Mixing Campy Derailleurs and Shimano/SRAM Cassettes



jondeefan

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Sep 8, 2010
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I have an approximately 8 year old Bianchi which uses the low end Campy parts and I am interested in buying new wheels. While I have replaced the front chainrings, I have not replaced the cassette. Because of increased options, can I buy a Shimano/SRAM compatible rear wheel with a Shimano/SRAM cassette and not change the Campy derailleurs?

Thanks in advance,
Tom
 
You have to check the sprocket spacing. When you shift from one gear to another, the dérailleur steps a certain amount of space. The amount of space is different for different number of sprockets and/or manufactures. There is some information on Sheldon Brown's site: Shimano Cassettes & Freehubs It is probably not complete, but should help.

If you can find a cassette that matches the campy spacing, I would think it would be possible...as long as the dérailleur can be adjusted such that the large and small sprockets are reachable.
 
jondeefan said:
I have an approximately 8 year old Bianchi which uses the low end Campy parts and I am interested in buying new wheels. While I have replaced the front chainrings, I have not replaced the cassette. Because of increased options, can I buy a Shimano/SRAM compatible rear wheel with a Shimano/SRAM cassette and not change the Campy derailleurs?
The short answer is "Maybe."

Do you currently have 9-or-10-speed Campagnolo shifters?
 
Thanks, I did not think about the sprocket spacing. It is something that I will have to research.


greglox said:
You have to check the sprocket spacing. When you shift from one gear to another, the dérailleur steps a certain amount of space. The amount of space is different for different number of sprockets and/or manufactures. There is some information on Sheldon Brown's site: Shimano Cassettes & Freehubs It is probably not complete, but should help.

If you can find a cassette that matches the campy spacing, I would think it would be possible...as long as the dérailleur can be adjusted such that the large and small sprockets are reachable.
 
jondeefan said:
Thanks for the reply. I have 9 speed Campagnolo shifter.
FWIW. Because Shimano has gone to great lengths to make shifting between cogs as efficient as possible, if you don't mind having access to only 8-out-of-9 cogs, you should be able to use a wheel with 9-speed Shimano cassette with your 9-speed Campagnolo shifters ...

You just have to adjust the STOPS + tweak the index to shift correctly between the smallest & second smallest cog ...

Done!

You'll probably lose use of the 6th (?) largest cog, but you probably won't notice its absence.
If in doubt, presuming you know someone who has a bike with a Shimano drivetrain, borrow the friend's rear wheel to confirm ...

If necessary, "borrow" a 9-speed Shimano/SRAM cassette from a MTB if you need absolute confirmation.
If you want to use all 9 cogs ...
If you use a '105' cassette (i.e., a cassette with separate cogs), you can cut shims from a soda-or-beer can (my apologies for not remembering who to provide attribution for this tip) ... the apparent thickness of the aluminum is ~0.2mm.

WHEELS MANUFACTURING made/(makes) replacement spacers which will allow you to restack a Shimano cassette to Campagnolo spacing. I had a set (maybe, they are still around here, somewhere) ... in a side-by-side comparision, the WM spacers seemed to be (IMO) the same thickness as the spacers in an 8-speed Shimano cassette ...
As Fate would have it, I ended up never using those WM spacers because most of my wheels had Ultegra-or-XT cassettes & I found that I didn't mind (!?!) using one less cog on the bike which was set up with a set of 9-speed Mirage shifters.

I generally use an HG-53 (or, better) 9-speed Shimano chain.

BTW. I'm currently using 10-speed Campagnolo shifters + 9-speed Shimano cassettes with Shimano rear derailleurs ...
Using either shims or the Wheels Manufacturing replacement spacers increases the stack by ~1.4mm (?) ... so, there's that much less thread which the lockring will engage ... it's doable.
Whichever (if any) alternate you choose, you will need to adjust the Stops & Indexing because the driveside flange of the Campagnolo hub is closer to the hub's centerline than the flange on a Shimano/-compatible hub.


 
jondeefan said:
I have an approximately 8 year old Bianchi which uses the low end Campy parts and I am interested in buying new wheels. While I have replaced the front chainrings, I have not replaced the cassette. Because of increased options, can I buy a Shimano/SRAM compatible rear wheel with a Shimano/SRAM cassette and not change the Campy derailleurs?

Thanks in advance,
Tom

The spacing differences between shimano and Campagnolo 9s is pretty small, I have used Campagnolo 9s shifters/RD and used a shimano 9s cogset many times and it works well. Use a shimano 9s chain.

Wheels manufacturing does make a shimano cogset based but spaced for Campagnolo 9s cogset but it's pricey.
 
Thanks, this has been a big help.

alfeng said:
FWIW. Because Shimano has gone to great lengths to make shifting between cogs as efficient as possible, if you don't mind having access to only 8-out-of-9 cogs, you should be able to use a wheel with 9-speed Shimano cassette with your 9-speed Campagnolo shifters ...

You just have to adjust the STOPS + tweak the index to shift correctly between the smallest & second smallest cog ...

Done!

You'll probably lose use of the 6th (?) largest cog, but you probably won't notice its absence.
If in doubt, presuming you know someone who has a bike with a Shimano drivetrain, borrow the friend's rear wheel to confirm ...

If necessary, "borrow" a 9-speed Shimano/SRAM cassette from a MTB if you need absolute confirmation.
If you want to use all 9 cogs ...
If you use a '105' cassette (i.e., a cassette with separate cogs), you can cut shims from a soda-or-beer can (my apologies for not remembering who to provide attribution for this tip) ... the apparent thickness of the aluminum is ~0.2mm.

WHEELS MANUFACTURING made/(makes) replacement spacers which will allow you to restack a Shimano cassette to Campagnolo spacing. I had a set (maybe, they are still around here, somewhere) ... in a side-by-side comparision, the WM spacers seemed to be (IMO) the same thickness as the spacers in an 8-speed Shimano cassette ...
As Fate would have it, I ended up never using those WM spacers because most of my wheels had Ultegra-or-XT cassettes & I found that I didn't mind (!?!) using one less cog on the bike which was set up with a set of 9-speed Mirage shifters.

I generally use an HG-53 (or, better) 9-speed Shimano chain.

BTW. I'm currently using 10-speed Campagnolo shifters + 9-speed Shimano cassettes with Shimano rear derailleurs ...
Using either shims or the Wheels Manufacturing replacement spacers increases the stack by ~1.4mm (?) ... so, there's that much less thread which the lockring will engage ... it's doable.
Whichever (if any) alternate you choose, you will need to adjust the Stops & Indexing because the driveside flange of the Campagnolo hub is closer to the hub's centerline than the flange on a Shimano/-compatible hub.

 

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