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I have a road wheel that has Campagnolo splined hub and 10 speed cassette. I'd like to know if anyone has any experience running a Campy wheel on Shimano/Sram drive train? I know the measurements of the cassette sprockets are a bit off but wondering if you can get acceptable shifting performance.

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2 Answers

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I don't have experience with that exact setup. I have used a Shimano-9 wheel on a Campy-9 drivetrain, and it more or less works. With the addition of a shiftmate, you can mechanically compensate for the differences in cable pull. It's a little fussy getting set up right, but it does work.

Also, (not that you asked, just in case someone else finds this thread in the future), Mavic sells a cassette that fits Shimano splines but has Campy-10 spacing, for use on a Campy drivetrain. I'm not aware of a cassette that does the reverse, but it wouldn't surprise me if one is out there.

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Another option, of course, is to change out the shifter. – Daniel R Hicks Oct 29 '11 at 13:02
And derailleur. It's a more expensive option. – Adam Rice Oct 30 '11 at 21:07
Hard to say if changing the derailer would be necessary. If basic geometry is OK the issue is the distance between steps (and the pull direction). The shifter controls the distance between steps, but of course different shifter/derailer systems may have different degrees of "mechanical advantage", and that would be the fly in the ointment. (Sometimes the old friction shifters have advantages.) – Daniel R Hicks Oct 30 '11 at 21:18
+1 on the shiftmate. I use one on my campy 9-speed shifter so that I can use a shimano compatible cassette. Works perfectly and never had a problem. The shiftmate is a travel adapter consisting of (effectively) two pulley wheels of different diameters. There is no problem with mechanical advantage. Shift systems don't use a tremendous amount of force, it really is all about displacement. – Angelo Oct 31 '11 at 21:13
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I've seen it in the other direction - usually from nuetral support, shimano wheels on campy drivetrains and it's servicable if you want to finish a race, but it'll never be completely smooth. honestly, sell that campy wheel and buy a shimano one on craigslist. The campy stuff sells for more typically, so you'd probably even come out ahead. Unless of course you're trying to swap stuff between bikes, which, in general will be problematic with campy + shimano.

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I've also seen it in the other direction. I had a friend who raced a lot of cross and preferred campy components but ran a 10spd Shimano wheel/casssette. He swore that the tolerances were so close between the two that it worked fine. He was also racing cross with that setup so there's a good chance he couldn't tell the difference between all the mud and sod wrapped up in the drivetrain. – jm2 Oct 29 '11 at 16:41

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