VeloNews technical writer Lennard Zinn is a frame builder, a formerU.S. national team rider and author of several books on bikes and bikemaintenance. This is Zinn's VeloNews.com column devoted to addressing readers'technical questions about bikes, their care and feeding and how we as riderscan use them as comfortably and efficiently as possible. Readers can sendbrief technical questions directly toZinn. Zinn’s column with a representative selection of reader questionappears each Tuesday.

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Question -- Recently you wrote about a chain lube thatvirtually stopped chain wear.  I can't remember the name of the lube.--Dave

Answer -- ProGold
800-421-5823
www.progoldmfr.com
--Lennard

Question -- Is it possible to use Campagnolo Ergo shifterswith a Shimano rear mech and cassette? Will they work okay?
I ask this with a view to using my existing Veloce shifters on a touringbike with lower Shimano gears. I would go for Shimano so I can get a widerrange of gears (high & low). --Dave

Answer -- Yes. VeloParts (VeloPartsInc@hotmail.com)makes an adapter to make Campagnolo ErgoPower levers work with a ShimanoXT or XTR rear derailleur and cogs. --Lennard

Question: I have a Record 10 speed triple setup on mybike and I need some help. I built the bike from the ground up and theframe is a Giant TCR. As you know this frame has very short chainstays.The problem I'm having is noise in the drivetrain. I have used Campy before(Veloce) and it wasn't noisy. There are certain combinations on my triplethat make noise. I am a little disappointed after spending so much moneyon this thing.

I used to have a Shimano 105 triple setup and even though I hated theshifting and don't recall it being noisy. I could leave the chain on the42 and go all over the cogset without problem. The thing is that the setupwas on a bike with longer chainstays.
Could that be my problem? The short chainstays? Did I just make anexpensive mistake by buying the wrong frame to use with a triple?

I have less than 100 miles on the bike. Could it be that everythingneeds to break in? The gears seem to be adjusted right. Everything shiftsfast but things are noisy.

I took the bike to my lbs (Local Bike Shop) and they said the set upwould simply make noise in some combinations. The noisiest one is 42-25.The cassette is a 13-25.

I was having trouble with the bike shifting correctly in the middlecogs and overshifting in the bigger cogs. I again took it to the bike shopbut they couldn't adjust it any better than I had. So I took the wholerear derailleur cable and housing apart and put grease with a Speedplaygrease gun in the housings and got much better shifting. What I have noticednow though is that when going from the smallest cog to the biggest everythingis relatively quiet in all combinations (excluding the extra noise in the42-25), but when I start going from the biggest cogs to the smallest Istart getting quite a bit of noise especially around the fifth and fourthcog counting from the smallest.

After a search on the Internet, I found this article on the campyonly.comsite and found it to be very similar to the kind of noise that I'm gettingnow: www.campyonly.com/9_speed.htmlIt seems when they tested 9-speed they were having the same problem I'mhaving with the triple 10 speed. I don't know if you are familiar withthis problem. Again, I'm quite disappointed with all this noise and difficultiesconsidering that I'm supposed to have bought a high end gruppo. I'm almostthinking of selling the whole thing and getting a Shimano triple. I don'tlike Shimano shifting but do remember it being quiet in any combinationand the whole thing is a breeze to adjust.

Maybe the noise when going from the bigger cogs to the smallest is aCampy flaw that I had not noticed before. If you can help me in any waywith these concerns I would greatly appreciate it. By the way, I calledGiant tech support and the guy I talked to told me that they don't recommendtriple set ups on the TCRs. He claimed it wouldn't work correctly. Of course,they sell a frameset that is, according to them, triple compatible. Fromwhat I can see it just has longer chainstays. It's the TCR Elite. --Manuel

Answer -- I don't think it is necessarily the shortchainstays, although that will obviously increase the chain angle. I haveone road bike with super-short chainstays (39.5cm) and have used Record10 on it with no problem, albeit only a double. Now, let's see what Campagnolohas to say about it. -- Lennard

Answer from Campagnolo -- Thanks for allowing us toaddress Manual’s comments. I'm very sorry about and can understand hisdisappointment considering he bought a high-end bicycle and group thatdon't work as well as they should. I'm a little bit upset because I cannotfind out what could be the origin of your problem, but I'll try to helpyou in order to resolve this inconvenience. We haven't received any complaintsconcerning triple drivetrain performance, so that in my opinion you shouldfollow some verifications of your bicycle components and discard problemswhich probably could be the origin. Let's start.

First of all, you have to verify the dropout alignment and realignit if necessary (look at the attached image). Components of the drivetraincould work perfectly, but if the dropout alignment is not correct, drivetraincomponents cannot work perfectly.

Then if the dropout is correct, we can start thinking that some ofthe components of the drivetrain don't work. Follow the next instruction:

1. Verification of the bottom bracket length. It has to be a CampagnoloRecord 111 mm (asymmetric) bottom bracket. Longer length of bottom bracketcompromises the correct chain line. The clearance between the frame andchainring would be too much and it could be the origin of the noise inyour drivetrain especially when crossing the chain (for example 42x25).I don’t have any specifications of Giant's bottom bracket shell length,but Giant is providing us with a frame to verify the compatibility withRecord Triple items. It could be possible that the shell could be too large,but let me verify this point.

2. Verification of the cable and casings set. Are you sure that yourbicycle's cables and casings are Campagnolo? Unfortunately Giant used toassembly not original Campagnolo cable and casings set. I recommend youto use ours, but in any case, verify that there is no point where the cabledoesn't run as well as it should, like under the handlebar tape enteringthe Ergopower or under the bottom bracket cage.

3. Verify the cog spacers. It could happen that the spacers of thesprocket set have been mixed. Verify if they are in correct position andthe clearance between all of them corresponds to the ten speed specs. Usea single ten speed sprocket spacer and insert it between all the sprockets.Maybe somewhere the spacers cannot enter between sprockets or the clearanceis too much.

4. Verify the chain. Is a Campagnolo 10 speed chain?

5. Verify the rear derailleur alignment. May be it doesn't work becauseof a production flaw or because it has been banged during transport. Haveyou the chance to try a different 10-speed derailleur? Is it mid or longcage rear derailleur?

6. Verify the Ergopower. That is the last thing you should checkand probably you have already resolved the problem. I just have mentionedit because of your comment about something you read in an unofficial Campagnoloweb site. Reject unofficial solutions, which very often are unfounded andcan compromise our warranty. You especially mentioned problems in 9-speedErgopower. Well, just to satisfy your curiosity and our reliability I'llexplain the situation to you. The origin of the problem was a flaw in someErgopower return spring carrier rods, which broke and made the adjustmentof the shifting impossible. The problem was resolved immediately and Campagnolohas always faced these situations by providing reliable and professionalservice to our customers. Unfortunately some unqualified mechanics arenot able to identify this problem, so that they are not able to satisfythe customer. It doesn't mean that this sort of information is confidential,but used by some unofficial and incorrect source could be origin of unnecessaryalarmism and confusion.

I think that if you follow all these instruction you'll resolve yourproblem. Our Web site question & answer section is complete enoughto answer many of the doubts people have.

Concerning Manual’s e-mail, we notice that Giant is commercializingmid- and low- range bikes equipped with Campagnolo but is not assemblingthem with original Campagnolo bottom brackets. I'm not sure that it couldalso happen in high-end bicycles. I will keep you informed. Please letme know how things are going.
Yours sincerely,
Joseba Arizaga
Campagnolo Srl
Via della Chimica, 4
36100 Vicenza (VI) - Italy
www.campagnolo.com
 

Question -- What are the advantages of hydraulic systemsthat make them so prevalent on disc brakes?  The cable-and-housingsystem is an established part of bicycling mechanics, so there must besome significant advantage to
hydraulic systems that is particularly useful to disc brakes. --Mark

Answer 1, from Hayes -- Most hydraulic disc brake systemsare more responsive, more consistent, and smoother than a mechanical brakesystem that uses standard cable and housing. Standard cable and housingwill stretch and flex before the pads contact the disc requiring higherlever input and a longer response time. With use, cable and housing willbecome dirty which creates more friction. Therefore, ever-higher leverinput will be required to achieve full braking power. Mechanical brakesystems do require you to adjust for pad wear and maintain the cable andhousing.

With the use of hydraulic brake fluid, a full hydraulic system willrequire less lever input and immediately actuates the pads without stretchor flex.This gives you an instant response with the ability to modulatethe brake effectively.  With use, the lever input will remain smoothand consistent.

Also, most hydraulic systems will adjust for pad wear automatically. That means that there is less maintenance for a full hydraulic system whenset-up properly.  The only recommendation is to change the fluid oncea year and watch for pad wear.
Scott Boyd
Technical Support Manager
Hayes Disc Brake

Answer 2, from Formula -- Hydraulic brakes do haveadvantages for sure. No cable stretch, no cable outer housing decompression,no fouled and dirty cables.

One has to understand that the tolerances on bicycle disc brakesare much closer than car or Motorcycle units, sloppy cables don’twork. With hydraulics you can custom design the brakes exactly to the intendeduse.Tubing is meanwhile so strong, you can lift the bike up on it, andeven crashes don’t usually harm the tubing.

With the different sizes of pistons, you can make a lot of powerin order to slow you down without sacrificing modulation (controlyou have to slow you down). There are ways to make mechanical brakes workpretty well (Avid), but the feel will never be as good as a good hydraulicbrake.
Thorsten Schaette
Formula Disc Brake

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VeloNews technical writer Lennard Zinn is a frame builder, a formerU.S. national team rider and author of several books including the pairof successful maintenance guides "Zinn& the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance" and "Zinn& the Art of Road Bike Maintenance."