verktyg 

Not C&V but has anyone had experience using an SRAM PC850 6-7-8 speed chain or similar width chain with a new Campy Veloce 10 speed rear derailleur?

Campy Veloce RD11-VLBXS


Reason for this choice is vanity and aesthetics. I like the way this RD looks.

I have 8 speed parts that I'm putting on a new frame that will have all black components.

No need to go Spinal Tap here, 8 speed is just fine.



I'm using SRAM PC8x0 chains with Campy 9 speed derailleurs and Shimano 8 speed cassettes on several bikes without any problems.




My concern is the 10 speed cage may not be wide enough for smooth operation with an 8 speed chain.

Chain widths:

6 speed – 7.8 mm (5/16 in) (all brands)
7 speed – 7.3 mm (9/32 in) (Shimano HG), 7.1 mm (9/32 in) (SRAM, Shimano IG)
8 speed – 7.3 mm (9/32 in) (Shimano HG), 7.1 mm (9/32 in) (SRAM, Shimano IG)
9 speed – 6.6 to 6.8 mm (1/4 to 9/32 in) (all brands)
10 speed - 6.2 mm (1/4 in) (Shimano, Campy), 5.88 mm (7/32 in) (Campy, KMG)

Also I'm curious, it looks like some of these Campy Veloce RD11-VLBXS RDs are made in Romania rather than Italy? Any issues with that?

verktyg

jiangshi

I have had an 8 speed chain rub on the cage of a 10s Campagnolo RD.,

verktyg 

Thanks, that's the kind of info I was looking for.

Campy used both a 6.2mm wide 10 speed chain and a narrower 5.88mm wide 10 speed chain.

Since this is a newer product it probably uses the narrower chain???

verktyg

conspiratemus1

How about a 9-speed chain as a compromise? I know 9-speed runs just fine on 8-speed sprocket spacing. Never tried it in a 10-speed cage.

conspiratemus1

I can check for you if a 9-speed chain will go through a 10-speed cage. We switch back and forth between 9- and 10- speed setups on our tandem depending on terrain, haven't mixed them. But I could easily try a 9-speed chain on the 10-speed Campag Racing Triple that's on it right now. Just have to finish mixing up a batch of bread, first.

As for Romania, well I can tell you they produce great opera sopranos and tennis players (although Bianca Andreescu was born in Canada, 6 yr after her parents moved here.)

Spaghetti Legs 

Campy has been making a lot of stuff in Romania for several years now. I wouldn’t worry about that. Back when I had a couple of 9 speed Shimano equipped bikes, I would use 9 speed chains (SRAM I believe) on my Chorus 10 bike without problems.

RobbieTunes

Is there a chain shortage?

conspiratemus1

OK, @verktyg, here's what I found.

Baseline (10-on-10):


10-sp chain on 10-speed cage (all Campag) -- baseline


10-sp chain on 10-speed cage -- baseline
___________________________________________________________________

Test: 9 on 10:


9-speed SRAM chain on 10-speed cage, View 1


9-speed SRAM chain on 10-speed cage, View 2

*********************************************************

The 9-speed chain goes through the cage without rubbing and appears to shift normally on the stand. I didn't want to road test it because I was worried that the 9-speed chain might foul in the 10-speed sprockets where it would be under load instead of being slack as it goes through the cage. You can see that the clearances are closer but it does pass.

9-speed chains are cheaper than 10-speed and the quick links are easily removable; the 10-sp Power-Lok SRAM link is not removable by hand and is supposed to be non-reusable. But in practice it can be opened with the little pliers tool and is then in fact reusable.

Hope this helps.

easyupbug 

Looking forward to hearing how it goes, as you have both and have no reason to give it a go.

verktyg 

Short changed?

What I should have mentioned in my first post is, I'm going to be using new or slightly used classic 5-6-7 speed chainrings and cranks.

Unless the teeth are well worn, narrow chains tend to hang and not shift smoothly on those wider teeth.

This Campy Veloce RD looks somewhat old school like a Suntour Superbe Pro RD.




Image is everything: 7 of 9



verktyg

ThermionicScott 

Could you add thin washers on each side of the pulleys to space the cage plates apart?

verktyg 

Yes, that's something that I've considered. I have a bunch of thin washers that came with Bullseye sealed bearing pulleys BITD. Also maybe using slightly longer pulley screws to add 1mm to the cage width.

I played around with those washers when I was experimenting with upper pulleys on non indexing RDs to provide some side to side float. The problem that I ran into was pulley screws only have about 4 turns of thread into the inner cage plate.

When you add 1 mm spacing with washers there is only about 2 1/2 to 3 turns of thread engagement. Loctite helps but I found that reducing the width of the plastic upper pulley by 1 1/2mm to 2mm provided lots of side to side float.

I have some Campy NR/SR RDs that index reasonably well. No more two forward and one back trimming of the friction shift lever.

I'd have to buy one of these Campy RDs to experiment with. I have way too many functional, even NOS RDs and I was hoping to get some ideas before spending more money on another questionable experiment.

verktyg