Campag Record rear mech...issue?

[Godlykepower]

When I set up the gears on my bike, everything is perfect when it is on the stand, but when I get it out on the road, when going up a steep hill & using my lowest gear, the rear mech slightly catches the spokes & I can hear it making a tinkling sound. If I make an adjustment to the downtube barrel adjuster, I can get the sound to go away, but when I go back to my second or third gear, the chain slightly rubs on the next largest sprocket, forcing me to fiddle with the barrel adjuster again to get rid of that noise.

I noticed on the way back home from my ride this morning that when in my lowest gear, the cage doesn't appear to be perfectly straight & the lowest jockey wheel might be bent inwards?
There also appears to be a certain amount of play from the bolt that attaches the mech cages to the mech body. Is that normal, because to my mind that seems to be the cause of the problem, unless I'm missing something?

Is it just a case of tightening up that bolt....or something else?

[Mick F]

My Chorus rear mech went like that.

How long have you had the Record mech?
My Chorus was a 2006 unit bought in August 2007. It had done close on 22,000miles by the time I replaced it late last year.

The problem was, was that the bolt going through the top unit at the top of the parallelogram into the dropout had worn making the whole rear mech move in and out a tiny bit, and basically when in the big cog the cable pulled it fully in so the cage rubbed gently on the spokes.

This was only evident when climbing because the wheel would flex and some spokes would be not as tight as others - pushing vs pulling spokes?

There was no cure.
The bolt actually appears fine, but I reckon it's the boss that is worn internally. Basically, the mech was a write off.

I bought a long cage Comp to replace it and I think I got the last one anywhere.

Good luck, but my best guess is that yours has worn like wot mine had.

[Godlykepower]

I've only had the bike the mech is on this year, but it was second hand, so goodness knows what mieage it has done prior to coming to live here! Visually, it looks brilliant...almost unmarked, but that is hardly a reliable indicator.

I will try tightening up that bolt, but I expect that it may be game over for this mech, as you say.

I have already looked for replacement mechs on eBay & they are all a mixed bag....if I were to get a more modern 10 speed carbon mech, how would that operate with everything else being 8 speed?

[Mick F]

As far as I know, the mechs aren't interchangeable 8sp for 9/10sp, though maybe you could get away with it. Someone may know better than me.
I have no experience of 8sp at all, I went from 6sp and 7sp freewheels and friction levers to 9sp cassettes and Ergos.

The play I could feel on my Chorus unit was evident if I held the bottom of the cage whilst in the small sprocket position (relaxed) and moved it in and out - towards and away from the wheel if you see what I mean. There was a definite clunk as it went one way and back, but I couldn't say what measurement of play there was.

The new Comp unit shows nothing like that. Although it flexes, there's no clunk.

[cycleruk]

I think I have seen a video on stripping the pivot bolt off the mech'.
Maybe it can be rejuvenated with new bushings or some such. ?

It's a few years back but I have dismantled a Shimano mech' which I think just required the removal of a large circlip to remove the bolt ?

[Godlykepower]

I've just stripped it all down & I'd say it might be game over for this unit.

When I removed the bolt, some rusty brown water & gunk came out. I'm not sure what I was expecting in there, but there was only a spring with a pin on each end of it and a little washer/bush thing that was sat at the bottom of the body, but belonged on the bolt.

I dismantled and de-greased the bits, cleaned out the body & re-greased everything & reassembled. There was still a fair bit of play coming from that area & some movement in the body too, from two other pins/bolts. These other pins/bolts were not adjustable & the movement felt like wear.
There has never been any clunking, just play, so I think I'm just going to write this unit off & try & find something else.

If a 10s mech would work on an 8s, I would have one right now, regardless of price, just because it would be brand new & I don't have to go to the trouble of trying to source the best condition second hand mech, that I can find.

My day has gone like this:

[Brucey]

really you need to be 100% sure which record rear mech you have before 'tightening that bolt' etc because no-one can be sure which that bolt really is otherwise.

So post pictures or the mech and/or ID it by wading through the campag archives.

If you do the latter you will come up with spare part numbers and then you will be able to have a sensible conversation with spare part suppliers .

If your mech is bent it might be scrap anyway; again post pictures.

cheers

[Godlykepower]

Any ideas on whether or not a 10 speed mech would work with 8 speed Ergo shifters & cassette?

[Mick F]

The bolt on mine is held on with a circlip.
You release that, and prize off the thick toothed washer that holds the spring, then pull everything out.
My bolt seemed ok, so it must have been the boss that was worn.

Inside the alu boss is a steel sleeve that should be a good fit for the bolt. If either of them wear even just a bit, there will be play in them. I kept mine cleaned and greased throughout its life, but 22,000miles was all it could manage.

No doubt the 8sp Record is the same as my 9sp/10sp Chorus. Looking at the 1994 spare parts pictures, I reckon I'm right.
http://www.campagnolo.com/media/files/0 ... part_A.pdf


Here's a newer shot:

[Godlykepower]

It's not that bolt where the play is though. I can't seem to download the picture, but if you look at that that whole diagram, its the next big spring down, that I'm on about.

Edit: I've managed it, this is what I mean. http://imgur.com/m4c70Cs

[Mick F]

You mean the cage pivot?
In my experience, there usually is a little play there.

If that is your problem, you can get the bits, but I reckon it's not worth the effort.
You'll need an outer jockey cage and the through-bolt.
RE-005 and RE-007 .............. if this is yours. This is from the 1994 spare parts document linked earlier.

[mattsccm]

Mine did the same. Fixed with a grinder and took a mil off the bit that stuck out. If you are chucking the old one, chuck it my way. I collect them to canabalise.

[gregoryoftours]

It might be worth checking your mech hanger alignment too, if it's a bit off and you straighten it it might let you get away with having a slightly sloppy mech.

[gfk_velo]

For future cases like this, maybe not so much should be taken for granted and some basic checks ought to be suggested first ... we see lots and lots of emails from end users and in a very high %age of cases, the following checks are not done and the user has been going round in circles for some considerable time as a result ...

1. Is the cassette correctly torqued and is it a Campag cassette on a Campag hub - some bottom cogs on some third party cassettes sit closer to the spokes than Campag specify & ditto if it's not a Campag hub / wheel - if the cassette is flopping around loose on the hub, the sprocket can end up misaligned under load whilst appearing to shift OK in the stand.
2. Is the rear wheel all the way "home" in the dropouts? I've lost count of the number of wheels I have seen with the QR springs inverted / both on the same side, etc., not allowing the wheel to sit perfectly vertical in the frame ...
3. Is the hanger correctly tightened to the frame?
4. Is the hanger correctly aligned? (doff of cap to gregoryoftours)
5. What is the tension like in the wheel - if it's insufficient then the distortion that you get whilst climbing might bring the RD into contact with the spokes. This exacerbates things under (1) above.
6. Is the RD correctly tightened into the hanger?
7. Only once all the above is checked and verified can you look at the low-limit screw.

If all the above is OK, then the problem *may* reside in the RD ...

I know that the OP has now posted what the likely problem is (full of brown water does not sound good) but all of the above checks should be done first.

Unfortunately, getting a new 8s RD is going to be a problem and the 9/10s RDs are not compatible with 8s Ergo levers - the cable pull ratio is different. There are ways around it but none are too pretty ... you might try http://www.campyoldy.com for a NoS 8s rear gear but it won't be cheap ...

[foxyrider]

Any ideas on whether or not a 10 speed mech would work with 8 speed Ergo shifters & cassette?

Why wouldn't it? i currently have an 8sp Veloce which started out running 8sp shimergo, then 9sp Campy and is currently doing 10sp Campy without issue. A second bike has a 10sp Record currently running off 9sp Campy but will soon be running 11sp Campy. The rear mechs don't have a fixed move per gear shift, that is controlled by the lever so providing the levers match the cassette you shouldn't have any issue. They would like you to think the stuff is incompatible but going down its rarely the case and often going up too.