are all 9spd and 10spd Campag shifters indexed?

maddog 2

A mate needs some new 9spd shifters (can't call them STI I suppose...) and I'm just checking what is suitable to advise him.

The rear mech is 10spd so he could go 10spd, but the chain and cassette are 9 so he'd probably prefer to keep the cost down and stay with 9.

Are 9spd Xenon STI indexed? Sorry if this is a numpty question but I'd rather ask than get it wrong.

Like these:
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... 2000000000

rolf_f

They are all indexed. You can't reaslistically friction shift with an STI type lever (cue someone popping up who knows of a STI friction shifter!).

The mech isn't really 10 spd as such - it will just have been marketed as 10 speed having been made during the 10 speed era. There is knack all difference between Campag rear mechs for the last millennium.

maddog 2

I only ask because the RH shifter that's currently on the bike isn't actually indexed! I don't know whether it's just busted inside or what but the finger-lever moves the mech to bigger sprockets and the thumb-lever moves it in the opposite direction, but the movement doesn't line up with each sprocket like the usual indexed shifter, rather it just slides from side to side, like a friction shifter.

rolf_f

That sounds a bit odd. Generally it is a ratchet mechanism with each tooth relating to a specific gear. You probably should call Graeme at Velotech engineering a call. A quick Google search does suggest that the Xenon mechs have a different indexing system to the rest of the range but it doesn't tend to say how!

maddog 2

yeah I spotted that. They must be indexed though, as you say. Just a different mechanism that does it, that's how I interpreted it.

Monty Dog

The cable pull ratio on Campagnolo 9 & 10 speed rear mechs is pretty well the same and it is the shifter than controls the amount of movement they make, so a 9 speed shifter will only work correctly with a 9 speed cassette - it will over-shift a mech on a 10 speed mech. Whilst the internals of Xenon shifters are different from higher range models, functionally they do the same job as higher models - it would move a Xenon or Record mech by the same distance

gfk_velo

All of the above answers contain correct info up to a point ... :-)

9 and 10s RDs are interchangeable from 2001 to present, although 9s jockey wheels were wider at 8.8mm over pivot ends as against 8.4mm for 10s. They'll move the same distance per click of the lever as one another, but the wider 9s jockey pivot spacing cuts down on chain rub on the insides of the jockey cage with the wider 9s chain at the cross-chain positions.

All 9 & 10s levers are indexed and the internals of the levers from Record down to Xenon were largely the same (detail differences as Record and Chorus internals turned on ball-bearings and the rest on a bronze bushing) from 2001 - 2007. In 2007 the internals in Xenon through to Centaur were changed (the "Escape" lever, so called because it works on an escapement mechanism), whilst Record & Chorus stayed basically the same internally (there were detail differences).

Xenon is available in both 9 & 10s versions. They are different and as implied in some of the comments in this thread, they are not interchangeable.

If the lever will apparently recover cable and hold / release that cable in more or less one-gear intervals but does not click / index, I would guess it is an earlier Xenon and the index spring mount or one of the index springs & the index spring mount has failed. The best solution here is to send it to Velotech for a full clean and service - the parts are available and relatively low cost and will return the lever to as-new shifting performance. Generally the cost of repair and return is around £45.00 inc P and P.

If the lever does not click and hold in both directions but slips from bottom straight to top or through two or more sprockets on upshift,you may have an Escape lever which has failed - the best fix for this is an entire body swap so that all that remains of the original is the brake lever blade, clip and rubber hood. We can also do this work at Velotech but it's not always economic. Sometimes it's better just to source a whole pair of 9 or 10s Xenon levers, as appropriate to the rest of the system.

To know which you have otherwise, look at the thumb lever from underneath - the early version, fully serviceable Xenon levers 9 and 10s have a metal base to the thumb lever and a small metal drive pawl extends below the lever and engages on a metal drive ratchet. Escape levers have an all-plastic thumb lever that the ratchet that you can see is white or black plastic (it depends on the year).

The non-Escape versions are generally very durable and the repair is worth doing.

Thanks for the "up" Rolf!

Cheers
Graeme
Velotech Cycling Ltd
Main Campagnolo Service Centre UK
http://www.velotech-cycling.ltd.uk