crandress 

I have an old Mercian Touring frame a mixture of Campy parts, mostly Nuovo Record. I wanted to add a triple crank and have located a Nuovo Record triple, which I did not even know they made. The question, will the Nuovo Record derailleurs handle it, or did they make NR derailleurs specifically for the triple?

Sorry, just getting back into cycling after nearly 20 years, used to know all this stuff. Got a comfort bike to start, but already dreaming of riding the Mercian again which I have kept all these years.

Thanks - Chris

Wulf

The NR front will handle a tripple. Depending on the sizes of your smallest chaninring and largest cog you may need more capacity then the NR rear. BUT you can get a long cage that will handle pretty much any gears (within reason).

Shaneferd

The NR front should handle a triple crankset if mounted correctly. The compatibility lies in matching pre/post 1978 Record components together, as the latter derailleur had a curved safety lip added to the cage. Using a post '78 front derailleur on an earlier bottom bracket/crankset setup can result in conflict with the drive side crank arm, when extended onto the largest chainring.

Nice finders on the crankset, they can be dated on the inside near the taper well. No featured date code is the early type.

LeicaLad 

Several details might help.

First, all the above is spot on.

Second, there is the NR Triple that was actually made by Campy. The drawback is that the smallest inner ring is 36. That's a lot of crank just to get down to 36t. There are what we call Triplized Campy cranksets, which are a standard NR/SR set of arms that have been drilled to a smaller bcd, and take down to a 28 w/o problems. Here's an image of one of those with an SR outer ring and TA middle and inner. The drilling was done by Elliot Bay Cycles in Seattle.



Alternatively, you might consider other cranks that can give you a wider range from large to small. TA or the Stronglight 99 would both be "period correct" to your Mercian and more practical. Really, it comes down to your knees and the terrain you want/need to cover.

As for the rear, there is the classic Campagnolo Rally, which was the wide range rear. Finding one for a reasonable price, however, can be a challenge. A Suntour GT (Cyclone or otherwise) works better and is also period correct. OR, if it's Campy or die, one can now purchase replacement cage arms for the Campy NR that turn your old NR rear into a 2nd Gen Rally. They run about $30. (I'll see if I can find photos.) Last I knew, Elliot Bay had these available, too. Any LBS with a Soma catalog can also order them.

see here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8379107...7629371791998/

SO, talk to us about your riding needs and desires. Lots of Mercian fans here, too. SO, post a few photos, eh?

Cheers!

crandress 

Awesome info guys, thanks. Will have to take a closer look at everything this weekend. Been riding the new bike and the Mercian is hanging from the ceiling. Found a box of extra parts, so have a complete second NR crank set (not including the triple), Grandsport pedals, NR rear derailleur (hmm, maybe have the Chorus rear derailleur on the bike since I thought I only had the one NR rear), and NR brakes. Oh, and a complete wheel set with the high flange record hubs, like those on my bike.

Chris

crandress 

Just getting back in. Need to lose weight and get in shape. Purchased a "comfort" bike to get started, but keep staring up at my stored Mercian Vincitore. Need to lose some pounds before I would hop back on the Mercian though, but thoughts for the future. Love Campy, always have, so would probably go Campy all the way. I will get the Mercian down and get some pics this weekend for you all.

To motivate myself, I started a silly blog, so if you want to know more, please check it out: https://futurecyclist.blogspot.com/

Thanks - Chris

Grand Bois

If it's true that they made a NR triple derailer it's news to me. Why would they when the standard double works fine?

I have a Record triple crank and NR FD on my Peugeot. Both are pre-CPSC. The 36X28 low gear is low enough for me. It's not a mountain bike or loaded tourer.

Scooper

Chris, in the early seventies Schwinn used a long cage Shimano Crane (pre Dura-Ace) rear derailleur rebadged as a Schwinn-Approved Le Tour GT-300 with the Campy NR triple crank (36-49-54T) and 14-31T freewheel on the P15-9 touring Paramount after having had bad luck with the Campy Gran Turismo RD. Schwinn kept the Shimano RD on an otherwise Campy equipped model even after Campy introduced the Rally RD because they believed the Crane performance was superior in this application.

Just a thought. The long cage Crane/Le Tour GT-300 deraillers can be found on ebay pretty reasonably priced.

fietsbob

I use a <C> Rally Aka #3450 a spring is around the mounting bolt to rise with the Cog diameter.


somewhat more modern FD, i got a Victory Leisure, the back plate is deeper for bigger differences..

now I use the set with a newer 'race triple' in a 24, 40, 50 configuration ..

Grand Bois

I use a Campy Rally just to keep it all Campy. It works well enough, but not as well as the VGT-Luxe I had on it for a while. Suntours were the only derailers of that era that had slant parallelograms and long cage derailers need slant parallelograms.

fietsbob

Got an 80's Euclid , made after Sun Tour's Slant Pantograph Patent Expired ,
where the others the paralelogram moves on vertically oriented pins..

Its been on My Loaded touring Bike ever since,
they do take more cable pull , to do the same 6 speed stroke width.

Grand Bois

Those a beautiful, unlike some of the other Euclid stuff. Too modern for my bikes.

crandress 

This is great stuff guys, thanks! As I get back into it, I am sure I will have lots more questions.

Chris

dbakl

Here's a stock Campagnolo triple and a stock NR rear running a 14/28 in the rear. Make the chain long enough for the big/big combo.

onespeedbiker

Actually your triple is an after market addition; the oem had shorter flutes so the drilling would not be in the flute. I would also like to see the setup in the small\small gear as it appears the max wrap has been exceeded by 4 teeth.

dbakl

Could be: I got it used.

Just like the big/big, I'd never ride in the small/small. Actually works fine, I've done a metric century on that bike.

LeicaLad 

Take a look at the crank on Scooper's Paramount above. As described, you can see the drillings and fluting don't overlap. The shorter flutes are how one can tell the original versus the after-market drilled versions. Still, the original is limited to 36t. As Grand Bois points out, that is fine for many, but it is still a lot of weight to only go that low. Changing the rings does help with the weight.

ymmv.

John E

That is one great-looking bike!

One way to avoid pushing that NR rear too hard is to replace your very correct 52-47-36/14-28 w/ something like 48-44-36/13-28. Same range, 1.5 inches less chain windup required.

JohnDThompson 

Jim Merz actually made a 31T ring that fit the factory triple bolt circle, but good luck finding one these days...

dbakl

I've been running a 49 or 50 on my NR cranks since the 70s.

onespeedbiker

While there's certainly validity to your plan, there is still the issue of the 28t cog, as the NR is rated for a 26t max cog. While many claim they have exceeded 26t, it seems to be hit and miss. Best to check this on the OP's setup first.

old's'cool

That's one way of looking at it, but for me it is a big advantage to run a triple with a half-step large and middle combo in order to maximize choice of cruising ratios; I don't need a particularly low, so called "granny" inner ring for the low gears, so something in the high 30s to low 40s is ideal for an inner ring. I don't see the miniscule added weight, never mind the cost, of a front triple, as a deterrent against gaining this added flexibility. A typical 3x6 setup of mine is 52-49-36 and 13-15-17-19-22-26. I rarely use the 36T chainring actually, but it's good to have just in case.

puchfinnland

Im about to build a campy mixte triple this summer,
yas its a girly bike

I have not given the deraileurs much thought yet but hoping N.R.
maybe I can swap the cages from a newer campy rear deraileur to make a custom long cage NR!

I got the campy triple arm and chainwheel,

14-28 rear x 52 42 36 front was what was on my mind.
but 36-42-50 is also an option,

I got plenty of chainwheels!!

dbakl

A NR rear will handle a 28 no problem. I've been using it on all my bikes since 1972. And I probably have 50-60 bikes (but not all NR).

Here's an original 72 Paramount with the Campagnolo triple, a NR rear and a 14/28 freewheel, same setup as the Carlton. (I added the Campagnolo brakes and switched the rear derailler)

Bianchigirll 

Does the OP need a longer BB Spindle?