Campag Question

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binsted
Posts: 329
Joined: 6 Jun 2012, 1:13pm

Campag Question

Post by binsted »

I have a 1992 steel road frame that I am bringing back to life, rear dropouts are 126mm.

Thinking of restoring with Campag gear so question is what groupset would be period correct and what is maximum speed cassette, not interested in spreading the chain stays to accept 10 speed.

Any places to look for Campag gear apart from e-bay

Thanks
hamster
Posts: 4131
Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Campag Question

Post by hamster »

Spreading the chainstays was for anything of 8 speed or up. Early 7 speed was 126mm, later 7 was 130mm. 1992 is on the late side for 126.

I would go for Chorus or C-Record, but Athena is every bit as good and doesn't have the daft prices associated with C-Record. The Synchro indexing of 7 speed Campag is not great though.

However there is a nice get-out. Run 8 speed ergo shifters and a 7 speed back end. Both use a cog spacing of 5.0mm and so you will simply have one unused click on your shifters.
binsted
Posts: 329
Joined: 6 Jun 2012, 1:13pm

Re: Campag Question

Post by binsted »

Thanks, thats very helpful and the information I was looking for.
Chat Noir
Posts: 228
Joined: 22 Jan 2010, 8:52pm
Location: York

Re: Campag Question

Post by Chat Noir »

Retro bike forum is a good place for information from like-minded people and good place to purchase bits and pieces.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/

Some of us flit between here and there. Not unusual for posters to advertise equipment at lower prices than e-bay. Having said that, e-bay still has one of the best ranges of gear anywhere - there's some very good Campag Athena on at the moment from the early 1990s.

Enjoyed looking at your travel blog - thanks.

Good luck.
Dawes Galaxy 1979; Mercian 531 1982; Peugeot 753 1987; Peugeot 531 Pro 1988; Peugeot 653 1990; Bob Jackson 731 OS 1992; Gazelle 731 OS Exception 1996; Dolan Dedacciai 2004; Trek 8000 MTB 2011; Focus Izalco Pro 2012
BigFoz
Posts: 491
Joined: 2 Jun 2011, 12:33pm

Re: Campag Question

Post by BigFoz »

I ran 7 speed on a 126mm pinarello for years. There are some caveats.
The Campag ergos are 8 spd - they're getting expensive and rare now.
I adjusted to have a dead shift on largest sprocket as safety for putting chain into spokes
It works really well with either Campag or Shimano 7spd cassettes / freewheels
It doesn't work with the other popular freewheel / cassette of the day (Suntour? or something French) - Must be 25 years since I last ran this and can't remember which one I had crap results with). Campag / Shimano / SRAM (Sachs Huret) freewheels and cassettes in 7spd all worked fine.
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Gattonero
Posts: 3730
Joined: 31 Jan 2016, 1:35pm
Location: London

Re: Campag Question

Post by Gattonero »

That year is borderline between the Campag indexed DT shifters and Ergopowers.
But with a 126mm frame I'd stay with 6 speed and friction shifters, make life easy and peace of mind.

Otherwise, you need to be able to source an 8sp Campag rear mech (getting rare now!) and matching shifters either DT or Ergopowers.
With DT shifters you can change the insert, so you can risk to use 7sp freewheel and hub with the dedicated shifter insert. It's not guaranteed that the last sprocket would clear with the frame, tho! You could remove one sprocket and try 6sp indexed, I've never tried like that, I guess it's a minefield.

FWIW, I have a Record 8sp DT shifter and with C9 chain works perfectly either with a Maillard 7sp freewheel or Campag 8sp cassette, but my frame is 130mm already. If was me, I'd get the frame re-tracket to 130mm to make life a lot easier!
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best,
since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.
Thus you remember them as they actually are...
Brucey
Posts: 44521
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Campag Question

Post by Brucey »

I may be stating the b-obvious here but

a) most 126mm frames will happily accept a 128mm spaced rear hub; a 2mm 'spring' is not worth worrying about.
b) most hubs for screw-on freewheels (in fact all with conventional cones and locknuts, threaded axles etc) can easily be respaced from 126mm to 128mm.
c) at 128mm you can have enough clearance for a 7s freewheel even if the frame is not perfectly suitable (chainstay clearance) and/or an improved wheel dish (for strength) as you wish
d) with 7s you have the choice of friction shifting or indexed shifting for 8s
e) there are lots of suitable 7s freewheels available, both new and used

FWIW different freewheels sat differently on threaded hubs. IIRC if you used a Maillard or regina 7s freewheel BITD, you were robbed of about 1-2mm of spacing that could be used to improve the wheel dish, vs a suntour freewheel, with a shimano one inbetween. Of these freewheels the shimano ones (UG or HG) would shift/index the best IMHO.

In modern 7s freewheels those made by IRD, shimano, sunrace and perhaps others such as 'falcon' brand shift OK with indexed shifting. Basically anything with HG-esque teeth and reasonably even spacing will be OK. There are plenty of freewheels that are not like this, BTW, and it takes you right back to the 1970s, shifting like that.... :wink:

cheers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brucey
Posts: 44521
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Campag Question

Post by Brucey »

I may be stating the b-obvious here but

a) most 126mm frames will happily accept a 128mm spaced rear hub; a 2mm 'spring' is not worth worrying about.
b) most hubs for screw-on freewheels (in fact all with conventional cones and locknuts, threaded axles etc) can easily be respaced from 126mm to 128mm.
c) at 128mm you can have enough clearance for a 7s freewheel even if the frame is not perfectly suitable (chainstay clearance) and/or an improved wheel dish (for strength) as you wish
d) with 7s you have the choice of friction shifting or indexed shifting for 8s
e) there are lots of suitable 7s freewheels available, both new and used

FWIW different freewheels sat differently on threaded hubs. IIRC if you used a Maillard or regina 7s freewheel BITD, you were robbed of about 1-2mm of spacing that could be used to improve the wheel dish, vs a suntour freewheel, with a shimano one inbetween. Of these freewheels the shimano ones (UG or HG) would shift/index the best IMHO.

In modern 7s freewheels those made by IRD, shimano, sunrace and perhaps others such as 'falcon' brand shift OK with indexed shifting. Basically anything with HG-esque teeth and reasonably even spacing will be OK. There are plenty of freewheels that are not like this, BTW, and it takes you right back to the 1970s, shifting like that.... :wink:

cheers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
binsted
Posts: 329
Joined: 6 Jun 2012, 1:13pm

Re: Campag Question

Post by binsted »

Thanks all thats given me plenty to think through..
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