EC-RE011 Campagnolo 8 Speed Ergo right shifter Spring Carrier by elhalpern

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Campagnolo # EC-RE011 8 Speed Ergo Right side (rear derailleur) Spring Carrier-
Your Campy Ergo 8 speed can shift like new again.
It's frustrating working to keep an older bike alive and original, when manufacturers discontinue repair parts. Fortunately Campagnolo has used the same "g-springs" in newer versions of their brake/shifters, but the spring carrier is no longer available. Printing it in plastic might last a while if you print with strong material and a very high fill percentage. I printed it using PLA just to test the fit and it worked fine, but it's not worth the hassle of changing it out to leave a plastic part in place.... IF YOU WANT IT TO LAST A LONG TIME, use a service that will print in steel, aluminum, stainless steel, or titanium.
FYI - The hex bolt that locks down the thumb lever and the spring assembly is a left-hand thread.... clockwise to loosen.
The current version posted on Thingiverse is V5 and has corrections to the g-spring pivot hole diameters and distance from center as well as some added reinforcment. This was drawn in Solidworks and dimensioned using a sample part and a pair of dial calipers.
Three of the images shown are an actual part printed by i.Materialise.com using their "steel" (bronze infused). Simply copy them on the STL file and let them know the O.O. is 25.47mm. It's three grams heavier than the original part, but should last forever. I also had to open up the spring holes after delivery with a 0.059" drill bit. (3D printing is funny on small holes. My model is dead on, but 3D printers tend to have issues with tolerances on small holes due to material particle size or handling of such.)
The bronze infused steel material is very hard. I heard my bit chattering on the drill press and stopped to add cutting oil. No problem opening up the holes after some oil... use a vise to hold the part and avoid breaking the bit off in the part, and take your time. The photo makes it look like bronze, but it drills like steel and has a more silver look in person. I compared the looseness of the springs in their pivot holes on a healthy, but used carrier, to the drilled 3D printed version with 0.059" holes and the printed part has less slop while the springs still pivot freely.
I installed the steel printed carrier (coated in grease to lessen corrosion) with new g-springs, and with new Campy cables & wires. More than 3600 miles on it (Nov 2020) with more than 3000 shifts, and the shifting is smooth and reliable. Everything works perfect. No problem under stress with me (200+lbs) out of the saddle and standing on the pedals in all gears. No slip or gear jumping. This works fine. I'll continue revise this dialog as I put more miles on the printed steel part.
UPDATE - My ride on 9/23/19 the thumb shifter went soft and it would no longer hold the gears above the center of the cassette. I knew immediately that either the 3D Printed part, or the G-springs had failed. That evening, I disassembled the right shift lever and was happy to see a broken G-spring. The printed part was in pristine condition and everything worked fine after I loaded a new pair of G-Springs. I got close to 2000 miles from the new pair of G-springs I loaded during my initial rebuild using the newly printed-steel carrier. Campagnolo suggests a rebuild with new G-Springs and cable wires every 3000 miles. Nice to know my part outlasted theirs ;-).
Keep in mind that I did this in 2016, and since then the metal 3D printing business has grown like a weed. While I recommend iMaterialize, I am certain they have competitors in the U.S.A. that can match or beat the $32 and ship quicker. I just haven't had the need to search out another vendor.
My test-bed bike for this is a 1994 Trek OCLV 5500 with Chorus all around except for an SRAM pc-871 chain.
keywords - rear, right, 1994, 1995, 1996, cracked, broken, replacement, ergo power, spring carrier, retainer, Chorus, c-record, record, 8 speed, EC-RE011, carrier, ecre011
BTW - for those new to 3D printing (or CNC machining), there can be imperial/metric confusion when passing around CAD files. It is always good practice to tell the person or company handling the printing a single obvious dimension so they can make certain their process is printing to the right scale. The outside diameter of this part is 1.003 inches (25.47mm). Sharing this info with your vendor will avoid buying a part that doesn't fit.
COMMENTARY on Ergo 8 speed: As a recent owner of an 8 Speed Chorus group and experience with Shimano Dura Ace 7800, Shimano 600/Ultegra, and Campy Nuevo/Super Record, I feel the Ergo 8 is very solid. The biggest problem is availability of spare parts and so far the only odd issue is the right side hidden cone in the freehub. This freehub is very difficult to get a dead on cone adjustment and in some case the hidden cone floats freely making it impossible to setup without a very tiny amount of play. Using a temporary pair of jam nuts on the cluster side makes it easier to manage the adjustment on the left side. Even with this minimal play the group rides and performs well under load, I would own another Ergo 8 bike as long as I can find spare parts. The play is so minimal that it can't be felt with the wheel removed from the bike by just trying to move the axel. It can only be felt when the wheel is back on the bike by grabbing the wheel near the brakes... and even then, most people won't feel it.