[tantra]

I heard from an experienced bike mechanic that the Campy 11-speed chain works great with Shimano 10-speed drive trains. He is recommending them as replacements. Has anyone else had experience with this setup?

 

[ETWN Stu]

No but I have seen a 11 speed casstte with the 17 tooth sprocket taken out and replaced with a spacer running with 10speed sram. Seemed smooth enough but was only going to be used for a short distance as the other cassette was being used elsewhere.

 

[charlieboy]

careful...

don't some shimano 10 speed drivetrains require a shimano specific 'one way only' asymmetric chain?

 

[Jay Strongbow]

No, no experience myself.
I'd believe the mechanic as far as it working goes but given that shimano, and other, chains work perfectly fine with shimao 10 speed drive trains I probably wouldn't pay extra to for a solution to a non existant problem. (I'm only guessing that the campy chains cost more)

 

[wim]

don't some shimano 10 speed drivetrains require a shimano specific 'one way only' asymmetric chain?

Not a requirement—the one-way feature on the chain is supposed to "improve shifting" even more. If there's nothing really new to report, Shimano's marketing writers always fall back on "improved shifting".

More seriously, I think the Campy chain recommendation is based on the widely held notion (at least in Europe) that Campy chains last a little longer than anyone else's. But I'm not sure why the 11-speed would work any better than the 10-speed Campy chain.