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

according o the shimano rep, shimano make a campy 11 speed hub to fit all of their wheels. i've never seen one though.

Nope, not so..the opposite is true, Campag makes a "HG' compatible freehub and the new Fulcrum/shimano wheels are shimano 11s compatible..THAT FH probably can gon onto other Fulcrum/Campagnolo hubs and wheels. Something even shimano doesn't do-have a 11s conversion for their hubs and wheels.