campy down tube shifters

[innc]

Can you put downtube shifters on campy 10 or 11 speed? I know it's wierd, but I actually know how to shift gears, and I have these cool Mafac gold colored centerpulls.....

dave

[TMB]

Yes.

It can be done by retro-fitting a set of Campag bar-end levers. I have read the details on how to do that but can't remember where. I have never done it that way.

I have done it by using Dura Ace 10 speed levers ( which are really very nice) .

If you are going to use them in friction mode that is all you need to do. If you want to use them in indexed mode you will need to put a jTek Shiftmate unit (model #3) in the cable run. Allows you to use a Shimano 10 speed shifter with Campag cassette and RD.

Jtek Engineering Shiftmate

[dashDustin]

10 indexed, yes. but you have to order the "base" separately from the Campy bar-end shifters. only source we found was Campy direct.

[SteveP]

little known fact
trying to set up campy 10 spd dt shifters is what drove jim jones to kill himself.

didnt need to take the other 35 with him but he thought some of them might be conspiring against him.

[WFSTEKL]

You can do 10 speed but not 11 spd. As noted, get a pair of 10 speed Campy barcons and then take carefully take the blue rubber grips off of the levers. You will then find that the levers in your hand are down tube levers. Take the barcon handlebar plugs off. Finally, you will need to find some washers that fit between the lever and the frame. These will be hard to locate, but they are out there. Have fun with them.

[mattsbeers]

I ran my 87' Parmount with chorus 10spd and used Campy bar-cons, just used c-record era dt shifter stops, the shape of the levers is the same. They worked great! Very crisp.

[innc]

Thanks, all my logic and intuition said it could be done, but the fact that I want to do it in the first place means I have a character flaw.

dave

[Chooey]

Hey all, thought I'd share pictures from the conversion of the discussed 10 speed bar-end shifters for use as downtube shifters. No tools are required.

First up, here's what you get out of the box:
- inner cables (and housings)
- (downtube cable stops)
- left and right shifter assemblies

01.jpg

As noted previously, the rubber grips are removable. I suggest removing them while the bar-end plugs are still attached - there will just be more to grip onto. The rubber grips are held in place with glue but slide off without too much trouble.

02.jpg

Once the grips are off, you will see that these are basically earlier-era downtube shifters.

03.jpg

Removing the bar-end plug is simply a matter of undoing the outermost screw.

04.jpg

Set aside the bar-end plug and the coupling (that resembles the downtube shifter boss). Retain the larger copper-colored disc and the 2 smaller washers. If the downtube shifter bosses have been painted over, you will need to remove the paint otherwise the shift levers will not go on fully.

EDIT: In the following picture, the washers supplied with the bar-end levers are placed on the down tube lever boss (without any separately-acquired lever-stops):

05.jpg

EDIT: The picture below shows 2 types of the discussed lever-stops that I have been able to get hold of separately:

09.jpg

EDIT: The lever-stops that I have chosen to use is the type with a round hole and square recess (above; right). Note that the side with the square recess fits onto the down tube lever braze-on:

10.jpg

EDIT: The following picture shows how the same washers are stacked-up along with the newly-acquired lever-stops:

11.jpg

Ensure proper stack-up of the shifter assembly, and take note of the lever orientation relative to the keyed mounting base.

06.jpg

Once the lever assembly is fitted to the frame, the outermost set screw compresses the assembly together. The left/front shifter is similar but with less parts to work with.

EDIT: If using lever-stops and the full stack of washers, it may be necessary to remove the rubber o-ring from the right shift lever set-screw (so enough threads are engaged):

14.jpg

15.jpg

EDIT: The following picture shows the levers without lever-stops. Note that this set-up requires care so as to not over-rotate the levers and cause the cables to go totally slack (caution: slack cables may interfere with the front wheel):

08.jpg

EDIT: The stack of washers and type of lever-stops used were chosen based on how the dog-ear'ed stops line up with the levers. In the pictures below, note how the dog-ears stop the levers just shy of the cable grooves:

12.jpg

13.jpg

Please excuse any part name slip-ups. I will follow up with more pictures once I finish the rest of the assembly, i.e. cables, and derailleurs.

[jim d]

very cool. thanks for taking the time and posting.

jim

Hey all, thought I'd share pictures from the conversion of the discussed 10 speed bar-end shifters for use as downtube shifters. No tools are required.

First up, here's what you get out of the box:
- inner cables (and housings)
- (downtube cable stops)
- left and right shifter assemblies

01.jpg

As noted previously, the rubber grips are removable. I suggest removing them while the bar-end plugs are still attached. There will just be more to grip onto. The rubber grips are held in place with glue but slide off without too much trouble.

02.jpg

Once the grips are off, you will see that these are basically earlier era downtube shifters.

03.jpg

Removing the bar-end plug is simply a matter of undoing the outermost screw.

04.jpg

Set aside the bar-end plug and the coupling (that resembles the downtube shifter boss). Retain the larger copper-colored disc and the 2 smaller washers. If the downtube shifter bosses have been painted over, you will need to remove the paint otherwise the shift levers will not go on fully.

05.jpg

Ensure proper stack-up of the shifter assembly, and take note of the lever orientation relative to the keyed mounting base.

06.jpg

Once the lever assembly is fitted to the frame, the outermost set screw compresses the assembly together. The left/front shifter is similar but with less parts to work with.

08.jpg

Please excuse any part name slip-ups. I will follow up with more pictures once I finish the rest of the assembly, i.e. cables, and derailleurs.

[thollandpe]

I did this with Campy 9s bar-ends on my road bike. You'll need to find those d-ring shifter stops. I had to modify mine to add more clearance for the barrel.

The shifters look very nice, and work well.

The rear shifter is 100% (105% really) but the front has a caveat. The barrel diameter of the shifter is larger than would be optimum for down-tube, and so pulls more cable. On my bike that means the front derailleur can get pulled in and rub when the frame twists under very hard out-of-the-saddle efforts. Unless the lever is very tight. Yeah I remember that from the bad old days, Columbus SL and Nuovo Record, but here it's worse.

And secondly, all that cable pull makes it more susceptible to gumming up the under-BB cable guide with energy drink drips.

So the ideal solution would be using a real small-barrel front shifter from an older group with the 10v bar-end rear. If not, I'd suggest using the skinniest shift cable you can find.

[veloduffer]

I plan to convert my Sachs to downtube shifters as well, but I'm going to use Dia-compe ratchet ones - they're not index. Something to consider if you don't need the indexing.

[El Chaba]

Great sequence and photos. This needs to go to the Wiki section.....

[fixednwinter]

So the ideal solution would be using a real small-barrel front shifter from an older group with the 10v bar-end rear.

Great suggestion. I've also used Campag's version of a retro-friction (e.g. Siimplex/Mavic) DT shifter for the front. Those have a really nice feel, but hard to find. If you don't mind mixing, then the Simplex/Mavic version works great, easier to find.

Chooey - thank you for posting your instructions and pictures. They're really helpful.

[thollandpe]

On the step-by-step did I miss the forward stops? I misnamed them in my earlier post, they're the two square-hole washers with ears, rightmost in the attached pic.

Without those to limit forward rotation won't you have a potentially dangerous situation?

Attachment 27104

[Chooey]

I'm glad you've found this helpful.

Now that the levers are out of the box and on the bike, it does appear the lever-stops are required as noted by thollandpe:

On the step-by-step did I miss the forward stops? I misnamed them in my earlier post, they're the two square-hole washers with ears, rightmost in the attached pic.

Without those to limit forward rotation won't you have a potentially dangerous situation?

I would imagine that with the derailleur limit screws set-up properly, the amount of lever rotation would be limited. I suppose the cable could go totally slack.

I will check back this evening.

[thollandpe]

the amount of lever rotation would be limited.

The rotation I'm worried about is forward, with a slack cable. On my bike if one of the shifters points down it will interfere with the front wheel. And that would be bad.

Cheers! Tee Aitch

[bartali]

I did this conversion a few years ago with 10 sp and found the conversion kit at Bradford Bikes.

[Chooey]

Duly noted. Will track down the lever-stops, and report back with more pics soon.

[Craig Ryan]

The stops would be nice, but back in the day it was common to run without them. I doubt you would ever push the lever down so far as to interfere with the wheel. Least that's the way it was, I've not used the setup you have. Saved weight. Try it and see if you like it. Thanks for the great write-up.
Craig

[Chooey]

Guys, thanks for your comments and suggestions. I have added details to my earlier post, including pictures of the discussed lever-stops. Waiting on a can of J.P Weigle's Frame Saver before the cranks go on. Will update again once I get the gears turning.