Rebuilding Campag Ergopower

Anyone got any advice/tips, for stripping/rebuilding Campag Ergos? I bought a Record carbon fibre right hand unit yesterday for 10 euros from a boot sale. It's had a lot of use by the look of it (pivot pin for the brake lever is well worn and needs replacing), but it seems to work. I thought I'd strip it and see if the internals are ok, and if so I'll sort it and look for a left unit to go with it (anyone got a spare...?). If it's not worth rebuilding then at least I'll have gained a bit of experience which might come in handy later, and that's got to be worth 10 euros!

Anything to look out for/avoid? And what about parts? Anyone got a good souce, preferably UK or France?
Oh, the unit is 9 speed, with 'Carbon BB System' on the hood which might help someone date it...

 

I believe there is a section on rebuilding the ergo levers on the Campagnolo only website. It was quite detailed and definitive.

You may also find some assistance at www.bikeschool.com in their tech forum. You can do a search of topics. Some of the forum members appear to have strong expertise.

If you have difficulties finding any of this information, I will be happy to research it and supply you with the links.

Happy rebuilding!

 

Thanks, I'll take a look. I still need a euro source for spares though...

 

Dunno about France (they don't like us Italians much these days ) but any reputable bike shop should be able to get you all the Campagnolo spare bits and pieces that you need. At least, that is the way it works here in Italy.

 

Presuming you haven't started, yet, the MAIN thing you need to know is that the LARGE "clock" spring is going to be the most difficult piece to get back in place ... and, it may surprise you when you are disassembling the lever (if it hasn't already!).

As someone remarked: ... if you get it back together the FIRST time, then you are a "god."

A "problem" with the ERGO shifters is that the replacement parts are REALLY expensive ... your LBS should be able to order the parts.

The G-springs probably need to be replaced on your shifter ... perhaps, the ratchet wheels. I believe it is the G-spring which keeps the engaged mechanism from slipping ... that is, on a bumpy roadway, if the shifter(s) change without your manual input, then the G-springs are "worn."

IF the hoods are REALLY worn smooth, figure they probably have at least 12,000 miles of use ... I think Branford suggests a rebuild timetable. At 12,000+ miles, the time may have arrived ... BUT, 12,000 miles (?) is JUST an estimate because everyone shifts at a different rate per mile/kilometer because terrain/etc. varies AND people grip their levers differently (if hood wear is used as an indicator).

The good news & bottom line is that you can cannibalize the least expensive (e.g., XENON) shifter for most of the parts (~25GBP? per XENON shifter ...) IF you need more than just the G-springs ... a new, cannibalized shifter will also provide you with a FRESH hood ($15US+/~10GBP?, each!). By my observation, only the CENTRAL SHAFT & ball bearing cartridge are a different size (and, because the bearing is different, the composite housing is undoubtedly a different size, too). I think the cost of a new hood + G-springs will come close to equalling, if not exceeding (depending on your LBS) the cost of a XENON shift lever ... so, if there are any other bits that need to be replaced, then buying the individual bits could become a disappointing process.

FWIW. Roughly, the stenciling makes it sometime pre-2002, I think ... but, the time frame could be as early as 1998. I think it was somewhere in the 2001-2002 timeframe that Campagnolo introduced their 10-speed ... maybe, earlier; but, 9-speed shifters were still available (old stock?) in Record & Chorus, AFAIK.

FWIW2. I had a 1998 (i.e., the first year of the "current" style) Chorus lever which needed to be re-built (I finally got around to attending to it last year) ... after pricing the EXTRA (more-than just G-springs ... HMmmm, now that I think about it, I seem to recall that as long as I had the two levers apart, I was going to replace the ratchet wheel on the Chorus with the one from the Mirage, but it couldn't be swapped, so whatever fits on the central shaft is exclusive to either the Record/Chorus OR Centaur/Veloce/Mirage/Xenon shifter, respectively) bits-and-pieces, I realized that it would be more expedient to cannibalize all the internals from another, so a recent Mirage shifter was sacrificed for the endeavor. Originally, I wanted to maintain the housing's central Ball Bearings (vs. a bushing) ... of course, THAT is when I learned the shafts were a different size! In the end, having taken the TWO apart, I ended up simply moving the shift blade & brake lever to the Mirage body!

Motivation is the key to rebuilding an(y) ERGO shifter. If the 1998 Chorus had been my FIRST EXPERIENCE, then it would have been horrendous. Fortunately, I had rebuilt two other shifters before BUT I still have two others to rebuild which I stashed in a box a couple of years ago! THAT is one way of saying I just don't have the motivation to put them back together!

 

Thanks Alfeng, great detail, much appreciated. As I said, I was thinking of stripping it more for the experience than anything else, on the grounds that if I cock it up all I've lost is a few euros. The other option was to do as you suggest and just stick the carbon brake lever (the shift blade appears to be exactly the same composite item as the Mirage) on my existing Mirage shifter!

BTW, Alfeng would have anything to do with legendary (in the UK anyway) seventies time triallist and exponent of drilled componentry, Alf Engers would it?

 

I agree -- AFAIK, the Record shift blade is the same EXCEPT for the faux carbon fiber decal on the Record shift blade.

Any coincidence in non-factory drilled components, attitude and/or eccentricity are purely coincidental ... would that I could have been so talented on a bike.

 

visit www.campyonly.com and get very valuable tips.

 

its not too bad. ive done it a few times. get a glass of wine or a beer and just take your time, study it. make sure u have a diagram too.

 

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but with the nights closing in I've finally got round to trying to rebuild this shifter (I also found a matching left one, so I've got a pair now).
I've been trawling the Campag website and various other places. Found a really good guide to rebuilding Ergos here: http://www.velonews.com/tech/rev/levers.html

Also downloaded various campag parts sheets from their website, and it seems that buying a Xenon shifter to cannibalise isn't such a good idea. Mirage/Centaur/Veloce appear to be absolutely identical internally (except different index wheels for 10s and 9s) - same part numbers, everything, the only differences are the materials of the lever blades themselves. Chorus and Record only differ in having the ball bearing races rather than bushes and a couple of other minor related components.
But Xenon is a different internal design altogether, so there'll be limited parts that are actually of any use to rebuild higher spec units. Even the hoods have a different part number, although I think the only difference is that the Xenons aren't ergobrain compatible.

 

Thanks for the correction with regard to the XENON shifters.

BTW. The gimbled cradle that holds the shift blade is different for the Record/Chorus & Centaur/Veloce/Mirage shifers (pre-2007, at least) since the central shaft has a different diameter in the respective shifters (due to the different inner diameters of the different bearing types).