Hi,
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\nI have a friend with a bike running 10 Campagnolo Record. Compact crank (50/34) and low range cassette (13-29).
\nHowever, for our terrain and fitness, those are rather tall gears. What option are there for lower gearing?
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\nHere is what I know:
\nOfficially, 29t is the largest cassette cog allowed by Campy. As we all know, depending on bike geometry, you might be able to go larger.
\nIRC makes up to a 34t cassette for 10 speed Campy.
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\nCampagnolo Compact cranks don’t go smaller than 34t chainring. He could install a 46t big ring, which would make the big ring more usefull, but doesn’t help for climbing.
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\nThe other option is swapping crank sets. The FD is a band clamp, so I believe smaller chainrings should work. But, it’s a nice carbon crank that would be a shame to waste.
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\nAnything I missed in here? Any other suggestions?
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I don't know if this helps, but you can run SRAM 10 speed rear derailleur and cassette with campy shifters. I had Veloce levers and SRAM x7 rear derailleur with a shimano 11-32 cassette. Cool thing about this setup is that you get a clutch derailleur and you can run the 11-36 cassette.
I also run Campy on my road/cx/Gravel bikes. For Gravel I have switched to a 9spd Shimano cassette, 11-32. Works perfectly. Didn’t even have to adjust the tension screw or high/low screws. I am using Mavic cross max 650b wheels. This setup is with a normal Chorus derailleur.
Your friend's most consistent solution is going to be switching to a smaller toothed crankset and keeping the rest as normal. Companies are just now realizing that people would prefer the smaller toothed cranksets, so more and more are coming out every day. There are some expensive options (Eastons new ones) and some cheaper (IRD). FSA makes a crank that can get you down to 46-30, if you can find them. Not much online, but I bet bike shops can get them. I have one which came stock on my Fuji Jari 1.3. To me, this route is going to be the best option, though it will probably feel bad to exchange that beautiful Record crank with something modern.
There are other solutions that would work, but may not be consistent. As mentioned before, changing the rear derailleur to a SRAM 10 speed one can work. You can visit websites that explain how the shifter's cable pull works out for both kinds of derailleurs. Campy does do varied pulls throughout it's 10 speeds, but we're talking a difference of 0.3 mm difference. If you use SRAM's older 10 speed road derailleurs, you can get a Shimano or SRAM cassette up to 32 teeth for the easiest gear - so not too much easier than what your friend has now on his cassette with a 29t, but possibly worth it. My first time trying this setup was with a SRAM Apex WiFli road derailleur back around '09. That worked very well. It started to show inconsistencies when the chain got dirty or worn, so if I kept up on maintenance it was great. The other times I tried this combo was with an X7 MTB and another 10 speed SRAM MTB rear derailleur I can't remember. I mainly did this so I could get the, in my opinion, perfect cassette of 11-36t. Very wide range without too many large jumps between cogs. Going this route, however, was less consistent, it seemed. There was always 1 gear out of the 10 that just didn't meet up right. So I just didn't use that gear. On one, it was like the 12 or 13T cog, which wasn't a big deal as I'd just dump it to the 11 since those big gears were used to fly down hills anyway. The other time I did that setup, the skipping gear was right in the middle of the cassette which was highly annoying. After that, I gave up on this whole mix match thing when I realized I could get older Shimano 10 speed shifters to work with an 9 speed MTB derailleur and always work perfectly with my beloved 11-36 cassette. I really do miss the beauty of Campy, but I like the range and functionality of my Shimano setup.
Hope you find something that works for your friend.
