Campy rear derailleur life??

Just had to replace a Campy Veloce rear derailleur after only 14k miles due to
excessive play in lower pivot. Derailleur had been kept clean, lubricated,
never crashed, etc. 14k miles seems a bit early to me -- what do you Campy
experts think?

I have Ultegra on other bikes and have never had to replace a derailleur for
other than crash damage; one of 'em has over 22k miles and is still tight as
new, though on its third set of pulleys.


Mike Yankee

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(MikeYankee) writes:

Just had to replace a Campy Veloce rear derailleur after only 14k miles due to
excessive play in lower pivot. Derailleur had been kept clean, lubricated,
never crashed, etc. 14k miles seems a bit early to me -- what do you Campy
experts think?

I have Ultegra on other bikes and have never had to replace a derailleur for
other than crash damage; one of 'em has over 22k miles and is still tight as
new, though on its third set of pulleys.


Mike Yankee

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To reply, delete everything after "com".)

well, i presume that by lower pivot you mean the lower pivot _bolt_.
The other possibility is the pivot pins for the parallelogram. i
believe that the thing that eventualy wore out in nuovo record
derailleurs was the brass pivot pins holding the parallelogram
together. when these got loose, shifting became very sloppy.

Did you ever take off the derailleur to see if the pivot bolt was
properly set up to begin with (e.g. not too loose)?? A bolt that was
not tight to begin with might wear out prematurely.

with campy stuff, you are not really supposed to replace whole units -
just get out the catalogue (www.campagnolo.com) and find the pivot
bolt in the catalogue, and order it through your bike shop. it will
cost you maybe half the cost of a new derailleur, but then you're back
in business without wasting a derailleur.

i am no expert in this, but i have heard that using smaller sprockets
(front, rear) increases chain tension. is it possible that you were
using smaller sprockets on the back because the campy equipment is
just a whole lot faster than the Ultegra stuff ?? har.

- don

well, i presume that by lower pivot you mean the lower pivot _bolt_.

Yes, the bolt on which the cage pivots (just look for the black plastic seal).
That's where the slop is.

Did you ever take off the derailleur to see if the pivot bolt was...properly
set up to begin with (e.g. not too loose)??

Yes. The pivot bolt is held in place by a washer (can be removed, but not
adjusted). The spring tension can be increased, and I've tried that, but the
problem is slop.

the thing that eventualy wore out in nuovo record derailleurs was the brass
pivot pins holding the parallelogram
together. when these got loose, shifting became very sloppy.

I agree, but more manageable in a friction than an indexed shifting system.




Mike Yankee

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The only chronic ill I have had to address w/campy rds is IMHO premature
pulley bushing wear. I prefer to use Tacx sealed bearing pulleys as they
outlast campy 4X.
Tom

--
Bruni Bicycles
"Where art meets science"
brunibicycles.com
410.426.3420
Donald Gillies wrote in message
...
(MikeYankee) writes:

Just had to replace a Campy Veloce rear derailleur after only 14k miles
due to
excessive play in lower pivot. Derailleur had been kept clean,
lubricated,
never crashed, etc. 14k miles seems a bit early to me -- what do you
Campy
experts think?

I have Ultegra on other bikes and have never had to replace a derailleur
for
other than crash damage; one of 'em has over 22k miles and is still tight
as
new, though on its third set of pulleys.


Mike Yankee

(Address is munged to thwart spammers.
To reply, delete everything after "com".)

well, i presume that by lower pivot you mean the lower pivot _bolt_.
The other possibility is the pivot pins for the parallelogram. i
believe that the thing that eventualy wore out in nuovo record
derailleurs was the brass pivot pins holding the parallelogram
together. when these got loose, shifting became very sloppy.

Did you ever take off the derailleur to see if the pivot bolt was
properly set up to begin with (e.g. not too loose)?? A bolt that was
not tight to begin with might wear out prematurely.

with campy stuff, you are not really supposed to replace whole units -
just get out the catalogue (www.campagnolo.com) and find the pivot
bolt in the catalogue, and order it through your bike shop. it will
cost you maybe half the cost of a new derailleur, but then you're back
in business without wasting a derailleur.

i am no expert in this, but i have heard that using smaller sprockets
(front, rear) increases chain tension. is it possible that you were
using smaller sprockets on the back because the campy equipment is
just a whole lot faster than the Ultegra stuff ?? har.

- don

the thing that eventualy wore out in nuovo record derailleurs was the
brass
pivot pins holding the parallelogram
together. when these got loose, shifting became very sloppy.

But they were replaceable.
Phil Brown

the thing that eventualy wore out in nuovo record derailleurs was the
brass
pivot pins holding the parallelogram
together. when these got loose, shifting became very sloppy.

But they were replaceable.
Phil Brown

Sorry, not quite clear. The pins are steel and they are bushed. It's the
bushings that wear and while both can be replaced the pins almost never
wear-the bushings do.
Phil Brown