Triple Campy Chorus

[Captain Dondo]

I've got an older (1999?) Campy Chorus 9 speed. The gearing now is 52/39 front, 12-23 rear. I'm
getting talking into Grandfather this fall - 100 miles of climing, some severe (10% or worse).

As my knees no longer can withstand that kind of abuse, I'm thinking of a triple front with suitable
rear. Is it possible? How much of the existing drivetrain would have to be swapped? I'm hoping that
only the rear derailleur would have be changed to a long cage if Campy makes one, and that the front
shifter can handle a triple crank.

Any ideas?

-Dondo

 

[Paul Southworth]

In article <[email protected]>, Captain Dondo
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I've got an older (1999?) Campy Chorus 9 speed. The gearing now is 52/39 front, 12-23 rear. I'm
>getting talking into Grandfather this fall - 100 miles of climing, some severe (10% or worse).
>
>As my knees no longer can withstand that kind of abuse, I'm thinking of a triple front with
>suitable rear. Is it possible? How much of the existing drivetrain would have to be swapped? I'm
>hoping that only the rear derailleur would have be changed to a long cage if Campy makes one, and
>that the front shifter can handle a triple crank.

Best to replace both derailleurs, crank, and bottom bracket. You may be able to get away with
keeping the rear derailleur if you don't change the cassette but it's going to be marginal. The
front derailleur is not expensive and I recommend replacing it if you want good shifting. Remember
that all Campy derailleurs and cranks are compatible with your drivetrain, you do not need to get
Chorus - it won't shift any better than Veloce. I would get the lower cost parts rather than
skipping some pieces - it will work better that way.

--Paul

 

[Paul Kopit]

On Sun, 27 Apr 2003 13:22:03 -0400, "Captain Dondo" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I've got an older (1999?) Campy Chorus 9 speed. The gearing now is 52/39 front, 12-23 rear. I'm
>getting talking into Grandfather this fall - 100 miles of climing, some severe (10% or worse).
>
>As my knees no longer can withstand that kind of abuse, I'm thinking of a triple front with
>suitable rear. Is it possible? How much of the existing drivetrain would have to be swapped? I'm
>hoping that only the rear derailleur would have be changed to a long cage if Campy makes one, and
>that the front shifter can handle a triple crank.
>
>Any ideas?
On Sun, 27 Apr 2003 13:22:03 -0400, in rec.bicycles.tech you wrote:

>I've got an older (1999?) Campy Chorus 9 speed. The gearing now is 52/39 front, 12-23 rear. I'm
>getting talking into Grandfather this fall - 100 miles of climing, some severe (10% or worse).
>
>As my knees no longer can withstand that kind of abuse, I'm thinking of a triple front with
>suitable rear. Is it possible? How much of the existing drivetrain would have to be swapped? I'm
>hoping that only the rear derailleur would have be changed to a long cage if Campy makes one, and
>that the front shifter can handle a triple crank.
>
>Any ideas?
If you are planning on keeping the 12/23 cassette and getting a 30T granny ring you'll be spending a
lot of money for little benefit. A
13/28 9sp cassette is about $40 and would be the same as a 30/22. You'll need to make your chain
longer. I've been a grandfather for 8 years already. One hundred miles is not far and short
pitches of 10% aren't that torturous. Five to 6 miles of 6-8% will have you begging for lower
gears quicker than 10%.

"Stand up and push hard".

<http://www.caltriplecrown.com/Fame.htm#PK

 

[Captain Dondo]

On Sun, 27 Apr 2003 23:51:46 +0000, Paul Kopit wrote:

> If you are planning on keeping the 12/23 cassette and getting a 30T granny ring you'll be spending
> a lot of money for little benefit. A
> 13/28 9sp cassette is about $40 and would be the same as a 30/22. You'll need to make your chain
> longer. I've been a grandfather for 8 years already. One hundred miles is not far and short
> pitches of 10% aren't that torturous. Five to 6 miles of 6-8% will have you begging for lower
> gears quicker than 10%.
>
> "Stand up and push hard".
>
> <http://www.caltriplecrown.com/Fame.htm#PK>

The idea for the gearing was a 28 low up front and maybe a 24 or even 28 rear.

Grandfather Mountain is a 102 mile ride, something like 40 or 50 miles of climbing, and a total
elevation gain of something like 6,000' (including some of the descents.)

There are sustained climbs in excess of 10%; there's a 20 mile sustained climb halfway into the tide
and a 10 mile sustained climb to the finish... It's the 90 miles of riding through rollers and then
a 10 mile climb that get me... The last 1.5 miles climb 780 feet - that's about 11% grade. I've
heard of place finishers getting off their bikes and running up that hill...

-Dondo

 

[Qui Si Parla Ca]

captain-<< I've got an older (1999?) Campy Chorus 9 speed. The gearing now is
52/39 front, 12-23 rear. I'm getting talking into Grandfather this fall - 100 miles of climing, some
severe (10% or worse).

<< As my knees no longer can withstand that kind of abuse, I'm thinking of a triple front with
suitable rear. Is it possible?

Sure, the minimum youi need is a new BB, triple crank, triple fder and midcage rear der-all
Campagnolo. You can use Mirage/Veloce crank, AC-H BB, Veloce triple fder and rder if you don't want
to spend a lot of $ or a Record triple crank, Chorus triple BB, Record triple fder and Chorus mid
cage rder if you do. Centaur triple stuff is mid-point between these.

<< I'm hoping that only the rear derailleur would have be changed to a long cage if Campy makes one,
and that the front shifter can handle a triple crank.

Campagnolo makes three length rder cages and the left shifter is double and triple compatible.

What you can also do is swap the freehub body for the shimano compatible one(if your rear hub has
the aluminum axle), get a long cage Campagnolo rear der and then a shimano 12-34 or so, and keep the
double crank-just did this on a Merlin with Campagnolo 9s.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(53)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Paul Kopit]

On Mon, 28 Apr 2003 04:40:03 -0400, "Captain Dondo" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Grandfather Mountain is a 102 mile ride, something like 40 or 50 miles of climbing, and a total
>elevation gain of something like 6,000' (including some of the descents.)
>
>There are sustained climbs in excess of 10%; there's a 20 mile sustained climb halfway into the
>tide and a 10 mile sustained climb to the finish... It's the 90 miles of riding through rollers and
>then a 10 mile climb that get me... The last 1.5 miles climb 780 feet - that's about 11% grade.
>I've heard of place finishers getting off their bikes and running up that hill...

6,000' in 100 miles is not more than average but not high. 10,000/100 is high. I'd have lots of
difficulty with 1.5 mi. of 11% and would have to stop and rest a few times. I'd be using a 34x27.