Campag front mech on Shimano system

[TheFungle]

Last year when I was transferring my Ultegra groupset from my 'good' crash damaged frame to a cheap alu frame I had to replace the front mech to a Campag Veloce as the diameter of the tube was different, the reason the bike shop did this as it was the choice of £5 for a second hand Campag or £45 for a new Shimano, I was assured there was no performance difference and thus that has been proved over 6000 miles of riding in the last 12 months.

As I was in the (new) LBS I mentioned this to the mechanic in conversation, he was somewhat aghast and said there is no way it should work as well as it should and that the the system is completely different, now I know this is true of the rear mech but the original mechanic has been proved right and it's performed faultlessly.

So yeah, should a Campag front mech on an otherwise Shimano system work as well as can be expected?

[anonymous-user]

If the pull ratio is the same then there is no reason why it wouldnt work. if Even if they are different, if its only a double chainset, there is probably enough space for adjustment using the limit screws to make it work.

Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 18th October 13:46

[TheFungle]

That's what I thought an TBH I'm only curious, not concerned, the experienced mechanic in the shop certainly seemed shocked!

[gazza285]

I use Shimano wheels with Campag groupsets which isn't meant to work either. Works fine.

As for front derailleurs, when we had downtube friction shifters the arc that the lever moved seemed to be the same whatever combination of bits you had, so now we are on brifters I can see the pull ratios being similar.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

I've just put a set of RS80s on my Chorus groupo'd winter bike. I bastardised the spacers from a Campag cassette and stuck them in a Shimano cassette. It's certainly not perfect but it's adequate for winter when nothing works properly anyway!