Camapgnolo Racing Triple rear mech's cracked. Possible replacements?

Hi mech gurus

As stated in the convo topic, got me a hairline crack on the holding part of a rear mech. So it's dead.
Now, do I have any other options or do I have to find an exact replacement? It was shifting gears on zondas with exa drive 8-speed cassette before its untimely death.
Will any other 8 speed campy derailleur fit? Or do I have to stick to Racing T?
Any help or advice will be highly appreciated.

Got a pic? might be able to weld it back up

No macro lens to take a proper picture, tried my best.
The crack is to the left of the red line and is as long.
Is welding really an option?

1 Attachment

Perhaps if you drilled a small hole at the end of the crack it may stop the spread of the fissure.

Thats a pretty nasty place to have a crack, its most of the way through the barrel too so likely too late to save it.
Getting someone to weld that would likely cause you a headache more than the thing is worth (£30/40 or is it something collectable?). The fabricators I know near me (scotland where everything costs 8p compared to LDN) charge between £40-60 MINIMUM fee + vat

It's not that it's collectable, it's just rare. Or so I understand.
My biggest headache now is trying to decide if I want to risk replacing it with, say, an 8 speed Chorus for example, or try and find the identical one. Have no idea if mixing a different rear mech into a Triple grupo will cause me problems.
Ah, the misterious beauty of Campag

Try to contact campyoldy for the part. He has untold amounts of small parts for campagnolo throughout the ages. He may have what you need.

A chorus mech will work but it will have the wrong capasity unless you find a triple version. Any long cage or triple 8 speed campagnolo rear mech will work.

meesh, hi!

Hope you don't mind me asking this, but were you having shifting problems before finding the crack?

The reason I'm asking is the crack isn't really in an area which would cause structural shifting issues. It's the outer part of the barrel, that is the guide for the hanger bolt. The crack seems to end, where bottom of the hanger bolt hits and the part is completely solid. Where the crack is, is anywhere from half a mm to barely a mm.

Can you flex any part and make the crack open up?

What I'm leading up to is, ride it like it is, if it's not giving you any trouble.

Am I making sense?

Liz

^ Wouldn't be my advice.

While the crack might not be affecting shifting, it's almost certainly affected the strength of the part.

When - not if - it breaks, it's likely to take the wheel and at least some paintwork with it.

M_V

Good point, but take any similar one apart. Where it stopped cracking is where it's now 7mm thick.

In my humble opinion, this is not going to crack any further.

Liz

Thanks for all your thoughts, guys.

I decided not to risk it and found an exact replacement. A bit expensive for what it is, but hey, less headache.
No cycling for me until it's on.
I'll inspect it when I take it off and report my findings.

Thanks again.
Michael