Campagnolo Shifter -double to triple

[Deleted member 35268]

Hi guys

I am hopefully about to re-build a bike using the parts I have.

The current setup for the left hand shifter is for a double chainring.

I am reading alot that left hand shifters can in fact be used for double and triple setups.

I don't have the shifter model but does what I say ring true?

Is it just the derailleur limiter that will dictate the shifters ability?

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Yes, you can use it for a triple. The left Campag lever is basically just a friction shift.

 

[ColinJ]

I put a triple on my Cannondale, which has 10 speed Chorus. Not only did the shifter work, but I also got the 2 derailleurs to work as well!

The front mech needed to be lowered to suit the smaller big ring and I needed to file a small amount of metal off the inside of a part which was catching the down tube when shifting to the little ring.

The rear mech. is medium length and is able to cope. I have 48/36/28 rings and a 13-29 cassette.

I found that the rear mech. was too close to the sprockets and caused a rumbling/clunking sound with the chain on the biggest 2 sprockets, despite using the maximum adjustment on the screw designed to prevent that. The solution to that was to insert a shim between the end of the screw and the frame. I made the shim from a short length of aluminium alloy cut from a Coke tin.

I bought a new Stronglight Impact triple chainset from Spa Cycles for £75 and a Shimano UN55 bottom bracket from Chain Reaction Cycles for £12.

The change has transformed my bike for use in this hilly area for less than £90, which I consider money well spent! Be prepared to do some tweaking and you should be fine, unless your shifter is very new and has fewer clicks than mine. I think mine does at least 10. (I don't have the bike with me today so I can't check but I have posted about this before so just search my old posts and you will probably be able to find more details.)

 

[Viking]

The left hand (Front) shifter on my 9 speed Campag (Xenon, IIRC, so not exactly top of the range) coped fine with a triple chainset but it was just OK at the extremes i.e. small front / big rear and big front / small rear. I did have to get a new bottom bracket (square taper). The Campag instruction explain the reason for this better than I can but IIRC it depends on the diameter of the seat tube and how that affects the range of movement of the changer cage.

 

[ColinJ]

The left hand (Front) shifter on my 9 speed Campag (Xenon, IIRC, so not exactly top of the range) coped fine with a triple chainset but it was just OK at the extremes i.e. small front / big rear and big front / small rear. I did have to get a new bottom bracket (square taper). The Campag instruction explain the reason for this better than I can but IIRC it depends on the diameter of the seat tube and how that affects the range of movement of the changer cage.

Getting a slightly longer bottom bracket would have meant that I wouldn't have had to file down the obtrusive tab on the back of my front mech., but using my chosen BB puts the middle ring bang in line with the middle of the cassette which is where it should be. I can use all of the cassette from the middle ring without any nasty rubbing noises at the extremes. I don't crosschain for long but it is convenient for short climbs or bursts of speed to just stay on the middle ring. I haven't noticed excessive wear from doing that.

 

[boydj]

I have Veloce shifters of different vintages. The older one does both triple and double without a problem. However, the newer one was bought as specifically as a triple and has 'triple' marked on it, which would suggest that there may be a problem with a newer shifter if bought as a 'double'.