campy 9s FD with 10s everything else?

[autopi]

I'm redoing the drivetrain on my bike, for no particular reason. I
just purchased 2006 Centaur 10s shifters, and have a NOS Veloce double
crankset. I will eventually get a 10s campy RD and some kind of
compatible cassette for my shimano hubs.

My question has to do with the front derailleur: is there any
difference between a "9 speed" and a "10 speed" campy front
derailleur? Can I use a "9 speed" or (8 speed or "vintage" or whatever
they call them on ebay) front derailleur w/my eventual 10s-campy-
double setup? I've done a bit of poking around in this NG, and what
I've found seems to suggest that it doesn't make a difference what FD
i use, but I wasn't totally clear.

>From what I can tell, the 2006 campy shifters are still indexed in
front, right? So I should be able to use them with any FD, right? So
the "9 speed" vs. "10 speed" front derailleur thing is just baloney,
right? Or is there a difference b/c of narrower 10s chains, or
something else?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Paul Myron Hobson]

autopi wrote:
> I'm redoing the drivetrain on my bike, for no particular reason. I
> just purchased 2006 Centaur 10s shifters, and have a NOS Veloce double
> crankset. I will eventually get a 10s campy RD and some kind of
> compatible cassette for my shimano hubs.
>
> My question has to do with the front derailleur: is there any
> difference between a "9 speed" and a "10 speed" campy front
> derailleur? Can I use a "9 speed" or (8 speed or "vintage" or whatever
> they call them on ebay) front derailleur w/my eventual 10s-campy-
> double setup? I've done a bit of poking around in this NG, and what
> I've found seems to suggest that it doesn't make a difference what FD
> i use, but I wasn't totally clear.
>
> From what I can tell, the 2006 campy shifters are still indexed in
> front, right? So I should be able to use them with any FD, right? So
> the "9 speed" vs. "10 speed" front derailleur thing is just baloney,
> right? Or is there a difference b/c of narrower 10s chains, or
> something else?

I think this article sums it up quite nicely:
http://sheldonbrown.com/speeds.html

Summary:
-Shifters, chains, cassettes have to match.
-Saying an N-spd derailer can only shift N speeds is silly. They move
only as far as the cables/shifters tell them too.

I just built up an old Trek 330 (red) with Shimano 600 8spd derailers,
DA 9spd shifters and 105 9spd cassette. Works well so far.

Good luck.
\\paul