Campag 9 speed compatibility - pre/post 2001

[MartinB123]

Hi all,

My sister needs a new rear mech to replace her 9 speed Mirage which self-combusted recently. On looking around she sent me a link to a site which stated shifting differences between pre and post 2001 models... I have no idea on the age of her groupset and whether her shifters are pre or post 2001. All I know is that it is 9 speed Mirage and the shifters are black ergoshifters.

Is this just marketing guff, and are all Campagnolo 9 speed items interchangable, or will she encounter shifting problems if there was a discrepency between pre and post 2001 parts?

 

[hamster]

Campag indeed changed the cable pull per click (and rear mech leverage) in 2001.
Shifters: post-2001 shifters all have the number of speeds marked on the front of the body just above the brake lever.
Rear mechs with the old pull have a b-tension screw behind the hanger bolt (just like Shimano). New type have the screw behind the cage by the top jockey - they also have a much larger knuckle by the lower part of the parallelogram.

 

[JoeH]

According to my 99 catalogue - mirage is silver
02 catalogue it is black (don't have 00, or 01 to check)

But what Hamster says is top.

In reality I find it doesn't matter what campy rear derailleur you use which what cassette. I.e. 8 speed mech with 9 speed cassette or late 9 speed mech with 8 speed or early 9 cassette. etc etc, any combo I find works great.
Only thing I find to worry which is the really obvious - if you have 9 speed shifters have a 9 speed cassette.

Personally I find the bottom of range brand new Xenon derailleur to work great with old 8 or 9. - and save having to risk buying 2nd hand - on something that can get bent.

 

[hamster]

There was no change in 9 speed cassettes between the shifting generations, it's only the shifter/mech design.
As 8-speed and pre-2001 9 speed have identical mech leverage, there should be no compatibility problem (just like Shimano) although IIRC there was a slight difference in jockey wheels. But even this must be slight as the aftermarket jockeys are identical and the inside dimension of the chains is the same for 8 & 9.