Touring Bike conundrum

[carback]

Yikes, I'm starting to feel as confused as I did in University calculus.

My hubs are Campy and therefore, according to the LBS, not shimano compatible.

And my cassette is an 8-speed.

I find this all so frustrating because 1) I wish I had known to ask these types of questions 8 years ago when I bought the bike and 2) I don't live anywhere near a GOOD, very knowledgeable bike shop (I'm 2 hours from Vancouver and there's no bike shop in my little town who is well-versed in the needs of a very short bike tourer. I don't mind doing the drive and I do do it fairly regularly. It's just so much easier if they were closer. Sorry - just venting)

Anyhow, I think I will send a detailed email to the person in Davis, CA and see what he has to say. And then I can at least go to my LBS in Vancouver with the right info.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

[bcipam]

All this engineering seems alittle over my head but have you considered mountain bike components for your rear derailleur? I have Ultegra shifters and front derailleur but run XTR gear on the rear - gives me a 30 - 34 ratio. Very low. You will have to buy a rear derailleur as well as a cassette and new chain. But for $200, a good fix (Although uncertain how this all fits in to what you have done already...)

[DeniseGoldberg]

All this engineering seems alittle over my head but have you considered mountain bike components for your rear derailleur? I have Ultegra shifters and front derailleur but run XTR gear on the rear - gives me a 30 - 34 ratio. Very low. You will have to buy a rear derailleur as well as a cassette and new chain. But for $200, a good fix (Although uncertain how this all fits in to what you have done already...)

Good point. My touring bikes also have mixed components - Ultegra front and XT or XTR rear. I definitely couldn't get the gearing I wanted with all road components. I remember when I had my first touring bike built - the frame builder was initially thinking I should go with mountain components until he realized that the mountain component groups didn't have the (shorter) crank length that he was recommending.

[SadieKate]

Problem is that Campy and Shimano are not compatible, nothing works together. You may be able to run a SRAM or Sachs with some Campy components (we have Campy/Sachs 8 spd blend on our tandem) but I really don't know the details. To do this, she may still have to have a Shimano compatible rear hub.

Also, the age of her components also presents a challenge. You have to love this need to have more and more cogs in the rear cassette; it just drives artificial obsolescence and puts money into the pockets of the component manufacturers. 8 speed Campy stuff can be almost impossible to find.

[bcipam]

well then the solution is to get rid of that campy stuff and go Shimano!!! Simple solution!!!

[DeniseGoldberg]

I wasn't suggesting mixing Campy & Shimano - but assuming that Campy has mountain bike components that could be mixed with their road components...

[SadieKate]

That would be wonderful! Campy made mtbike components years ago but no longer. There have been rumours. We have a Campy mtb crank from eons ago and true to Campy design, it is waaaaay over-engineered and rivals the downhill cranks of today. It would make a really pretty boat anchor.