billytwosheds 

Even shifting a 10spd chain across the 8.

Not kidding.

I had to locate multiple sets of the shifters to actually put together a set with all the necessary washers.

But dang, it works great.

icemilkcoffee 

I am surprised that the 10speed chain doesn't get stuck between the front chain rings. That is what happens with Shimano stuff.

Reynolds 531 

You just made the prices go up on ebay.

TiHabanero

Having worked on 8 speed Campagnolo stuff, I never found it to not work well without fussing a bit. My compatriot, Al, was able to dial it in without any trouble. Difference in mechanics, I guess.

P!N20

Remember to give generously when the collection plate is passed around: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ampagnolo.html

The issue I had with my 8 speed shifters was they struggled to hold low gear. I could bore you to tears with my attempted fixes, but in the end I swapped the two spring shifter for a three spring shifter which solved the issue.

gearbasher

I threw a 9 speed bar end index gear into my Synchro DT shifters. Shifts better than the ergos. BTW. I'm looking for another 9 speed gear. All the places I've searched are out of stock. Any leads would be appreciated.

billytwosheds 

I have a 10 speed gear insert which came with one of the sets I located. No 9s, sorry. You might try putting a post in the WTB/WTT thread.

The 10s chain hasn't gotten stuck or dropped yet, but I'm gonna put an 8s chain on it soon enough.

Have just seen so many threads/posts about these shifters giving people trouble. I'm pretty stoked.

Dave Mayer

I rode Synchro II for a while, and it was flawless. Shifting was reliable, crisp and accurate. Synchro I OTOH was a disaster for Campagnolo, and I never could get it to work correctly. Campagnolo made a huge and almost fatal mistake in the early days of indexed shifting, by trying to create backwards compatibility with legacy hardware. Such as derailleurs without the slant parallelogram, primitive cog freewheel profiles, and chains from partner companies such as Regina.

It was only when they gave up on this dysfunctional older gear, and redesigned their system from scratch, as Shimano had done 5 years earlier, did they come up with respective indexing performance.

Actually, Synchro II, and 8-speed Ergopower offers great shifting performance, even by todays standards.

jamesdak 

I had these on my one Lemond Maillot Jaune. Gave me problems when I first got the bike. Multiple forum "experts" said to put in new g springs and they were the same as what was in the ergo shifters. They didn't fix the problem. Then a Campagnolo expert over on Paceline pointed out that the g springs for these DT shifter were different and stiffer than what I had been told were the right ones. He even gave me the parts # for the right springs. Found those, installed them and never had a problem again. I to was very happy with this setup once the right springs were in the shifters.

billytwosheds 

Agree.

My 8s Campy brifters work well, no complaints. They also look really nice in a way that works with frames built into the 80's.

The big C got caught playing catch up on technology advancements that Shimano figured out years earlier.

The affirmative, metal clink I hear with each shift with these is great, though. Just pleasing.

gearbasher

I have a 10 speed also, but I'm looking for a 9. I tried the WTB/WTT thread about a month ago and no luck. The springs mentioned by jamesdak are also currently unavailable. I was gonna try the ones for the ergos, but since he said they didn't work well, I won't waste my time. I put my email address in for a few shops to notify me when the parts are back in stock. Hopefully, it will happen and soon. Thanks all.

jamesdak 

I got my springs from Bikewagon before they were just an Ebay store. They were not listed on the site if I remember correctly, but I called them and they had the springs. I'll try to remember to look at my order info tonight on this to see if I bought extra's. If so, I can send them to you.

Spaghetti Legs 

The 8 speed Campy, Ergo and downtube shifter is really good stuff. The 7 speed shifters, with the knurled outer cap and rainbow color indexing rings is much fussier to set up but works fine when you get it set. I never have to fiddle with my 8 speed groups.

dddd

I've had good performance from Synchro II 7-speed stuff, both at the Athena and Xenon level, though they seem to require use of Shimano 9s chain to index and work well with today's 7s HG-type freewheels and cassettes.
The original spec freewheel would have been 7s Regina America I think, but the narrower chain allows quiet operation and good shifting using Shimano-spaced 7s freewheels.

On used bikes having these shifters, I start by taking a look into the indexing mechanism and at least oiling it up before even riding it. Gives a good snap.

gearbasher

Thanks for the offer, but until I can find another 9 speed index gear, I won't be needing the springs. So, don't go nuts looking. Once again, thank you.

sbarner 

I have bikes setup with all four of the early Syncro groups. The best shifting is Athena, followed by Chorus, then Record, and finally Croce d'Aune. Of course, these setups are with different freewheels and chains, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. I have several bikes setup with various 8-speed Ergopower versions and 8-speed downtube shifters, and I really like them all. They shift well and the only advantage I see in more cogs is the ability to go lower than a 26 and not end up with big jumps. That's significant, but I have a couple of these setup with triples, and a 30 x 26 will get me up almost anything I come across in road riding, and I live in a very hilly area. I will give the nod to Shimano shifting slightly better, but I like the Campagnolo Ergoshifters better than Shimano's brifters, so even my Shimano bikes have Campagnolo Ergoshifters. I like the serviceability of the Ergoshifters, though 8-speed parts are getting hard to find.

gkamieneski

Once you install the 8sp chain I believe you’ll like the transmission even more. KMC X8 chain has worked very well for me.

billytwosheds 

Very interesting data points. The technology didn't change much, but the finish did.

I'm using what I *think* are Record Synchro II shifters with an 8s Record derailleur. The RD is the same as Chorus except for the punch bolt and maybe some other smaller detail I can't recall.

The sound each shift makes is affirmative. No overshift, it goes right in.

Camilo

I have the same shifters as shown in the OP - and also use a 10 speed chain (I use 10 speed chains on all the bikes we have - 8, 9 and 10). It has always shifted accurately and crisply, but I do have a 10 speed crankset (see below). Very comparable shifting quality to 9 speed Shimano indexed shifters I have used.

The nomenclature for these 8 speed shifters with the curved levers and tiny adjustment knob on the right shifter is kind of mysterious to me. Some say they're not even called Syncro when they went 8 speed. I know they're not Syncro II and I haven't seen anything definitive naming it something else; I call them Syncro III. I'd be interested in continuing to hear others' opinions or knowledge on this arcane issue.

I'm using "mid-90s" as the "period correct" for the build I did. The derailleurs and brakes are labeled "Campagnolo Record" - I think they are all the same era as the shifters, but I'm not sure. I"m pretty sure I have Record brake levers of that era, but again, I'm not exactly sure since the various levels look awfully similar. I'm pretty sure the very clean seat post I found is Chorus, not record, but again, same era. I'm nearly positive that the old 8 speed hubs I found and rebuilt are Record of the same era and I built them with NOS Omega 19 rims, again, I think, from the same era.

Deviating from my loose "period correct", I use a later model Centaur (10 speed) 50-34 double crank to get the 34t chain ring. I also modified the RD with a cage from a "Racing Triple" (identical body) to get the chain wrap I need for the 12-28 cassette and the 50-34 crank. I tried with the original RD shorter cage, but it just didn't have enough capacity to be fool-proof (I.e. work with big-big and small-small).

I made up the 12-28 cassette using two different Miche cassettes (12-21 or 23 and 13-28? IIRC) because I couldn't find a 11-28 or 12-28 Campy compatible cassette. The hodge-podge works fine. The 13-28 would probably have worked, but I wanted the gearing to be identical to my other two road bikes.

Anyway, this set up shifts perfectly; I'm very happy with it.

P!N20

Yeah, Campagnolo dropped the Syncro moniker when Ergo levers and the indexed Record DT shifters were introduced in 1991. Up until that point Syncro always had a friction mode that was backwards compatible. Although the indexing mechanism was carried over from Syncro II to the exclusive 8 speed range, so I've got no problem with it being included in the Syncro family.


So many of the components during this era (and the one before it) look similar across model levels. Downtube shifters were included in the catalogs up until 2001! Although the parts available dwindled over the last few years. It looks like your shifters have the black backing plate, which indicates it's a three spring version, so that would fit the mid 90's time frame. I think the Record brake levers had a slot in the top if you wanted to run your cables non-aero, where the other models didn't. Seat post is most likely Chorus. Hubs, not sure, wasn't the same shell used on the Record and Chorus of that era? My head hurts.

jamesdak 

Whew! I found the box in my small parts bin but it's empty. I think I kept the box at the time just to have the parts # on hand.

Camilo

Thanks. I'm always interested in hearing what others say about this stuff - confirming to me that it's just not all that cut and dried. My brain hurts too!

SJX426 

This thread peaked my interest. I then looked in the bay and lost it.