Campagnolo 8 Speed

Hi

I need some clarification on Campagnolo 8 speed. I've read the below thread , and Sheldon and Branford bikes but still a little unclear about exa drive and ultra drive

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/174992/

What I want to know is which type of 8 speed cassette is readily available to buy today . If I were to buy an 8 speed groupset and wheels , which often come up for sale at a good price, what do I need to look out for , exa drive or ultra drive, and are they in anyway compatible with each other .

Alternatively if I buy an 8 speed groupset but keep my 9/10 speed wheels , does anyone know if the wheels mfg 8 speed spacer kits are still available?

Sorry if this had been answered before, Cheers !

The Record exadrive 8 speed cassette is the only one available to buy new now.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/campagnolo-campagnolo-cassettes-campagnolo-8-spd-record-cassette/campcass200

However it will not fit on modern hubs with 9/10 speed cassette splines.

The other way in theory to do it is to buy a 9 speed cassette and using current 9/10 speed hub respace 8 of these sprockets with a spacing kit.Unfortunately the wfg kit has been discontinued. Campag did make a spacer kit but is also hard to find.Blue spacers.

The other method if you are set on a Campag 8 speed groupset is to use a different wheel taking a Shimano 7 speed freewheel or cassette as the cog spacing is the same as 8 speed campag.

As you can see these are all workarounds and not ideal. Unless you have the correct Campag 8 speed hub and 8 speed cassette you are better off going to 9 speed as availability now is a problem.

Thanks 1_n, I thought this may be the case, I've always avoided 8 speed in the past as it seems almost defunct. Reading some more posts, it seems ergo repair may also be tricky as parts such as g springs become unavailable. It is often cheap, but I guess that's why. I have a 1990 frame that I thought would suit 8 speed but with all the issues I think I may stick with 9/10 speed.

PS if anyone has the exact measure of the MFG 8 speed spacers , I could try 3D printing some at work ....

http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-spacing.html

From this sheet I calculated the 7 spacers need to be 3.27mm plus 1.3mm single spacer on the inside. This assumes total width is 38.2 for 9 speed. (1.75 sprocket x 8) + (3.27 spacer x 7) + 1.3 inner spacer = 38.19.
8 speed total spacing is 36.9, 9 speed total spacing is 38.2 hence 1.3 inner spacer.

Cheers, I wont be able to get the tolerance below 0.1mm, but could try the 7 spacers at 3.3mm , would only total 0.21mm extra overall, Im sure that would fall with free hub tolerances. If anyone wants to try a set happy to post some out as an experiment ...

I would be happy to test some.Looking at the cassettes only 6 spacers are needed as the last sprocket has a spacer built in.This may or may not throw the calcs out a bit as the spacing on this one will be a standard 9 speed.
@6pt might be interested for the lloydy low bro....

yeah count me in for some spacer fun times. given up looking for a shimano hub to rebuild the wheel to so it's just sitting in the shed for now.
(ta for the shout)

I've got one of those Wheels MFG kits, can't accurately measure the size of the spacers though. Works fine, I'm running 9 speed cogs, with the spacers, on a 10 speed hub.

I've also used the 8 speed shifters with Shimano 7 cassette, this also works fine.

@6pt
753 confined to the shed :(

just the wheel! the bike's still in the living room. rosie's got a lloyd in the post and then they're going to sit on a wall together somewhere.

Surely the mfg spacers must have had the same issue with the built in spacer anyway? Ill try printing some next week when I'm back in.

Do the Wheels MFG spacers have splines or are they just circular cutouts?

No splines, plain round spacers. You get about 10 very thin spacers too, and I used a couple of them next to the first cog.