Campag shifter identity

[MartinB123]

Hi all,

Part way through building up a bike and looking to make use of these shifters.

Sold to me as 7/8 speed - can anyone confirm they're 7/8 speed and the Groupset/model they are from?

 

[Rod_Saetan]

Veloce, Syncro II IIRC, they can be many different speeds, its all down to that little ratchety thing! As it appears to be stamped '8 7' I would have to assume they'll work

 

[nammonk]

Yes, they're the lower range Syncro II. I think they were badged as part of the Athena group (there are polished Record ones which are mechanically identical). That's a B7 7 speed insert. You appear to have all the parts, so they should work ok for 7 speed. I've got some spare 6 speed inserts if you decide to go that way (also most of the other bits as spares). You can use these in friction mode as well as index. Be careful of the little springs; they snap quite easily in my experience.

You can't use these for 8 speed. There are 8 speed inserts, but they need the later Syncro levers with a larger diameter cable barrel.
What rear mech and freewheel/cassette are you planning to use? Campag produced a table of recommended combinations of insert (there are several variants), mech, freewheel and chain! I can post a copy, but I've never found any chain/freewheel/cassette combinations to be noticably better or worse. You can use the early 6/7 speed mechs with these, and they also work with Nuovo/Super Record, which is how I've used them mostly. They won't work on index for the 8 speed mechs and above, as the actuation ratio changed. I've never found a non-Campag mech that has the right actuation ratio for them.

They have a bit of a reputation for poor indexing, but I've never had a problem with them. There's a whole lot of info and opinion on these levers here: http://www.tearsforgears.com/search/label/syncro.
Nick

 

[MartinB123]

Yes, they're the lower range Syncro II. I think they were badged as part of the Athena group (there are polished Record ones which are mechanically identical). That's a B7 7 speed insert. You appear to have all the parts, so they should work ok for 7 speed. I've got some spare 6 speed inserts if you decide to go that way (also most of the other bits as spares). You can use these in friction mode as well as index. Be careful of the little springs; they snap quite easily in my experience.

You can't use these for 8 speed. There are 8 speed inserts, but they need the later Syncro levers with a larger diameter cable barrel.
What rear mech and freewheel/cassette are you planning to use? Campag produced a table of recommended combinations of insert (there are several variants), mech, freewheel and chain! I can post a copy, but I've never found any chain/freewheel/cassette combinations to be noticably better or worse. You can use the early 6/7 speed mechs with these, and they also work with Nuovo/Super Record, which is how I've used them mostly. They won't work on index for the 8 speed mechs and above, as the actuation ratio changed. I've never found a non-Campag mech that has the right actuation ratio for them.

They have a bit of a reputation for poor indexing, but I've never had a problem with them. There's a whole lot of info and opinion on these levers here: http://www.tearsforgears.com/search/label/syncro.
Nick

Thanks for the super helpful reply!

Athena you say? Perfect for my Peugeot 653 Athena build then! I will be pairing with an early 90s Campag rear mech which I believe to be either Athena or Chorus (not badged) and will run a 7 speed rear cassette as well.