[Johnny Brown]

So a few years back I bought a second hand road bike on UKB.

It has a Campag drivetrain with 52/39 on the front and 9 speed 14-28 on the back. Now that I'm doing a few more miles I've noticed a couple of things:

1. I spin out on even the slightest downhill - like the main drag on Eccleshall rd on the way to work.

2. Going uphill, anything over ~8% and I'm stood up grinding, which I can maintain for about two minutes before blowing up.

Don't know much about bikes but have done some reading - options seem to be:

A) (before you say it) Man up

B) Change rear cassette for a broader range. Problem seems to be I can either get a 13-28 (not much difference) or a 12-25, which might solve problem 1 whilst exacerbating 2 (man up etc, I know). I know its possible to change a few of the sprockets/ build a custom but how realistic is it?

C) Change small chainring to something smaller - solving 2. Can I do this on the existing cranks, or do I need a new one (Is this a 'compact'?)

Cheers. Bear in mind the bike isn't worth much more than £200...

[danm]

I'm not sure what the options are with Campag to be honest, I've got 50/34 on the front and 13-30 on the back, all Shimano which works really well for hilly rides in the Peak. What condition are the components in? If the bike isn't worth much, probably only worth changing stuff that's about worn out anyway? Personally I'd go for a 50/34 compact chainring for the Peak.

[punkpunk]

Compact chainset is an expensive option and will drop your overall gearing 50/34 is standard. If you can get a 12-25 cassette it will be the easiest option for high gearing. Otherwise you could find a 13-26 and fit a 53 chainring to your existing chainset to try and keep high and low gearing. Campag are shit at keeping a good range for their older systems, ie 9 speed, even though there are still plenty people using it

[punkpunk]

Building a custom cassette is expensive and a waste of time....your chainset is 135mm bcd and a compact is smaller 110mm bcd (spacing of the bolt holes) Off the top of my head you can't go smaller than 39 on a standard chainset....I certainly can't get any 38t to fit from any of my suppliers.
Think I would spin on the downs rather than knocking on the ups.

[Johnny Brown]

Cheers, good knowledge.

Think I would spin on the downs rather than knocking on the ups.

Agreed. Though it is a bit frustrating being shit at the uphills and then slow on the downs too. Plus it seems like there are simpler/cheaper options to get a higher gear than lower. Hmm.

[Percy B]

Finding a good and workable set of gear ratios when you live on the edge of the peak and don't get the chance to develop as much fitness as you would like (due to kids, work and climbing getting in the way) is a common problem! After a load of dicking about, I finally spent some money and got a compact chainset with 50/34 which made going uphill a lot easier, but I also got a friendlier cassette to go with it, a ten speed 11/25, which meant that once at the top of a hill I could enjoy a bit more speed on the downhill fun bit, and I wouldn't spin out until I was going 40mph or so. Its the best of both worlds, and having a compact coupled to an 11 tooth sprocket gives you a bigger gear than guys riding a standard 53 - 12 setup.

One of the problems of buying a compact chainset used to be that the smaller BCD meant that you could only fit smaller rings to the cranks, so you couldn't put a bigger outer ring on than a 50. Not any more. A lot of companies now make a set of standard 53/39 chainrings that fit onto compact cranks, so if you get fit enough to want a more manly set of gears, you can just fit bigger rings rather than have to fork out for a new set of cranks as well.

[Johnny Brown]

Cheers Percy, good info. Sound similar to what a mate (who does a lot of miles) suggested. Will look into prices for compact cranks.

[cowboyhat]

I have similar to Percy, (compact front), but got an 11/28 rear cassette. Its just got a big granny ring, a get out of jail gear. But you can still go fast downhill.

Unhelpfully for you this is available from shimano.

Its very personal though and i can't push big gears, 53/11 is for the likes of Tony Martin.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Any reason you can't mix and match shimano and campag? Shimano and SRAM seem to work OK together. As long as they are both 9 speed?

[punkpunk]

Any reason you can't mix and match shimano and campag? Shimano and SRAM seem to work OK together. As long as they are both 9 speed?

Totally different spacing on the cassette's, shimano and sram use the same. You can start messing around with clamping the cable wrong to change the amount of cable pull (if you have 10 speed campy and 9 speed shimano) but I wouldn't recommend it.

If you do go down the compact chainset route and decide to fit a larger outer ring, don't go too large. The large difference in ring size's can cause a lot of shifting bother, have also seen a few folk bring them in bent or broken (the outer ring) There is a lot of flex once you fit the larger ring on there.

Might be worth looking to see if you can get a campag spaced cassette with a more favourable ratio from another company such as miche.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Interesting, rings a bell now, think a mate had to get a set of shims to change one to the other, can't remember which way round it was.

[punkpunk]

Aye on some combos you can switch spacers between cassettes. Depends on thickness of actual sprockets too though, just did an 8 speed campag one today for an old boy and it works well

[Dolly]

I think you can fit a compact on that bike - its an Italian bottom bracket isn't it ?

[Johnny Brown]

Errm to be honest I don't know which bit that is - the bit between the pedals which isn't the frame? Everything I can see has Campagnolo written on it.

Assuming a compact means buying a new set of cranks, tbh that is looking a bit pricey at the mo. Spinning out is a bigger annoyance than steep hills - I can just avoid them.

Unfortunately I can't find any significantly wider range cassettes on the net (only options 13-28 or 12-23). Thinking of buying a 12-23/5 and building a custom 12-28 with my current cassette. Any problems I'm likely to encounter?

[punkpunk]

Just make sure you keep the spacers in the right order.
A compact should fit fine.
The thread of the bottom bracket italian or otherwise makes no difference...

[Johnny Brown]

Cool, thanks - will let you know how I get on. Would it worth getting a new chain?

[punkpunk]

No problem. Only needed if your old chain is worn out. You can buy a chain checker to check it yourself or get your local bike shop to check it for you. Rohloff one is best but pricey for what it is...

[Dolly]

I got a compact chainring and cranks for about 30 quid off ebay last year - seemed reasonable I thought

[Johnny Brown]

Sounds good! Will have a look...

[cowboyhat]

I always get a new chain with a new cassette; wear at the same rate, less likely to have any problems.

[Johnny Brown]

Yeah I've read that; though it'll only be half a new cassette won't it... ?

[webbo]

I think that in the case of road bikes and chains, you can usually get away with changing the chain a couple of times with out changing the cassette.

[Johnny Brown]

Cassette arrived this morning, fitting would have been pretty quick but had a bit of agonising over which  sprockets to use. Couldn't find a spec on the web so ended up with 12/13/15/17/19/21/23/25/28. Looks okay.

Took it out for forty minutes and got hit by a thunderstorm, turned round due to the lightning as much as the rain!

Seems much better, didn't get anywhere near spinning out though the downpour was a bit of a hindrance. I think I can live with the 39-28 if I avoid Winnatts and the like.

Only problem is I seem to have upset the indexing - jumping around a bit on the smaller sprockets. Anyone any tips on adjusting Campag derailleurs?

Whilst fiddling I noticed when in bottom gear the jockey wheel is hitting the sprocket through the chain. Doesn't seem to be a way to adjust it - is the chain too long?

[bigd942]

Is normal to change cassette and chain at the same time so a little bit of jumping could be that. Check the campag website for alignment, on 10 speed its the 4th cog I think you align t, may be different for your setup. As for the chain length, yes, sound a bit long - you were 14 and now 12 so more chain for the rear much to suck up, could be one link that does it, try the b screw adjustment to, on campag it at the jockey wheel closest to the cassette' see if that makes a difference.

[Johnny Brown]

Ta. TBH the derailleur clearance isn't a problem on the new smaller sprockets - just the biggest when on the small chainring - it's not a new problem.

try the b screw adjustment to, on campag it at the jockey wheel closest to the cassette

Hmm, tried winding that all the way in and out and doesn't seem to do much

[mr__j5]

Seems strange that its a problem with the largest sprocket, since that hasn't changed has it ?

If it was fine before it should still be fine, assuming that you put all the spacers in the correct places.

I'd expect possible problems on 12 sprocket either due to old chain or rear mech being too short to handle the 16 tooth range from 12-28.

[Johnny Brown]

I had the problem before I changed the cassette, but not when I got the bike. I figured it was an adjustment issue.

The spacer thing seems a big deal but when I've searched the Campag 9-speed has all the same?

[mr__j5]

I don't know my Campag stuff that well, but I am sure that the 10 speed cassette isn't evenly spaced.

[punkpunk]

9 speed is evenly spaced, or should be.

[SA Chris]

ratios? You only need one.

[Johnny Brown]

Bloody hipsters...

[Nibile]

I used to ride a lot when I was a teenager, and having 43/53 in front and five sprockets from 13 to 21 made me feel like a king of the road.
It's amazing how bikes changed, every time I see a modern bike I almost want to start riding again. Almost.
Then I remember how hard it used to be.