How to get "easier" gears on my roadbike?

I have a roadbike with a Campag Veloce triple on the front and 8 speed on the rear. Is it somehow
possible to change the rearend to something like 11-32 or 11-34 like I see on some touring bikes?
Does Campy make a cassette like this?

The main 2 things I want to accomplish are:
1. Easier gears for my poor tired arthritic knees
2. Keep my ergo shifters which I like better than Shimano STI.

Thanks for any help.

 

I'm not too sure about spacing etc. with Campag clusters, but I found that when I was trying to get a climbing cluster on my bike, I just swapped it over to a mountain bike cluster. I'm not sure if this would work with Campag, however.

Hope i've helped.

 

Keith Boone <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Pete Biggs wrote:
> > Do you still use the original inner chainring? (It'll either be 32 or 30 tooth depending on
> > age). Changing to a smaller one will help. Any 74mm 5-arm chainring will fit - TA, Stronglight,
> > Shimano, etc. 24t is the minimum size that will fit- but the big jump down from the middle ring
> > is rather impractical. 26t to 28t is good, in my experience (with a Veloce triple).
> > Alternatively, changing the whole crankset to a type which accepts smaller a middle ring than
> > Veloce will allow (39t min) might help with the "cruising" gears as well.
> >
> > ~PB
> >
> >
>
> The chainrings are still the original 30-40-50. Do you think a 26 inner will shift smoothly?

It will shift just fine, but only if you get a chain watcher, a detail I forgot in my previous post.
See here <http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/chains.html>. We use 28-42-54 on our tandem, which is
the same as 26-40-50. You could certainly go to 24T even. With the chain watcher, you can set the FD
to give a very decisive downshift and still not miss the inner ring.

Eric Salathe

 

>> Pete Biggs wrote:

>>> - but the big jump down from the middle [to 24t] ring is rather impractical.

Just to make it clear what I meant by this..........

1. Big drop down when shifting - chain may miss ring (unless "watcher" type device fitted)
2. Very large gear difference on shift - rear gears will need shifting 2 or even 3+ cogs as well
otherwise legs will be spinning 1000 rpm.

But much more importantly.........
3. Gap in the ratios (between what middle and inner rings can provide): A lack of gears for
climbing moderate hills - unless crossing over the chain a lot to use small-small combos which
is inefficient and chain may rub cage anyway. However, this is worth coping with if it's vital
to have such low bottom gears and you otherwise like the cranks and the middle gears (as I do on
my tourer).

>>> 26t to 28t is good, in my experience

28 provided slightly but usefully lower gears and shifting was good. 26 is just about ok regarding
the difference to middle ring. 27 might be ideal in this respect (and TA make this size).

~PB

 

Pete Biggs wrote:
>>>Pete Biggs wrote:
>>
>
>>>>- but the big jump down from the middle [to 24t] ring is rather impractical.
>>>
>
> Just to make it clear what I meant by this..........
>
> 1. Big drop down when shifting - chain may miss ring (unless "watcher" type device fitted)
> 2. Very large gear difference on shift - rear gears will need shifting 2 or even 3+ cogs as well
> otherwise legs will be spinning 1000 rpm.
>
> But much more importantly.........
> 3. Gap in the ratios (between what middle and inner rings can provide): A lack of gears for
> climbing moderate hills - unless crossing over the chain a lot to use small-small combos which
> is inefficient and chain may rub cage anyway. However, this is worth coping with if it's vital
> to have such low bottom gears and you otherwise like the cranks and the middle gears (as I do
> on my tourer).
>
>
>>>> 26t to 28t is good, in my experience
>>>
>
> 28 provided slightly but usefully lower gears and shifting was good. 26 is just about ok regarding
> the difference to middle ring. 27 might be ideal in this respect (and TA make this size).
>
> ~PB
>
>

So my current thinking is put a 28 chainring on the front, and a 28 cog on the rear. I'm hoping this
will shift without difficulty, and give a useful low gear for the hills. Being a klutz with tools, I
will go to a LBS and ask for a quote.
--
Keith Boone

 

Keith Boone <[email protected]> schreef in berichtnieuws [email protected]
> So my current thinking is put a 28 chainring on the front, and a 28 cog on the rear. I'm hoping
> this will shift without difficulty, and give a useful low gear for the hills. Being a klutz with
> tools, I will go to a LBS and ask for a quote.

Marchisio, a german company (at http://anysystem.de/ ), make sprockets with which you can have the
tooth count you want, up to 30, with various spacing/casette bodies. Don't know how expensive this
is; it might be too pricey for those extra two teeth. But they do make 8 speed cassettes.

Jonathan.

 

Jonathan v.d. Sluis wrote:
> Marchisio, a german company (at http://anysystem.de/ ), make sprockets with which you can have the
> tooth count you want, up to 30,

Thanks very much for the posting the link and info. I use some Marchisio's and had been led to
believe they only went up to 28t (and have repeated this misinformation several times - for which I
apologise). A 30t could be handy!

> with various spacing/casette bodies.

Each sprocket uses an individual adaptor, so.........

> Don't know how expensive this is; it might be too pricey for those extra two teeth. But they do
> make 8 speed cassettes.

....Don't have to buy a whole cassette. A Veloce or Mirage cassette can be customised with
individual Marchisio cogs which don't cost a huge amount each.

~PB

 

On Tue, 10 Jun 2003 01:47:42 +0000, A Muzi wrote:

> "Keith Boone" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:2z7Fa.41387$j9%[email protected]...
>> I have a roadbike with a Campag Veloce triple on the front and 8 speed on the rear. Is it somehow
>> possible to change the rearend to something like 11-32 or 11-34 like I see on some touring bikes?
>> Does Campy make a cassette like this?

> You can more easily change the front inside to a lower gear,

Well, this depends on what he has. IIRC Campy triples have (for once) a standard 74mm granny, which
goes down to a 24 I think. That is probably smaller than he has, so this is good advice.

Ignore those who say it will not shift properly. It will shift fine. Maybe not as "crisp" as it was
-- or maybe it will be. But, heck, it gets you the gears to get up the hill.

>maybe consider changing over to nine speed. If you do, it requires a wheel with nine hub/cassette
>(Possibly just a cassette body?? )and a shift insert for your lever, a cassette ( up to 29t in
>Campagnolo) probably a longer rear derailleur and a new chain.

That will be an expensive conversion. I did it, and for less than most, probably, but you will need
a new freehub body, the cassette itself, a new shift disk in the right shifter, and of course a new
chain. Freehub bodies are not trivial to find, and fairly expensive. I replaced my hubs with
flea-market 9/10-speed hubs, which are surprisingly common. One set was brand-spanking new 98 or so
Chorus for $25, front and rear.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win you're _`\(,_ | still a rat. --Lilly
Tomlin (_)/ (_) |

 

Keith Boone <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<2z7Fa.41387$j9%[email protected]>...
> I have a roadbike with a Campag Veloce triple on the front and 8 speed on the rear. Is it somehow
> possible to change the rearend to something like 11-32 or 11-34 like I see on some touring bikes?
> Does Campy make a cassette like this?
>
> The main 2 things I want to accomplish are:
> 1. Easier gears for my poor tired arthritic knees
> 2. Keep my ergo shifters which I like better than Shimano STI.
>
> Thanks for any help.

I had similar wants and ended up with a mountain crankset, 44-32-22 (Raceface -Yellow ). With
11-25 or 11-27 in back you can use a regular cage length derailler, (I have a Campy Daytona), and
the Campy Ergo sifts an old model Shimano RSX up front. Campy will shift about anything up front as
I understand it.

Also, BB spindle as short as possible to keep the chainline in toward the frame as much as possible.

But you get a high of 44-11, same as the old 52-13, and a low of 22-25 or 27. And a shorter chain
with a standard small cassette and normal cage length rear derailler. It shifts perfectly because
the back is standard road, and the front can be standard (almost) MTB. Some of us really don't need
53-11 for a high!