Differences between Shimano/Sram and Campag?

[jamesofyorkshire]

Not sure this should be in the tech section......

How far do the differences between a Shimano equipped and Campag equipped bike go? I understand the drivetrain differences. I know how the cassettes attach to the rear wheel are not the same.
Are the frames identical? Is the bottom bracket the same?

I have zero experience of Campag. I'm bidding on a Campag-equipped bike on fleabay, mainly for the frame. If I happen to win the auction, I will give the bike a good work-out to try out the Campag stuff, but ultimately the idea is to convert it to Shimano as I have spare everythings lying about.

[pete75]

Not sure this should be in the tech section......

How far do the differences between a Shimano equipped and Campag equipped bike go? I understand the drivetrain differences. I know how the cassettes attach to the rear wheel are not the same.
Are the frames identical? Is the bottom bracket the same?

I have zero experience of Campag. I'm bidding on a Campag-equipped bike on fleabay, mainly for the frame. I'f I happen to win the auction, I will give the bike a good work-out to try out the Campag stuff, but ultimately the idea is to convert it to Shimano as I have spare everythings lying about.

There will be no difference in BB and frame.

[steady eddy]

The brake/shift levers are different - with most Shimano set ups you shift to lower gears with the brake lever and back to higher gears with a paddle behind the brake lever and you can only shift one gear at a time. With the Campag shifters the brake lever doesn't shift. The paddle behind it shifts to the lower gears and can on some set ups shift 3 gears at a time in one sweep whilst a thumb button shifts back. Campag shifters are slightly smaller than Shimano. They can be dismantled and repaired whereas the Shimano ones cannot. Each pulls a different amount of cable - Campag shifters can be made to work Shimano rear mechs if the cable fixing is altered from standard . I have ten speed Campag shifters operating a 9 speed set up on my Galaxy, in preference to the bar ends it came with. They work very well.

SRAM shift everything with the brake lever using what is described as the double tap system. A small movement of the lever shifts one way whilst a larger movement changes back.

There are differences also in the sizes of rear blocks sold by each company,the availability of triple set ups and long reach rear mechs for lower gears. The splines on the rear wheel are different for each company and components are not for the most part interchangeable between the makes.

[Mick F]

^^^
Nicely put.

[mercalia]

The brake/shift levers are different - with most Shimano set ups you shift to lower gears with the brake lever and back to higher gears with a paddle behind the brake lever and you can only shift one gear at a time. With the Campag shifters the brake lever doesn't shift. The paddle behind it shifts to the lower gears and can on some set ups shift 3 gears at a time in one sweep whilst a thumb button shifts back. Campag shifters are slightly smaller than Shimano. They can be dismantled and repaired whereas the Shimano ones cannot. Each pulls a different amount of cable - Campag shifters can be made to work Shimano rear mechs if the cable fixing is altered from standard . I have ten speed Campag shifters operating a 9 speed set up on my Galaxy, in preference to the bar ends it came with. They work very well.

well with the Shimano RSX sti the rear shifter can shift down to lower gears more than one but only one up at a time - the brake lever shifts down and the paddle up. On the front the brake shifts up and the paddle down. I think you can shift from the lowest to the largest ( of a triple ) but never tried it and rather dangerous, get mangled with all that loose chain flying around?

[jamesofyorkshire]

Pete75's answer was the one I wanted....but the others interesting to read nevertheless!

Thanks to all.

[gloomyandy]

Just a slight correction. With Sram (10 speed and 11 speed, not sure about earlier than that) you do not use the brake lever to shift, instead you use a second "paddle" positioned just behind the brake leaver, as described this paddle is used to shift both up and down the gears. A short push moves to a smaller cog, a long push to one or more larger cogs. On most Sram shifters both the brake leaver and the shift paddle can be adjusted for reach.