Gears question

i'm pretty sure the spacings on cassettes are the same whether its campy, sram or shimano i.e. 9 speed all same space, 10 speed all same space etc. Anyway i'm not sure about some of the above remarks, but all i can say is that i have a very mixed bag and it works perfectly; campy shifters, miche/campy cassette, shimano rear mech, shimano chain. Other bike has shimano shifters and sram rear mech - again, works perfectly. I'm also pretty sure that a 10 spd (etc) shifter shifts the rear mech the same distance no matter what brand it is. Anyway, all i can say is i am running as i've mentioned with no probs. I've got a funny feeling some people aren't setting their bikes up properly and think it's down to the kit, when actually sometimes you need some patience when trying to get your gears / drivetrain set up to work.

The question is "why?"

Agree with Dave on the differences in SRAM/Shimano actuations (levers to gears). Don't try the Shimano selection kit with Campy cassettes either - been there, movements of Shimano kit not compatable with Campy cassette spacings - OK you may get one or two large and one or two small gears but the rest are everywhere with random changes, on the uphill usually

Not everything I've tried has saved me money - but have tried and have the scars.....

Hope it helps.
Regards

Trikeman.

Shimano and sram seem to be interchangeable but Campag are a law to there self.I am running a 10 speed Sram compact chainset with 8 speed 105 Shimano and it works fine.You will have to run a compact chainset for a 36 inner,Thats when you could run any make of chainset as long as the bottom bracket is right.That is to say shimano sram and campag b/brackets must be the same make as the chainset.Shimano sti works fine with sram cassettes but campag will only work with campag cassettes.Shimano and Sram cassettes fit on each others freehub bodies.8 speed chains run on 10 speed chain rings 8 speed chains run on 9 speed systems and index fine.Mavic wheels are not what they used to be but still damn good.V brakes need matching brake levers.Going off theme here.Compact chainsets 34x50 are perfect in the real world.I used to run 39x53 but i have seen the light.If you are racing or doing tts Flat courses 42x53 is great but for every day riding 34x50 will work for 99% of riders

You can mix shimano shifter/mech combo with SRAM chain and cassette with ease. SRAM mtb shifters have to be used with SRAM mechs so would imagine it's the same with road.

Not really sure why you would mix and match Shimano with Campag as they are designed to be different. SRAM chains and cassettes are desgined to be compatable with shimano.

Yes it is possible to change to a 36, but you'll need to buy a compact chainset and live with a 50 ring. The bolt diameters are different. Also a 34/53 would freak the front mech out. IIRC they have a tooth diffence of 14, so your 17 would not work with a double front mech. It may work with a triple front mech.

Hope this helps.

Never mixed myself but try googling 'shimergo'

I daresay theres a SRAM equivalent word too.