Compatibility of various brand freewheels with Campy 7 speed indexed shifting

[Ethan B]

Hello,

Maybe someone's already answered this on this forum, but
I'll ask anyhow.

It's my understanding that Campy designed their 7 speed
indexed system to work best with SunTour freewheels (I have
a couple and they work well). But, as these are hard to come
by these days, I wonder if any others work as well. How
about Regina, for example?

Thanks.

 

[Paul Southworth]

In article <[email protected]>,
Ethan B <[email protected]> wrote:
>Hello,
>
>Maybe someone's already answered this on this forum, but
>I'll ask anyhow.
>
>It's my understanding that Campy designed their 7 speed
>indexed system to work best with SunTour freewheels (I have
>a couple and they work well). But, as these are hard to
>come by these days, I wonder if any others work as well.
>How about Regina, for example?

You can't use the word "best" in reference to campy syncro
7-speed shifting... any modern shifting system (or even 15
year old Shimano) will work better.

Some syncro shifters had different inserts to support
different freewheel spacings, I believe the shift insert
has a colored mark on it to identify it. The shop I worked
at in the 1980s usually chose a Dura Ace 7-speed freewheel
- the Uniglide tooth design worked better than SunTour or
Regina of that period. Which derailleur you use matters a
lot as well.

--Paul

 

[Donald Gillies]

[email protected] (Ethan B) writes:

>It's my understanding that Campy designed their 7 speed
>indexed system to work best with SunTour freewheels (I have
>a couple and they work well).

It's all about the freewheel and cassette spacers and cog
widths. See the "Sprocket Spacing" table here:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

In particular, Campy 8-speed and Suntour Ultra-6 spacing is
identical, at 5.0 mm, and the difference in cog width (1.85
vs. 1.90, with suntour being thinner) is trivial.

- Don Gillies San Diego, CA

 

[A Muzi]

Ethan B wrote:
> It's my understanding that Campy designed their 7 speed
> indexed system to work best with SunTour freewheels (I
> have a couple and they work well). But, as these are hard
> to come by these days, I wonder if any others work as
> well. How about Regina, for example?

Since Suntour freewheels are spaced with the low gears
closer together and the high gears farther apart, you may
get an adequate shift but a uniform-travel shifter (all
Campagnolo products) would shift better with an evenly-
spaced freewheel, AEBE.

That being said, Suntour's tooth form at the time was
better than Regina's ( or Campagnolo's for that matter).
Shimano period-correct or any current brand would be even
better, IMHO.

If by Seven you mean Syncro, there are various inserts (
color coded) for that shifter with different lever travel
between clicks. None is Suntour-specific.

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1
April, 1971

 

[Ethan B]

Thanks guys!

Paul or Andrew,

So you guys recommend Shimano freewheels then? I remember
hearing how no one liked them, but if you guys say so, I'll
take your word. My next question, then would be where to get
the color-coded spacers (for the rear shift lever) to work
with the Shimano freewheel, and where to get the freewheel
for that matter?

Thanks again.

 

[A Muzi]

Ethan B wrote:
> So you guys recommend Shimano freewheels then? I remember
> hearing how no one liked them, but if you guys say so,
> I'll take your word. My next question, then would be where
> to get the color-coded spacers (for the rear shift lever)
> to work with the Shimano freewheel, and where to get the
> freewheel for that matter?

Yes that's the best choice.

You should buy a freewheel from Sheldon. Unless of course
you buy it from me.

We have several colors of insert(N, BL, RE) but not all (no
YE, GR, GY)Sheldon?

Which changer do you own?.

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1
April, 1971

 

[Paul Southworth]

In article <[email protected]>,
Ethan B <[email protected]> wrote:
>Thanks guys!
>
>Paul or Andrew,
>
>So you guys recommend Shimano freewheels then? I remember
>hearing how no one liked them, but if you guys say so, I'll
>take your word. My next question, then would be where to
>get the color-coded spacers (for the rear shift lever) to
>work with the Shimano freewheel, and where to get the
>freewheel for that matter?

The freewheel you can get from eBay or
rec.bicycles.marketplace - post a want-ad for it.
Here's one...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=36752741-
80

A Sachs 7-speed freewheel would probably also work OK.

No idea on the shifter inserts... eBay, bike swap, check out
the various vintage bike web sites, talk to collectors.

renaissance-cycles.com claims to have a pair of brand new
Record retro-friction levers, that would really solve your
problem in the most elegant way possible, and then the
freewheel wouldn't matter.

 

[Ethan B]

Andrew,

I have a 1990-91 Campy Athena rear derailleur with a similar
vintage Chorus Syncro lever.

I have to admit, this sounds like a pain to me since I
already own a number of SunTour freewheels (which, as I
said, work well). Can you tell me if I can get another
SunTour somewhere, rather than having to monkey my shift
lever for one additional gear cluster?

Thanks again.

 

[A Muzi]

Ethan B wrote
> I have a 1990-91 Campy Athena rear derailleur with a
> similar vintage Chorus Syncro lever.
>
> I have to admit, this sounds like a pain to me since I
> already own a number of SunTour freewheels (which, as I
> said, work well). Can you tell me if I can get another
> SunTour somewhere, rather than having to monkey my shift
> lever for one additional gear cluster?
>
Sorry the context got snipped.

Campagnolo suggests with an Athena and a Suntour freewheel,
use the Blue for Seven and Yellow for six. Their chain
suggestion was Suntour or Shimano ( no euro chain
recommended at that time).

We find a floating upper pulley helps a lot. Use modern 5.0
casing and a modern wire. Ensure ferrules fit well - that's
an issue,too, on some older frames.

Are you looking for a new freewheel or cogs? We have them.
--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1
April, 1971

 

[Ethan B]

> The freewheel you can get from eBay or
> rec.bicycles.marketplace - post a want-ad for it.
> Here's one...
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=36-
> 75274180
>
> A Sachs 7-speed freewheel would probably also work OK.
>
> No idea on the shifter inserts... eBay, bike swap, check
> out the various vintage bike web sites, talk to
> collectors.
>
> renaissance-cycles.com claims to have a pair of brand new
> Record retro-friction levers, that would really solve your
> problem in the most elegant way possible, and then the
> freewheel wouldn't matter.

Thanks Paul,

I already have a set of friction levers. Despite what
everyone seems to be saying, I quite like my syncro
shifting. For the Sachs freewheel, I would probably need one
of the spacers Andrew was talking about, as I don't think it
would work properly with the lever as is.

Andrew,

Yes, I am looking for a new/used freewheel, preferably
SunTour Winner (or Winner Pro), in a 13-26 or 28
combination. Do you have such a thing?

Thanks all.

 

[A Muzi]

>>The freewheel you can get from eBay or
>>rec.bicycles.marketplace - post a want-ad for it. Here's
>>one... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item-
>>=3675274180 A Sachs 7-speed freewheel would probably also
>>work OK. No idea on the shifter inserts... eBay, bike
>>swap, check out the various vintage bike web sites, talk
>>to collectors. renaissance-cycles.com claims to have a
>>pair of brand new Record retro-friction levers, that would
>>really solve your problem in the most elegant way
>>possible, and then the freewheel wouldn't matter.

Ethan B wrote:
> I already have a set of friction levers. Despite what
> everyone seems to be saying, I quite like my syncro
> shifting. For the Sachs freewheel, I would probably need
> one of the spacers Andrew was talking about, as I don't
> think it would work properly with the lever as is. Yes, I
> am looking for a new/used freewheel, preferably SunTour
> Winner (or Winner Pro), in a 13-26 or 28 combination. Do
> you have such a thing?

Yes, we do. New,any size:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/stfw.html

You might open your shifter to see which insert you already
own and write back. If your insert is Shimano-spaced, then
buying a Suntour freewheel, at a large premium over a
Shimano/SunRAce, doesn't make much sense.

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1
April, 1971

 

[Ethan B]

> Yes, we do. New,any size:
> http://www.yellowjersey.org/stfw.html
>
> You might open your shifter to see which insert you
> already own and write back. If your insert is Shimano-
> spaced, then buying a Suntour freewheel, at a large
> premium over a Shimano/SunRAce, doesn't make much sense.

Andrew,

My lever has a blue spacer insert. As I said, it seems to
work well with SunTour freewheels. Is that the right color
for them? If so, I'll grab a SunTour from your website.

Thanks.

 

[A Muzi]

>>Yes, we do. New,any size:
>>http://www.yellowjersey.org/stfw.html You might open your
>>shifter to see which insert you already own and write
>>back. If your insert is Shimano-spaced, then buying a
>>Suntour freewheel, at a large premium over a
>>Shimano/SunRAce, doesn't make much sense.

Ethan B wrote:
> My lever has a blue spacer insert. As I said, it seems to
> work well with SunTour freewheels. Is that the right color
> for them? If so, I'll grab a SunTour from your website.

Well, if you know it shifts well, then stay with that setup.

The Syncro-II chart says blue with C-180 Record, Croce
d'Aune long cage, Triomphe or Victory changer with a Suntour
Seven freewheel and Suntour , Sedisport or Regina CX chain.
With an Athena, blue is recommended with Campagnolo,
MAillard 700 and Shimano Seven freewheels running non-
Suntour chain.

(Yes Syncro charts are confusing when they are not
misleading)

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1
April, 1971