Cycling UK Forum

Your ratched seems worn out but it seems also that you still can buy them:
http://www.smi-radsport.de/Fahrradteile ... power.html
Ecxpensiv though....
AFAIK I have 3 of these things laying around in my workshed, might put them on Ebay......see what they're worth...

Yikes 51 Euros !! for the two main components.

I spotted a pair of new Xenon 9-speed levers for £60 ( Wiggle, Ribble ?? ) and wondered whether I should buy them as my fallback option.

Yes, Wiggle.

The Record ones look identical to mine, except they have Record written on the brake levers instead of Chorus.
Well, not quite identical. The Wiggle ones say QS and Ultra.

Ultra Shift was a new incarnation, and internally not like mine at all.

For those in the know, QS referred to the later front mech, not the LH Ergo, so the Ergos aren't QS at all.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cycle/gear-leve ... 4294720049

Not sure the Xenon ones are triple compatible.

AFAIK all Xenons are or were triple compatible.

Mick F wrote:For those in the know, QS referred to the later front mech, not the LH Ergo, so the Ergos aren't QS at all.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cycle/gear-leve ... 4294720049

My Centaur 10 speed (2008) is QS and the left shifter is different than my previous ergos.
It has 6 positions (not the multi "micro" as previous) and I find it difficult set up the dérailleur.
My dérailleur shows it's a QS but I can not get it to position/change sweetly.
I don't know if the Record version is different to my Centaur. If it is better then I would also consider them as a back up.
( With my QS having the six positions I wondered if it was really meant as a triple ? )

do you perhaps need the 'front mech widget' to make your setup work?

cheers

Brucey wrote:do you perhaps need the 'front mech widget' to make your setup work?
cheers

Do you mean me Brucy?
If so I don't know about any widget.
The movement of the mech' isn't in line with rings. 1st click is slack then 2nd click allows trimming of small ring.
3rd click moves mech' but chain doesn't rise to big ring.
If I make the 1st click a proper trim click then other clicks are out.
If any of the above makes sense

I've tried cable connection on both sides of clamp bolt with no luck.

Widget Is that the thing that you fit for clamping the cable in a different place ie. maybe lengthening the clamp arm?

Graham wrote:I spotted a pair of new Xenon 9-speed levers for £60 ( Wiggle, Ribble ?? ) and wondered whether I should buy them as my fallback option.

Wiggle.
These do not show the dreaded Escape or QS markings, so it is possible that they have the old, durable mechanics.

cycleruk wrote:

Brucey wrote:do you perhaps need the 'front mech widget' to make your setup work?
cheers

Do you mean me Brucy?
If so I don't know about any widget. ......

Widget Is that the thing that you fit for clamping the cable in a different place ie. maybe lengthening the clamp arm?

apologies if I am leading you on a wild goose chase here (my recollection may be faulty) but IIRC around that time campag did supply a small adaptor (widget) that was intended to allow certain combinations of front mech and shifter to work properly. It does indeed alter the length of the arm on the front mech. Possibly if the arm is a lot longer you will have three trim clicks on the small ring and then some more on the big ring?

I think you will find the widget (and a table that tells you when to use it) in the ~2009 (+/- 1) spare parts pdf.

I may recall CJ also using it to good effect in some shimergo scheme or other...?

cheers

cycleruk wrote:

Mick F wrote:For those in the know, QS referred to the later front mech, not the LH Ergo, so the Ergos aren't QS at all.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cycle/gear-leve ... 4294720049

My Centaur 10 speed (2008) is QS and the left shifter is different than my previous ergos.
It has 6 positions (not the multi "micro" as previous) and I find it difficult set up the dérailleur.
My dérailleur shows it's a QS but I can not get it to position/change sweetly.
I don't know if the Record version is different to my Centaur. If it is better then I would also consider them as a back up.
( With my QS having the six positions I wondered if it was really meant as a triple ? )

2008 Centaur 10sp was an Escape Ergo.
Don't know if it was Triple Compatible, but I doubt it.

Not sure the Xenon ones are triple compatible.

I had Xenon QS shifters working perfectly on a triple, with the correct Campag front mech. and a Stronglight Impact 48, 38, 28 chainset. The front trimming was not as fine as the normal type, but I got it working well with little effort.

New G springs arrived this afternoon.
I spent a happy hour rebuilding the RH Ergo.
I had given the whole stripped down bits a good cleaning in petrol and also in my small sonic bath. They came out spotless.

I didn't get any "special" grease, but used my Mobilith 1500. If I do get hold of some, I my do a strip down again and use it.

The unit is fitted now, and the indexing set up, and it actually feels ok. Not as crisp and clean as it should be, but ok IMO.
Off out on a ride on Mercian tomorrow for a good trial.

Long test-ride complete.
All adjustments and indexing were perfect.

The RH Ergo was a bit "quiet".
It wasn't as clicky and positive as it should be, but 1000% better than it was. It's obvious it's not a new unit, as it feels "tired" and "lack-lustre".

It'll do.

I've worn out yet another Campag ergo shifter. This time it is the Veloce 10 speed powershift right hand shifter. In the space of one 100k ride today it went from working perfectly to near complete failure. Using the thumb lever to shift to a smaller gog on the back it will move across multiple cogs (overshift) causing me to have to use the finger lever to move it back a couple of cogs to get to the desired gear.

I'm very disappointed with the quality as it has worn out so quickly. The hood and the rest of the lever is hardly worn as can be seen from this photo. I don't even think I've replaced the 10 speed cassette in the four years I've had it.

The small parts are not replaceable and the only option is to get a new Powershift lever body http://www.chickencyclekit.co.uk/show_product.php?cat=210&p=8547 or upgrade to an Ultrashift body http://www.chickencyclekit.co.uk/show_product.php?cat=210&p=6387#panel2 for about £70. It is easy to replace https://www.campagnolo.com/UK/en/Support/replacement_of_the_campagnolo_ep_ultra_shift_shifting_lever_body

Or buy a new pair of 10 speed veloce levers for about £78.

Is an Ultrashift body and its internal parts more durable? Will I get a longer life out of it? I know you can shift multiple cogs with Ultrahift but I don't really care about that. I want it to last longer than a 10 speed cassette.

Any advice appreciated.

I dunno exactly how much better the alternatives are, but the one thing I definitely wouldn't bother to do is just get another one like the last one, not if you are paying full whack for it. They really are pretty crappy. I think the body is something like £35 trade price so if you can get it for that and it lasts a couple of years that may give you time to work out something better to get next time.

BTW I think they wear out a lot more quickly if you are not positive with the upshift button; IIRC you need to push it briskly all the way down because that is what stops the shift drum from moving. However once the tiny (plastic) prong and the crappy (plastic) wheel have worn, it is game over...

For my money the most sensible 10s campag shifters were the 2004-2006 model Veloce ones; these have essentially the same internals as the pre 2007 Record 10s ergos, and exactly the same functionality. They support any front mech, can be converted to 9s etc (with a different index wheel), and when they wear (which seems to take about 20000 miles) they often just need a set of G springs to be good again.

FWIW (apologies if this sounds like heresy) the recent Shimano Tiagra 4700 10s STIs are worth a look too; I think that they are almost plug and play with campag for the rear shift (you might need a very small tweak), but that you will need to do something cunning with the front shift. For a road double you have two main choices here;

1) use the shimano mech (FD4700 or an 11s shimano front mech) with ST-4700 shifters and a double chainset or
2) use the ST-4703 triple shifter and a tweak to the extant campag double front mech (to adjust the arm length)

Provided you don't need to use the trim setting on the small chainring you will be fine, but if you do, some careful setup will be required. The shimano triple mech FD-4703 is almost the same shift ratio as the campag double, and is also not far away from the shift ratio of some older shimano doubles, too.

hth

cheers