Campagnolo veloce problems

Bacms

Hello everyone,

I have started to have problems with my campagnolo veloce rear ergo shifter as it drops all gears at once. In other words you can change one gear at the time on the way up but if I lower one gear it drops to the smallest cog with a single click. Is there any way of solving this? I have tried to search the internet but couldn't find anything about it, probably just wrong keywords.

Also the brakes pads needs replacing but I am bit confused whether I can just change the pad insert as most websites list this as not being compatible even though the ones I have have a metal block around the pad. Can anyone clarify?

Thank you very much in advance for any help

ugo.santalucia

Sounds like the ratchet is gone... is it a modern or and old veloce? The old ones are quality and can be repaired, the newer ones (2009 and after) are more or less disposable items.

cgraley77

I had a similar problem with my Veloce RH ergo - upshifts (to larger rear sprocket) fine, downshifts skipped down the cassette 2/3/4 sprockets at a time. It was caused by one of the plastic ratchets/cog mechanisms within the shifter losing/half-losing some of its teeth, and so the mechanism couldn't hold the release of cable tension adequately and so skipped down the cassette when released.

I believe you can get them repaired for 30-40 quid. Annoyingly mine had run out of manufacturer warranty a couple of months before and so I just purchased another pair (begrudgingly) for about 75 quid from Wiggle (reminds me i still need to sell the old pair as spares). I was in a rush with a week in the Alps a couple of weeks away and so just needed to get it sorted however.

If this happens again, i'll probably use it as an excuse to buy a better Groupset tbh. I was disappointed that mine failed within the time it did (15 months?) and am sceptical on the general build quality, but we'll see.

Regarding the brake blocks, you should be able to undo the tiny 1/2mm allen head grub screw and slide out the pads. I'd recommend Swissstop Green as a replacement. 20 quid seems expensive for 4 pads but mine have lasted me 7-8000 miles and still probably have another 2000.

ugo.santalucia

cgraley77 wrote:

I had a similar problem with my Veloce RH ergo - upshifts (to larger rear sprocket) fine, downshifts skipped down the cassette 2/3/4 sprockets at a time. It was caused by one of the plastic ratchets/cog mechanisms within the shifter losing/half-losing some of its teeth, and so the mechanism couldn't hold the release of cable tension adequately and so skipped down the cassette when released.

Yep, that's the most likely part to go first... unfortunately the last generation of Ergos is built with China in mind, hence that part, which used to be made of a metal alloy, has been downgraded to a plastic one...

On the bright side, it's probably 3 grams lighter because of that!

Bacms

It is a 2014 model I believe and yes it did fail just after the warranty had expired about 14 months in. The annoying part is that you cannot buy just one of them but you have to drop £70 on a pair. How well guess I will buy new ones then.

The problem with upgrading to a better groupset is the 10sp/11sp problem which meant I would have to drop another lump sum of cash just because of a stupidly bad quality mechanism so I may give it another try which may end up being false economy.

I will also look into the brake pads you mentioned I don't mind spending 20quid on them that actually seems reasonable if they are quality

keezx

I would try to trace a Chorus RH shifter or set , even second hand much more reliable....
There have been Centaur 10 speed Ultrashift ones in the new model, but they are rare.

rolf_f

cgraley77 wrote:

IRegarding the brake blocks, you should be able to undo the tiny 1/2mm allen head grub screw and slide out the pads. I'd recommend Swissstop Green as a replacement. 20 quid seems expensive for 4 pads but mine have lasted me 7-8000 miles and still probably have another 2000.

On the other hand, I have worn a pair of Swisstop greens out in three weeks of commuting! Pad life is more down to the weather than what the pad is made of.

ugo.santalucia

Keezx wrote:

I would try to trace a Chorus RH shifter or set , even second hand much more reliable....
There have been Centaur 10 speed Ultrashift ones in the new model, but they are rare.

Same shite as Veloce, the shifters are identical

Bacms

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Keezx wrote:

I would try to trace a Chorus RH shifter or set , even second hand much more reliable....
There have been Centaur 10 speed Ultrashift ones in the new model, but they are rare.

Same shite as Veloce, the shifters are identical

Any reliable ones I could look for then? The only other 10sp ones I can find are new record ones but they cost almost as much as the entire veloce groupset.

ugo.santalucia

Bacms wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Keezx wrote:

I would try to trace a Chorus RH shifter or set , even second hand much more reliable....
There have been Centaur 10 speed Ultrashift ones in the new model, but they are rare.

Same shite as Veloce, the shifters are identical

Any reliable ones I could look for then? The only other 10sp ones I can find are new record ones but they cost almost as much as the entire veloce groupset.

Bit of a minefield, as the old 10 speed campag shifters don't match well with the new 10 speed rear derailleur, as the latter have adopted 11 speed geometry... they work, but not perfectly, so you are bound to use new ten speed ones, which are not good. See if you can get it fixed for reasonable money... although something else will give way in it at some point

Bacms

I do see the new shifters have a new thumb design do they have compatibility with the previous version derailleurs? I am probably just going to end up moving the entire groupset if it happens again kind of annoyed I opted for campy rather than shimano since the 105 was the same price as campy as a lot more reliable

Vslowpace

I had the same problem with my Athena shifters, new ones work fine with my 2013 groupset, well its more like triggers broom now.

From what I understand it was only Chorus and up that from 2015 became incompatible with previous years. Whilst I don't know Veloce at all I believe the current shifters will work with your groupset although take the advice of where you are purchasing from to doubly make sure.

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Keezx wrote:

I would try to trace a Chorus RH shifter or set , even second hand much more reliable....
There have been Centaur 10 speed Ultrashift ones in the new model, but they are rare.

Same shite as Veloce, the shifters are identical

And in my case the Centaur version of that shite is still going strong on my Ribble after 30000 miles in all weathers with no maintenance at all aside from the odd squirt of TF2. I'd say pre Powershift is still good in any form - just not as good as it has been.

Re the currently available Record 10 speed shifters - if these are still being made, does that mean more recent ones will have revised geometry. That is assuming that they still make them and that there current availability isn't down to a catastrophic over manufacture of Record 10 8 years or whatever ago!

Edit - somewhat hilariously, on my way home from worth the paddle return spring on the rear ergo breaks! Still, I can just about shift OK with it as long as I draw the paddle back a little and I can console myself that the spring is probably the same throughout the range. Call to Velotech will follow....... As will putting a spare shifter on this weekend.

cgraley77

Rolf F wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Keezx wrote:

I would try to trace a Chorus RH shifter or set , even second hand much more reliable....
There have been Centaur 10 speed Ultrashift ones in the new model, but they are rare.

Same shite as Veloce, the shifters are identical

And in my case the Centaur version of that shite is still going strong on my Ribble after 30000 miles in all weathers with no maintenance at all aside from the odd squirt of TF2. I'd say pre Powershift is still good in any form - just not as good as it has been.

Re the currently available Record 10 speed shifters - if these are still being made, does that mean more recent ones will have revised geometry. That is assuming that they still make them and that there current availability isn't down to a catastrophic over manufacture of Record 10 8 years or whatever ago!

Edit - somewhat hilariously, on my way home from worth the paddle return spring on the rear ergo breaks! Still, I can just about shift OK with it as long as I draw the paddle back a little and I can console myself that the spring is probably the same throughout the range. Call to Velotech will follow....... As will putting a spare shifter on this weekend.

I feel for you....that's a pretty catastrophic jinx!

rolf_f

cgraley77 wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Keezx wrote:

I would try to trace a Chorus RH shifter or set , even second hand much more reliable....
There have been Centaur 10 speed Ultrashift ones in the new model, but they are rare.

Same shite as Veloce, the shifters are identical

And in my case the Centaur version of that shite is still going strong on my Ribble after 30000 miles in all weathers with no maintenance at all aside from the odd squirt of TF2. I'd say pre Powershift is still good in any form - just not as good as it has been.

Re the currently available Record 10 speed shifters - if these are still being made, does that mean more recent ones will have revised geometry. That is assuming that they still make them and that there current availability isn't down to a catastrophic over manufacture of Record 10 8 years or whatever ago!

Edit - somewhat hilariously, on my way home from worth the paddle return spring on the rear ergo breaks! Still, I can just about shift OK with it as long as I draw the paddle back a little and I can console myself that the spring is probably the same throughout the range. Call to Velotech will follow....... As will putting a spare shifter on this weekend.

I feel for you....that's a pretty catastrophic jinx!

Thanks! All is good though - not too much bother fitting the spare shifter and I called up Graeme at Velotech who said that basically the shifter lever is kaput as the hair spring can't be replaced. There is a video to show how to do the swap but I'll probably just send the lever to Velotech - £30 for the repair and £30 for the lever or thereabouts and it will be properly cleaned and serviced. It's not much for 6 years and at least 30,000 miles.

ugo.santalucia

Rolf F wrote:

Thanks! All is good though - not too much bother fitting the spare shifter and I called up Graeme at Velotech who said that basically the shifter lever is kaput as the hair spring can't be replaced. There is a video to show how to do the swap but I'll probably just send the lever to Velotech - £30 for the repair and £30 for the lever or thereabouts and it will be properly cleaned and serviced. It's not much for 6 years and at least 30,000 miles.

Damn, you were so close to convince me they weren't that bad after all... nice try... :twisted:

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

Thanks! All is good though - not too much bother fitting the spare shifter and I called up Graeme at Velotech who said that basically the shifter lever is kaput as the hair spring can't be replaced. There is a video to show how to do the swap but I'll probably just send the lever to Velotech - £30 for the repair and £30 for the lever or thereabouts and it will be properly cleaned and serviced. It's not much for 6 years and at least 30,000 miles.

Damn, you were so close to convince me they weren't that bad after all... nice try... :twisted:

YeaI was pretty pleased with myself until......

But still, do you know that that spring is replaceable on earlier versions or whether the model of lever makes any difference? I suspect I'd be in the same boat if I was running Record or SR apart from that the levers would cost a lot more for that little bit of CF inlay!

And I'd still say 30,000 miles is not bad; not many people are going to ride one bike long enough to wear a mech out at that mileage. If I'm going to complain about Campag component durability it will be the mechs rather than the shifters that will be my target. The same bike is on its second rear mech and third front.

ugo.santalucia

Rolf F wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

Thanks! All is good though - not too much bother fitting the spare shifter and I called up Graeme at Velotech who said that basically the shifter lever is kaput as the hair spring can't be replaced. There is a video to show how to do the swap but I'll probably just send the lever to Velotech - £30 for the repair and £30 for the lever or thereabouts and it will be properly cleaned and serviced. It's not much for 6 years and at least 30,000 miles.

Damn, you were so close to convince me they weren't that bad after all... nice try... :twisted:

YeaI was pretty pleased with myself until......

But still, do you know that that spring is replaceable on earlier versions or whether the model of lever makes any difference? I suspect I'd be in the same boat if I was running Record or SR apart from that the levers would cost a lot more for that little bit of CF inlay!

And I'd still say 30,000 miles is not bad; not many people are going to ride one bike long enough to wear a mech out at that mileage. If I'm going to complain about Campag component durability it will be the mechs rather than the shifters that will be my target. The same bike is on its second rear mech and third front.

The older models are fully serviceable, I have taken one apart myself. It's not easy to replace the spring, but it's a matter of having the right kind of tweezers for the job.
The mileage is good, but it's on the higher side rather than average for these newer models. The older ones would have lasted a lot more

de_sisti

I bought a 2008 Veloce Ergo (ultrashift) a few years ago as a spare. It's still in its polythene wrapper
waiting for the day I may have to use it. I'll probably sell it before though.

keezx

Veloce Ultrashift Ergo's 2008 (the RH Ultrashift) do not exist.

ugo.santalucia

Keezx wrote:

Veloce Ultrashift Ergo's 2008 (the RH Ultrashift) do not exist.

I thought so... I bought a Centaur groupset in 2008 and the levers were still mach 2

keezx

The Ultrashift designation was likeley for the LH shifter.....still Escape mechanism.

ugo.santalucia

Keezx wrote:

.....still Escape mechanism.

yep, and it was shite!

g00se

I expect he mean the new shape 2009 Ultrashift Veloce levers. Before they turned into Powershift in 2011

thegreatdivide

Ugo - do us a favour and ban yourself from Campagnolo threads as well as Zipp threads. Merci.

ugo.santalucia

thegreatdivide wrote:

Ugo - do us a favour and ban yourself from Campagnolo threads as well as Zipp threads. Merci.

Are you kidding me? I have a pair of relatively modern Record 11 shifters, I am fully entitled to speak!

(which I use to shift a 9 speed Shimano casssette, but that's another story... )

I'm also not quite sure why I sohuldn't speak, being one of a handful of people on this forum who has actually disassembled a Campagnolo lever and knows what's inside and whatnot