Velocé 10 speed ergos

[pq]

I've got a pair of Velocé 10 speed ergo levers on my tourer. They're around 10 years old but were originally on Mrs pq's bike so haven't seen an enormous amount of use. Normally I'd spend more to get better but they were sitting in a box in the shed so I used them. The rest of the transmission is Campag Racing Triple. They work fine, or at least did until yesterday. I was on a very hilly tour, so was up and down the gears constantly and after a while I noticed that if I was in the 6th sprocket or smaller and changed up it would go straight to the 10th. It's supposed to be able to do only one sprocket at a time unlike my more expensive levers which will do several.

In the past I've just sent levers to be serviced, but this is cheap stuff so I doubt it's economically viable to pay anyone to mess with them. Also with the last 10 speed levers I had done I had a hell of a job getting the ratchet thingy - I imagine that's impossible now. I also don't want to be without the bike for the time it takes to get them done - last time it took ages.

I've noticed I can buy 10 speed centaur internals for not too much money. Does anyone know if I can just take the remaining bits from the Veloce lever? And are they better quality than the veloce, or do I need to be spending more money to get something that will last?

I've noticed people talking about G springs - maybe that's all I need? I've never dismantled an ergo lever, or even diagnosed a specific fault but I'm a decent enough mechanic, so if that's all I need to do, maybe I can buy the part and fit it myself.

Any thoughts?
Thanks!

[mattsccm]

They do this. Plastic bit/dog in the ratchet is worn. Fixable by buying a new one.
I did get the soldering iron on mine and reshaped the dog but it didn't last long as it's coressponding tooth had worn. A ew bit is sort of in the shops but it is basically the body minus the levers and is many 10's of quid.
I just keep and eye on ebay but many of those are also knackered but you can nick the parts of a 9 speeder to do the job.
Other bodges may be out there.

[pq]

Thanks, that's useful. I guess that means the LH lever won't be far behind...

Do you happen to know what I need in terms of replacement levers? These are QS and in use they feel like they have a much stronger spring in them than the other (non QS) levers I have, and I know getting the wrong levers can cause issues with longevity. They ought to be OK becasue the whole transmission is from the same bike, but the guy who put it together wasn't too fussy about getting compatibility issues right. It had the wrong chainrings and bb for example, so I don't trust that these were the right levers for the mechs, even though it worked fine before yesterday.

Poking about online there are all sorts of 10 speed levers available new, but I want something that lasts longer than these have and want to get the compatibility thing right.

[Eman Resu]

"I've noticed I can buy 10 speed centaur internals for not too much money. Does anyone know if I can just take the remaining bits from the Veloce lever? And are they better quality than the veloce, or do I need to be spending more money to get something that will last?"

I went down this road when my right 10 speed Veloce lever started the usual multiple unwanted downshifts. Looking at the prices for 10 speed lever bodies I opted for the Record lever body at £70 and used the brake lever, lever clamp and hood from the expired Veloce's to complete the unit. Record lever parts seem to be more readily available than the Veloce ones.

p.s. g springs are only to be found in the Record and Chorus levers

[Mick F]

My 2006 Chorus 10sp Ergos are on their last legs.
The internals - some bits - are still available, but the bits that are wearing are impossible to find now.

Springs, levers, hood rubber, front ratchet, bearings, shaft, etc are fine.
It's the main ratchet that is worn, as I've replaced the rest over the years.
It's EC-RE061 that's wearing, but at the rate and distances I'm riding these days, it'll be fine for years and years!

[pq]

Thanks. Buying something of better quality is always my preferred option - I'm a bit horrified how quickly these levers have died and it would be very annoying to have them give up mid tour. So is this what you mean? https://www.bikeinn.com/cyclisme/campag ... 136661626/

Do you have any idea about the whole normal/QS/powershift thing? It's to work with racing triple mechs from around 10 years ago.

[simonineaston]

2 language-related observations here - one relevant, the other not... Campagnolo's Veloce group doesn't appear to have an accent on the second e in Campy's UK marketing material but as the poster lives in France and so may have a French keyboard which speaks in French accent, I understand what's going on there... and secondly I learn from my extremely useful half-Swedish/half-Italian colleague today that those little savoury biscuit jobbies are said, "broo sketta" - who knew??

[pq]

MickF, yes, I know about the parts issues - the Record 10 speed on my best bike caused problems with ratchet availability a few years ago, but I did find a set. But after 20 years and 100,000 miles I was impressed to be able to fix them at all - they're good as new now.

But veloce have different internals and it seems the quality isn't good, so fixing them isn't an option anyway. The solution seems to be new internals which seem to be widely available at a price I'd be willing to pay - that is the whole caboodle without the blade and hoods, eg what I've linked to in my previous post. The trouble is I don't know exactly which variant I need. Normal? QS? Powershift?

[pq]

The accent on the e is just a mistake. I pronounce the word, probably wrongly as though it has an accent on the e, so I spell it that way too, facilitated by my keyboard. Never given it much thought.

[simonineaston]

Ignore me - I'm just bored - it's raining...
I bought a Veloce groupset back in 2014 - end of line, I think. A Campagnolo groupset had been a long felt want since my teens and I felt a bit let down, one way and another...

[pq]

That's a shame. I have a 2000 Record groupset with 100,000 miles on the clock with everything working as good as new. In that time it's had consumables replaced countless times, but the only actual maintenance it's needed in that time is having the ergo levers rebuilt once. It's hard to think of any other groupset even from the friction shifting era which could do that. Certainly my Super Record groupset from the 80s was toast much quicker. But veloce, as I've just discovered is cheap tat....

[Mick F]

When mine pack in, or become too soft and unmanageable, they'll be consigned to history, and I'll be fitting my historical DT friction shifters ......... Campag Victory. Ditch the Ergos and fit Tektro aero brake levers like I have on Moulton.

Possibly swap to Shimano cassette and fit Dura Ace indexed DT shifters. Having given up with my Chorus rear hub due to fragility of the freewheel body, I fitted a Miche hub and it'll fit Campag body or Shimano body. I have both available.

This Ergo/STI stuff is a flash in the pan.
DT shifters are the way ahead.

[pq]

There's a lot to be said for DT friction shifters on a tourer - in fact I have a Roberts tourer which has them, much to the annoyance of Roberts themselves who thought it was a stupid idea. This frame is titanium, has no bosses and the down tube is slightly oversized, so there's no way of fitting them. I hate bar end shifters with a passion so that's not going to happen either - so I have to sort the ergos.

When I was looking for parts for my 10 speed Record ergos I came across a couple of places making after market ratchets. They were all out of stock, but I suspect they will become available again in future, even if Campag never make any. For this problem I think I'll end up buying Record/Chorus internals - if they last as long as my other set, I'll be on an electric bike before they need any parts.

[mattsccm]

Veloce's of that era, I have several pairs , are generally seen as disposable. The lefts last much longer as they don't get the use. Matching them to the correct rear mech seems important as mech spring strength varies according to incarnation and the wrong combo screws the levers.
Some of us "collect" varaitions to canablise to keep others going. Any got a right hand hood spare?

[pq]

So how do I find out exactly what I need? I can't be sure the existing levers are correct and the new Record internals I think I'm going to end up with are too expensive to experiment with.