Rear derailleur compatibility

winterdancer

Hi, I mangled my 10sp Campag Centaur rear derailleur tonight somehow - or it mangled itself...not good! Would it be possible to use a Campag 9sp Veloce rear derailleur that I have on my winter bike (or off it, as I stripped the bike last week) to keep me on the road and save me building up the winter bike again/changing shifters/cables/bar tape (they're both short cage). Does the 'speed' of the rear derailleur matter? - my thinking is that it doesn't and that the shifters control the number of gears, but I have been known to be wrong on occasion Any advice on the matter much appreciated., thanks

Wheelspinner

Should be fine, you are correct that the "speed" is determined by the shifters.

Might need to adjust your limit screws, but otherwise no worries I'd expect.

Wheelspinner

Forgot to add, the only possible niggle might be if the parallelogram dimensions of the 9 speed Veloce are different to the 10 speed Centaur, which means the derailleur moves a different amount for each click of the shifter, but in general the differences are so small you don't have a problem.