For those who haven’t heard of this set-up, Shimergo is the combination of a Shimano drivetrain with Campagnolo Ergopower shifters (while I’ve heard other combos work, this is specifically about 10spd shifters with an 8spd cassette). Turns out these shifters pull just the right amount of cable needed for a perfect shift between cogs on an 8spd cassette. Why, you may be asking, should you care? Well you may not! But there are applications where I think this setup excels for the interested x-biker:
1) MTB conversions to drop bar ATB. Campy road shifters are without a doubt the best looking and comfiest levers available. Mated with a Shimano mountain rear derailer (9spd is fine!) and a wide range 8spd cassette you could run a great 1x with easy indexing in the rear . It’s easy to gut the shifter innards for the left lever to use as a brake only. This could allow you to pick up Campy QuickShift levers for cheaper since you wont need the front shifter which you definitely want UltraShift for, which leads to:
2) Friction shifters who are index curious. This was my reasoning for going with this setup, and it is absolutely perfect for it. Campy UltraShift (I believe the mid to upper tier of levers) is essentially ratcheted friction shifting where each ratchet is indexed, in the rear at least. You can shift one gear at a time, you can sweep through the entire cassette, or anywhere in-between. With a rapid rise rear derailer like I’m running you can dump gears with an easy thumb push. It’s incredible. For a 2x setup you want to make sure the front derailer has a short arm from cable stop to pivot point, as seen in pic 2 it should be about 15mm. Older derailers are 20+ and wont pull enough cable to shift in one sweep. Not the end of the world but not ideal.
3) Updating older road bikes with downtube shifters. Have a rad older Trek or Miyata with a shimano drivetrain and downtube shifters but want to get shifting up on the bars? You can find used Campy shifters for the same price as new Dura Ace bar-ends! Don’t deal bar-end shifters slipping anymore!
It’s an easy setup (I haven’t used STI levers or anything so can’t compare) as long as you dial in your limit screws. Campy levers are serviceable too, I took these apart and cleaned and relubed just following a youtube video. Best bike upgrade I’ve made in a loooong time.
cdlbadger on
Jtek Shiftmate opens up all kinds of possibilities for Shimergo combinations. I’ve got Campy Chorus 10 speed shifters with a 10 speed Shimano cassette and 9 speed Shimano mountain derailleur.
foilrider on
I don’t think I’m x-bike enough for this. Cool that it works, though.
Beyond_0451 on
Gah, really? I really don’t like the Campag ratchet shifters. They’re not as bad as 10 speed SRAM road, but they’re close.
bonebuttonborscht on
What adapter is that? I used a j-tech shiftmate for a few years but it wasn’t great. Every two months or so the pulley would work itself out of position and I’d have to reset it.
solaza on
Super fuckin weird that it works. But it ain’t weird if it does! That’s dope. Godspeed
7 Comments
For those who haven’t heard of this set-up, Shimergo is the combination of a Shimano drivetrain with Campagnolo Ergopower shifters (while I’ve heard other combos work, this is specifically about 10spd shifters with an 8spd cassette). Turns out these shifters pull just the right amount of cable needed for a perfect shift between cogs on an 8spd cassette. Why, you may be asking, should you care? Well you may not! But there are applications where I think this setup excels for the interested x-biker:
1) MTB conversions to drop bar ATB. Campy road shifters are without a doubt the best looking and comfiest levers available. Mated with a Shimano mountain rear derailer (9spd is fine!) and a wide range 8spd cassette you could run a great 1x with easy indexing in the rear . It’s easy to gut the shifter innards for the left lever to use as a brake only. This could allow you to pick up Campy QuickShift levers for cheaper since you wont need the front shifter which you definitely want UltraShift for, which leads to:
2) Friction shifters who are index curious. This was my reasoning for going with this setup, and it is absolutely perfect for it. Campy UltraShift (I believe the mid to upper tier of levers) is essentially ratcheted friction shifting where each ratchet is indexed, in the rear at least. You can shift one gear at a time, you can sweep through the entire cassette, or anywhere in-between. With a rapid rise rear derailer like I’m running you can dump gears with an easy thumb push. It’s incredible. For a 2x setup you want to make sure the front derailer has a short arm from cable stop to pivot point, as seen in pic 2 it should be about 15mm. Older derailers are 20+ and wont pull enough cable to shift in one sweep. Not the end of the world but not ideal.
3) Updating older road bikes with downtube shifters. Have a rad older Trek or Miyata with a shimano drivetrain and downtube shifters but want to get shifting up on the bars? You can find used Campy shifters for the same price as new Dura Ace bar-ends! Don’t deal bar-end shifters slipping anymore!
It’s an easy setup (I haven’t used STI levers or anything so can’t compare) as long as you dial in your limit screws. Campy levers are serviceable too, I took these apart and cleaned and relubed just following a youtube video. Best bike upgrade I’ve made in a loooong time.
Jtek Shiftmate opens up all kinds of possibilities for Shimergo combinations. I’ve got Campy Chorus 10 speed shifters with a 10 speed Shimano cassette and 9 speed Shimano mountain derailleur.
I don’t think I’m x-bike enough for this. Cool that it works, though.
Gah, really? I really don’t like the Campag ratchet shifters. They’re not as bad as 10 speed SRAM road, but they’re close.
What adapter is that? I used a j-tech shiftmate for a few years but it wasn’t great. Every two months or so the pulley would work itself out of position and I’d have to reset it.
Super fuckin weird that it works. But it ain’t weird if it does! That’s dope. Godspeed
Peak xbike 🫡