Sy Reene

Is it known whether there's any interchangeability between parts of the new 12-speed and the 11-speed groupsets. Especially/specifically, would the 12S crankset work with 11-Speed FD and chain, and shifters? Question is getting at if I wanted to do gradual upgrades of 11S to 12S system, can this be done?

eja_ bottecchia

Sy Reene

Thanks for the feedback. And I assume an 11S chain in this situation?
Haven't asked a mechanic -- 'twas a random thought that occured to me a few minutes before posting.
I don't know how much we can hope the price will drop.

I'm only considering the Record (not SR) level, and it seems to currently go for a premium of about $70 over the 11S counterpart.
SR, OTOH is crazy, with a $300 premium for 12S vs SR 11S, and the 12S SR is $400 more than 12S Record.

eja_ bottecchia

trailangel

"Darned sexy.... A work of art"..........
looks more like a blob of plastic to me.

Homebrew01

yup, rear derailleur is hideous too.

Good thing I am happy with Campy 10.

eja_ bottecchia

eja_ bottecchia

gfk_velo

It all depends what you mean by "work".
The crankset will likely "work" with an otherwise 11s system but as for how good the front shift will be, that's another matter.

The chainring spacing, back of the big ring profiling and the tooth shapes and profiles have all changed, so has the physical thickness of the chainrings (as it has to match the thinner sprockets and the consequently narrower chain), so how well the FD will move the chain up or down between the rings is a moot point. Campagnolo have never tested it in this combination and what works on one frame won't necessarily work on another (unless all the geometry factors are the same) and exact positioning of the FD and the exact cable tension will also play their parts, as will chainring and sprocket combinations.

Any warranty on any part of the system will be void as well, if that matters to you.

Sy Reene

Thanks for the input. I'm not surprised of course that Campagnolo wouldn't endorse the idea, but was hoping maybe someone would have tried this.
One question though.. is it possible to put 11S chainrings on the 12S crank (are the mounting bolts the same position etc? Would this eliminate a couple of the concerns you've mentioned (tooth shapes, thickness and inside profile)?

gfk_velo

We've not had time to try and do anything much out-of-spec, as we are pretty busy just now training retailers to do things the *right* way, without worrying about whether doing things the wrong way works or not :-D

I'd be pretty sure that you can't fit an 11s outer ring to the SR 12v spider as even the Record 12s rings don't fit the SR 12s spider ... and they are closer (by definition) to being the right spec.

I'd guess it *may* be possible with the Record cranks but the way that the outer ring is supported on the outside may preclude it, as the extensions on the spider arms may be the wrong depth, measured axially, relative to the bolt locations - so it may not be possible to correctly tighten the chainring fixing bolts because the ring has the wrong thickness. Also, the ring spacing is partly set by where the teeth are milled on the edge of the ring and partly by the position of the chainring mounting seats so you may and may not end up with a correct ring spacing.

If it was me, if it's the crankset that you really want, I'd save my cash for now and when you can, do a hybrid system of SR 12s cranks and Record 12 everything else. That'd be the lowest cost route to a system that would shift the way that 12s is supposed to shift and since 12s was developed to have slicker, faster and more accurate shifting than 11s (our in-the-field experience is that it gets close to electronic in that respect), it would be worth it ... the front shift is especially impressive on 12s if it's set up correctly.

sergioleone

Hi guys,

just wanted to chip in with my own experience:

I bought a full Chorus 12 group set, with the exception of the crank set which was H11.

Research in Campy's tech specifications revealed that chain line (44.5 mm), chainring centre distance (8 mm) and minimum chainstay length (410 mm for disc brake frames) is in fact identical. So far so good? Not really.

After my shifts were quite rough, I read that 11/12 mix groups can be optimized with a very good setup. Well, after I invested some hours, my shifts were still not good enough. So instead of digging in some more, I decided to get a Chorus 12 crankset.

Well, shifts are pretty much perfect and very smooth now.

So my personal experience: Unless you are very talented in terms of setting up your drive train, I would not advise to mix 11/12 drivetrain components.

Best,
Sergio

alcjphil

Would be a rather expensive experiment if it didn't work and it seems it didn't work well for the previous poster

smd4

Same.

Since the mid-1990s, bicycle components from the "Big Three" manufacturers have been going down-hill looks-wise ever since. Who would have ever thought Campagnolo would have slipped so far?

gfk_velo

I did my best to discourage the OP.
Strangely enough, the guys that work with the kit every day of the week occasionally know what they are doing :-D