# Campagnolo / Shimano compatible issue (Shimagnolo)



## ping771 (Apr 10, 2006)

I am interested in buying a bike that has a mishmash of Campy and Shimano parts on it and I want to know if it shifts well in the set up the seller has. The bike has Ultegra 6600 crank, Shimano Ultegra 10 speed cassette, but Campy Record 10 chain, rear derailleur, shifters and Centaur front derailleur. I have already asked him if this setup works, and how good is the shifting. The seller stated that he is a professional racer and mechanic and has used the aforementioned setup without any problems, and that compatibilty issues are started by the manfacturers for warranty reasons. I have no reason to disbelieve him, but I have heard from other posters here that Campy 10 speed shifters do not work well (or at all) with Shimano cassettes because of spacing issues. I further heard that to make it work I will have to buy a JTek Shiftmate. I don't want to have to buy a Campy cassette and/or Jtek shiftmate just to make this work, and even so, how does a Campy chain run on an Ultegra crankset?!? (Would I have to buy a new crank too?!?) 

To sum up, what will work?:
1. Is the set up as described not only workable, but also provide good shifting?
2. If not, will simply installing a JTek Shiftmate be sufficient to provide good shifting?
3. If not, would I also have to buy a Campy cassette (I presume the wheels have a Shimano freehub so does that mean I need a new rear wheel too?)
4. Does the Campy chain work well on an Ultegra crank and cassette as the seller says it does? 
Any further answers here are greatly appreciated.


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## pulser955 (Apr 18, 2009)

No as is it won't work. You need the shiftmate. I run one with record shifters, sram cassette and chain, and an fsa crank. It works rather well.


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## C-40 (Feb 4, 2004)

*info...*

It's not that it won't work, but it certainly can't work perfectly with Shimano cog spacing of 3.95mm and Campy at 4.15mm. It takes special care to split the accumulative error between both ends of the cassette.

The crank won't be a problem, but you don't mention the wheel brand. Genuine Shimano hubs and wheels can't be converted to a Campy cassette body, but most other brands can. 

You need the shiftmate if you plan to stick with Shimano cassettes.


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## ping771 (Apr 10, 2006)

C-40 said:


> It's not that it won't work, but it certainly can't work perfectly with Shimano cog spacing of 3.95mm and Campy at 4.15mm. It takes special care to split the accumulative error between both ends of the cassette.
> 
> The crank won't be a problem, but you don't mention the wheel brand. Genuine Shimano hubs and wheels can't be converted to a Campy cassette body, but most other brands can.
> 
> You need the shiftmate if you plan to stick with Shimano cassettes.


The seller has Campy Proton wheels. The cassette is an Ultegra. Does that mean his Campy Proton wheel has a Shimano freehub? 

I asked the seller that very same question and he said that he just found a "Chorus 12-25"....?!? Obviously he meant that he found a Chorus cassette, which I assume he will swap out in place of the Ultegra cassette (I'll find out for sure).

If he doesn't swap out the cassette, I'm still left with the question of what kind of freehub he has on his Campy Proton wheel, and if it is Shimano, can I easily remove it and buy a Campy freehub--also how much will a Campy freehub for Campy wheels cost? Sorry I sound like a noob when it comes to Campy / Shimano compatibility questions.


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## smokva (Jul 21, 2004)

Ambrosio produces 10 speed cassetes for Shimano spline, but with Campagnolo spacing. You might find it useful


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## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

This seems like quite a "Frankenstein" bike --- what's so special about it?

There's plenty of bikes that are properly integrated, out there.

The owner seems like he wanted a Chevy, but with a Ford engine and Chrysler tranny -- OK, you _could_ do it with adapters and workarounds , but what's the point?


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## newridr (Mar 7, 2003)

I never understand the appeal of bastardized bikes like this. I would love to see a pic of this bike.


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## pulser955 (Apr 18, 2009)

newridr said:


> I never understand the appeal of bastardized bikes like this. I would love to see a pic of this bike.


I have 2 reasons why I'm running sram with my Campy stuff. I originally built the bike with all campy and an FSA crank and wheel set. I trashed my FSA RD-600s last season and i couldn't afford to get any thing nice. So i got my Bontrager race lights for $100. Trek told me i could just swap out the free hub body for a campy one. But when I ordered the part it didn't fit. I was working for a shop at the time and they refused to carry any thing Campy. So i put on a sram cassette and chain and tried it but it didn't work. So i got the shift mate and it worked. I want to go back to campy cassettes and chains when i get some money for a nice set of wheels. But the nice thing about it is i can buy Sram 11-26 cassettes and i don't have to buy 2 campy ones and put them tougher to make one with the gearing I'm looking for. So I just might leave it the way it is.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

ping771 said:


> The seller has Campy Proton wheels. The cassette is an Ultegra. Does that mean his Campy Proton wheel has a Shimano freehub?
> 
> I asked the seller that very same question and he said that he just found a "Chorus 12-25"....?!? Obviously he meant that he found a Chorus cassette, which I assume he will swap out in place of the Ultegra cassette (I'll find out for sure).
> 
> If he doesn't swap out the cassette, I'm still left with the question of what kind of freehub he has on his Campy Proton wheel, and if it is Shimano, can I easily remove it and buy a Campy freehub--also how much will a Campy freehub for Campy wheels cost? Sorry I sound like a noob when it comes to Campy / Shimano compatibility questions.


Campy sells wheels with shimaNo freehubs but shimaNo can't reciprocate without making their hubs larger in diameter for the campy freehub. That's why Chris King is shimaNo/SRAM only. There are several options for conversion cassettes, but nothing is as good as a campy cassette on a campy freehub. I've used AmClassic cassettes and they're decent, but not as good.


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## Mr. Scary (Dec 7, 2005)

pulser955 said:


> I have 2 reasons why I'm running sram with my Campy stuff. I originally built the bike with all campy and an FSA crank and wheel set. I trashed my FSA RD-600s last season and i couldn't afford to get any thing nice. So i got my Bontrager race lights for $100. Trek told me i could just swap out the free hub body for a campy one. But when I ordered the part it didn't fit. I was working for a shop at the time and they refused to carry any thing Campy. So i put on a sram cassette and chain and tried it but it didn't work. So i got the shift mate and it worked. I want to go back to campy cassettes and chains when i get some money for a nice set of wheels. But the nice thing about it is i can buy Sram 11-26 cassettes and i don't have to buy 2 campy ones and put them tougher to make one with the gearing I'm looking for. So I just might leave it the way it is.


This is no excuse, the message here is get a better job and upgrade to Campy. Campy should be driving you to want better for yourself and your bike...


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## pulser955 (Apr 18, 2009)

I'm working on it.


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