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Campagnolo 12 speed shifting issue

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Old 05-21-23, 11:36 PM
  #1  
Pibber
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Campagnolo 12 speed shifting issue

I am POSITIVE there's another thread about this issue, but I cannot find it now.

I own a rim brake Casd13 with full Campy mechanical Record 12 speed group - from shifters to wheelset. The shifting is near...no, impossible, to get right.

I built the bike with a kmc chain. Shifting seemed good, but once on the road, it was sh*t. Just sh*t. I figured it needed time to bed in, so I rode it for a couple hundred miles and finally just bought a Campy chain once I admitted it wasn't getting better.

F*CK THAT CHAIN. The second ride out, the connecting pin pulled through. I ended up in a bike shop(trek operated) for a new chain and of course I get another lmao KMC chain.

I chatted with the tech, Sam, for a bit and told him about the shifting issues when he told me the bike passed the eye test.

Then he offered to check the shifting for me after he installed the new chain. No satisfaction at all. He couldn't dial it in either.

Have Campagnolo just given up on mechanical shifting? Wtf???

Das de bike
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Old 05-22-23, 04:38 AM
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Bike Gremlin
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Did you peen the Campagnolo chain?
The tool for that:
https://www.parktool.com/en-int/prod...tabbed-section

If not, it might be worth trying again.
Especially if the shifting was fine with the Capy chain (until it broke).

Relja The-Anvil Novović
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Old 05-22-23, 05:34 AM
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alcjphil
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Who built up the bike in the first place? 12 speed Campagnolo probably isn't a factory build. Poor shifting right out of the box sounds as if it could be a problem with the derailleur hanger, not the chain. Having a chain break could easily be caused by an installation error. I haven't worked on a bike with a Campagnolo 12 speed chain, but I have installed Campagnolo 11 speed chains and peening the joining link is very important
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Old 05-22-23, 05:45 AM
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RB1-luvr
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^^ agreed. I'd have the hanger checked with one of those fancy checker things they have in shops.
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Old 05-22-23, 07:16 AM
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What, specifically, is the shifting doing?

Is the cable attached correctly?
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Old 05-22-23, 12:27 PM
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I have mechanical 12 speed Chorus on a couple of bikes. It shifts flawlessly with either the C12 or KMC chain. If the shifting seems to vary depending on if you are shifting down or up the cassette check that the cassette lock ring is properly torqued to 40 Nm. If it has been this way for a while you want to pull the cassette and clean the spacer and cogs where the spacers contact them. Any dirt in that area can cause shift issues.
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Old 05-22-23, 03:27 PM
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mattcalifornia
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Yeah - assuming the frame is not defective in some way, this is likely an issue with the hanger or a defective derailleur or shifter (you haven't really described the problem) or chain issue. I have full mechanical Chorus-12 and it shifts flawlessly and smoothly all the time (every few months I need to tighten the cable as with any mechanical shifter). I've only used Campy chains so not sure if the KMC is also an issue. Take it to a shop that deals with Campy to see if they can identify the issue. If there is a problem, Campy is pretty good about standing behind their products. I had an issue with my crankset (the inner chain ring kept coming loose and eventually falling off). They sent me a new one once an authorized dealer inspected it.
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Old 05-23-23, 03:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Bike Gremlin
Did you peen the Campagnolo chain?
The tool for that:
https://www.parktool.com/en-int/prod...tabbed-section

If not, it might be worth trying again.
Especially if the shifting was fine with the Capy chain (until it broke).
Or just use a quick-link and not have to deal with any of the special tools and skills issues.
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Old 05-23-23, 04:19 PM
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AndreyT
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Originally Posted by Pibber
The shifting is near...no, impossible, to get right.
A thread about shifting problems, in which the original poster does not even bother to explain the symptoms. Moreover, they do not even bother to clarify which derailleur is acting up!

And the "helpful advisers" do not even bother to ask... SMHID. Sigh...

Last edited by AndreyT; 05-23-23 at 04:22 PM.
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Old 05-23-23, 05:12 PM
  #10  
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Originally Posted by AndreyT
A thread about shifting problems, in which the original poster does not even bother to explain the symptoms. Moreover, they do not even bother to clarify which derailleur is acting up!

And the "helpful advisers" do not even bother to ask... SMHID. Sigh...
Sorry we're not meeting your standards. Have you considered finding a different forum, and not come back to this one?
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Old 05-24-23, 01:18 PM
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Went through a shifting nightmare of my own with SR 11spd. Basically, my limit screws/position needed to be dead n#ts in unison. I had to make sure that my lower screw had to have my shifter "start" in the perfect spot so that everything shifted "up" from a perfect starting point. My cable tension had to be tight (as in tighter than Shimano) from the get-go. Basically no slack when you dump it down in the back to the 11 tooth. Don't make it so tight that you can play a tune on it, but it needs to react from the get-go. If you run the limit screw too far out, it will go past too far "outside" and you end up starting the ratchet too early. The window that you have to work with is tiny.


You may also experience some difficulty in "one tooth" jumps upwards, like 15 to 16. It's not like Shimano, where it will shift as fast as you want, the Campagnolo seems to want you to slow it down a little, and pause the lever/hold the lever until it completes the shift. Don't think "pop release" like Shimano, think "push hold" when doing one tooth jumps.


Is Campagnolo inferior to Shimano? Of course it is.

Super Record looks cool, but it ends there. Once working, it's fine, but isn't even in the same universe as Shimano.
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