Compatibility of Suntour and Campagnolo

[MikeC]

I'm about to receive a lovely and fairly rare Pinarello touring bike with a 7-speed Suntour X triple groupset with bar end shifters (pic below is the best pic I have of the groupset on the bike). While I'll probably ride the bike around with the original groupset for a while, I may at some stage consider updating some of the parts.

I have 8-speed Campagnolo Veloce Ergo levers and a wheelset with 8-speed cassette which could be fitted (I realise I'd need a new chain and therefore new cassette). Would the current Suntour derailleurs work with the Campagnolo shifters?

[LWaB]

Almost certainly not. It was difficult/impossible to interchange Suntour and Shimano of that era and the nuances of ShimErgoing Campag weren't well-known then.

[cycleruk]

I would expect you would have to purchase a Campag' 8 speed rear derailleur but you may be O.K with the Suntour front.
Is your left Ergo the multi (micro) click version? If so then it should work with any front derailleur.
The rear derailleur would have to be a long cage version to cope with the triple chainset.

Another thought, but probably O.K. would be compatibility with Ergo's and the cantilever brakes?

[pete75]

Who knows? If you already have the parts it'll cost you nothing to try other than half an hours work.

[AndyA]

One of the mechanics at the Bike Station in Edinburgh told me the secret of determining suntour index compatibility
"Do you have a coin in your pocket? Toss it in the air and if it's heads it'll work"

[MikeC]

Thanks for the responses.

Apparently canti's with ergo levers should be OK, but if it doesn't work out I'll probably change to some V-brakes which definitely work with ergo

Yes, the front derailleur shifter is a micro-click style, so shouldn't be a problem. 8-speed campag rear derailleurs don't seem to exist anymore, so I'll have to spend some time trawling eBay for something... perhaps a 10-speed medium cage campag derailleur would be compatible, no? ie: http://www.gbcycles.co.uk/product/23614 ... derailleur

What other long cage derailleurs work with 8-speed ergo levers?

[pherron]

I have 10 speed Veloce shifters and they work very well with cantilevers (and a Suntour front mech).

[gilesjuk]

You stand more chance of marrying up a dérailleur and a shifter if they have the same number of gears. If there's more or less gears then the spacing will be much different.

Even then they may pull different amounts of cable, but it will be at least consistent and can be multiplied or divided to suit.

[BigG]

A normal 8 speed cassette will not fit onto a 7 speed freehub. You can get 8 speeds on a 7 speed Shimano freehub by removing one sprocket (usually the largest) from a 9 speed cassette and using 9 speed levers. I have no experience of Suntour freehubs and don't know whether a Shimano cassette will fit. I suspect not.

[rjb]

Are you sure it's 7 speed. I allways thought suntour barcons were only 6 speed, however i have seen somewhere on Sheldon Brown that they could be used with a shimano rear mech and would have a 7 speed range.

[MikeC]

Yes, I'm aware that an 8-speed campag cassette can't fit on a 7-speed freehub body! I was going to use a different wheel that does take an 8-speed cassette.

The wheels currently on the bike are campag hubs with 7-speed freehub laced to campag Omega rims which obviously works with the Suntour derailleur and bar end shifters. I may just swap the current cassette and chain with compatible 7-speed new ones available from eBay and leave it as a friction lever setup - less of an arse-ache and enables me to keep the cool Suntour components.

[mattsccm]

As I say everytime this sort of thing comes up. It will probably be ok. I have run my 8 speed ergos with all sorts of rear mech from old Super record on 28 teeth rear sprockets and a triple chainset to its current version which is a 1989 Deore rear mech or a newish 9 speed Mirage mech. . They are remarkable tolerant. Despite what many say a worn chains is not always an issue. Indeed quite possibly a bit of slack in the system allows for any misalignment issues. I bet you can just bung on any old 8 speed cassette with a worn chain and it will be fine. It will even run happily with 7 speed as 7 speed spacings are 5mm which is the same as 8 speed campag. If you want to spend money on a chain Asda are selling Bell 8 speed chains for 4 quid.
As for your front mech, they will cope with almost anything.
Try it first and ifyou don't like it I'll have your 8 speed Ergos and ditch my crappy 10 speed Veloce ones .

[PW]

I'd ditch the Ergos. Barcons and downtube levers can be used in friction mode, then you can use any mech/cassette you choose subject to chain capacities. Campag friction has enough pull to operate 9 speed, though getting used to the finer touch required takes a few rides.

[Big T]

You can run the set up as a 7 speed using the Campag ergo's with a Campag 9 speed derailleur, it may even work with a 10 speed mech, might even work with the Suntour rear mech. My wife has this set up on her winter bike - Campag 8 speed ergo's, Shimano 7 speed cassette, Campag Xenon 9 speed rear mech, Campag 9 speed front mech and Shimano triple chainset. It works fine, in fact better than my all Campag 9 speed set up.

[PW]

Be wary with Campag mechs on old ShimErTour like this. The Campag mechs and levers changed geometry/cable pull around 2,000/2001. The 9 speed should be fine if you can find one but the 10 speed really needs to be the old type. New ones I won't vouch for.