Campy shifting problems

bing181 said:

Got a bit of a problem with my Campy Chorus rear derailleur. Basically, what I would describe it as is as if the cable isn't pulling back (down) the cassette enough.

On either end of the cassette it's fine, but across the middle, if I shift up (toward the biggest cog), it tends to overshift a small amount, and I have to manually push it back down one click. It's like there's not enough tension on the cable .. though it shifts down (towards smallest cog) fine.

Thought for a while it was sticky cables, but they've been changed. Have had it into a couple of OK bike shops, and they can't see anything wrong with the derailleur itself.

Any ideas? Anyone know anything about the tension spring in the rear derailleur .... could that be not doing its job for any reason?

You can 'test' the derailleur, itself, by putting your bike in a workstand, detaching the rear derailleur cable, and manually moving the derailleur's parallelogram on the larger/largest cogs ...

If the derailleur moves to the smallest cog when you turn the crank, then the derailleur is 'okay' ... if not, ensure that the STOPS are set properly.

When you changed the cables, did you lube them?

Did you also change the housing?

What vintage is the rear derailleur & shifters?

Sounds to me like the stops are probably set OK, but that there's a bit too much cable tension. Just a guess.

(This assumes you aren't doing something like using 9-speed shifters on a 10-tooth cassette.)

OldGoat said:

Sounds to me like the stops are probably set OK, but that there's a bit too much cable tension. Just a guess.

The setup is all fine (10 speed Chorus throughout), and I'm sure that the stops and indexing are all set OK. (confirmed by bike tech/mechanic)

But surely it's a case of too LITTLE cable tension, because when I push across on the shifter, the cable is not providing the pull-back or resistance it should. Thus, the derailleur overshoots where it needs to be, and I have to manually nudge it back down a little.

Make sense?

bing181 said:

The setup is all fine (10 speed Chorus throughout), and I'm sure that the stops and indexing are all set OK. (confirmed by bike tech/mechanic)

But surely it's a case of too LITTLE cable tension, because when I push across on the shifter, the cable is not providing the pull-back or resistance it should. Thus, the derailleur overshoots where it needs to be, and I have to manually nudge it back down a little.

Make sense?

Sounds very much like the post on the spring carrier has broken, canting the springs and causing drag in the lever making it almost impossible to adjust the RD. Easy to fix, if you don't have somebody local who can 'speak Campagnolo', send it to me for a one day turnaround.

[email hidden]

bing181 said:

The setup is all fine (10 speed Chorus throughout), and I'm sure that the stops and indexing are all set OK. (confirmed by bike tech/mechanic)

But surely it's a case of too LITTLE cable tension, because when I push across on the shifter, the cable is not providing the pull-back or resistance it should. Thus, the derailleur overshoots where it needs to be, and I have to manually nudge it back down a little.

Make sense?

While 'I' do understand what you said, apparently 'you' did not understand what I said ...

You need to isolate the problem, inch-by-inch, beginning with the rear derailleur, itself.
[INDENT]That is, you first want/need to confirm that the rear derailleur is not the source of the problem ...
[/INDENT]THEN, it would be better for YOU if you took the shifter OFF of the handlebar for this, with a new, long piece of LUBED housing (actually, you would lube the cable & run it through the housing) connect the shifter to the derailleur WITHOUT ANY BENDS IN THE HOUSING to see if the problem still exists/(PERSISTS!?!) ...
[INDENT]That is, as unlikely as it will be as the source of the problem, YOU want to confirm that the problem is not somehow with the shifter -- with a typical rear derailleur (vs. a SHIMANO RAPID RISE type), the rear derailleur's return spring, alone, moves the derailleur toward the smaller cogs ... the cable can only reverse or impede that motion -- only a kink in the cable OR housing can impede that motion.
[/INDENT]Then, you need to run a cable (without the shifter) through the housing that is attached to the handlebar and see if there is ANY resistance when you pull it through manually ...
[INDENT]This is more of a show-and-tell demonstration for you to perform since you seem to think that the housing & cable that you installed is good-to-go.
[/INDENT]WITHOUT doing those few things, you may have a difficult time resolving the problem.

AFTER you have done those few things, you should be able to ascertain where the problem is ... if it isn't actually the rear derailleur (which you are reluctant to check), then it is more-than-likely the housing and/or cable.

FYI. Not all bike techs are equally capable ... and, that is one reason why I think that you/(everyone) should learn HOW to do their own wrenching even if you/(they) eventually have someone else work on their bike because if you/(they) know what can/should be done-or-is-possible, then you/(they) will know whether or not you are dealing with someone who knows what s/he is doing.

BTW. Is this a new setup? If not, did it work properly before?

Of course, if you are looking for an excuse to buy a new rear derailleur, that is always an option ... but, it seems a shame to spend the money if you don't have to.

bing181 said:

The setup is all fine (10 speed Chorus throughout), and I'm sure that the stops and indexing are all set OK. (confirmed by bike tech/mechanic)

But surely it's a case of too LITTLE cable tension, because when I push across on the shifter, the cable is not providing the pull-back or resistance it should. Thus, the derailleur overshoots where it needs to be, and I have to manually nudge it back down a little.

Make sense?

Take the shifter off, take the back cap off and you will see the end of the post. It will be obvious if it's broken, easy to fix..I suspect it's not the RD, maybe the cable and housing but after overhauling dozens(hundreds?) of ERGO and having a bag of probably 75 broken spring carriers, I suspect that's what the problem is.

Just a little follow-up.

Haven't had time to rebuild the shifters, but picked up another pair (Chorus 2007) that seemed in OK condition and ... perfect shifting!

To Peter Vecchis who suggested the problem was in the shifters: you were right!

As a small footnote, when I went into one of the otherwise-excellent shops to order the springs/parts etc for a rebuild, and asked the tech there about rebuilding shifters he said "we just send them off to Campy ... sent off 2 pairs yesterday in fact". But if this is such a common/known problem, why the hell didn't they at least diagnose it as such on my bike, especially after trying everything else. Oh well ...

Thanks again all.

bing181 said:

Just a little follow-up.

Haven't had time to rebuild the shifters, but picked up another pair (Chorus 2007) that seemed in OK condition and ... perfect shifting!

To Peter Vecchis who suggested the problem was in the shifters: you were right!

As a small footnote, when I went into one of the otherwise-excellent shops to order the springs/parts etc for a rebuild, and asked the tech there about rebuilding shifters he said "we just send them off to Campy ... sent off 2 pairs yesterday in fact". But if this is such a common/known problem, why the hell didn't they at least diagnose it as such on my bike, especially after trying everything else. Oh well ...

Thanks again all.

Most bike shops think Campagnolo is some sort of black art or something. Most bike shops are lazy, don't take the time to learn this stuff, whether it be Campagnolo or shimano or sram. Pitiful. Bike shop wrenches are supposed to be the experts in things bike repair, most are clueless..like the ones you mentioned. It takes about 15 minutes to OVH an ERGO lever, it's really easy.

Peter@vecchios said:

Most bike shops think Campagnolo is some sort of black art or something. Most bike shops are lazy, don't take the time to learn this stuff, whether it be Campagnolo or shimano or sram. Pitiful. Bike shop wrenches are supposed to be the experts in things bike repair, most are clueless..like the ones you mentioned. It takes about 15 minutes to OVH an ERGO lever, it's really easy.

For those not afraid of hand tools, there are even Youtube videos that show how to do said overhaul.

Peter@vecchios said:

Sounds very much like the post on the spring carrier has broken, canting the springs and causing drag in the lever making it almost impossible to adjust the RD. Easy to fix, if you don't have somebody local who can 'speak Campagnolo', send it to me for a one day turnaround.

[email hidden]

Agreed, sounds like the problem I was having. I replaced the spring carrier and it's back to it's old crisp self.

It's not an easy job, but there is a youtube video of that makes it a bit easier. Parts are cheap enough.