Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

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Rusty Crank
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Joined: 26 Jan 2022, 11:19am
Location: Italy

Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by Rusty Crank »

Hello, been reading here for a couple years, finally in need for a post. I got hold of a free pair of Fir Apollo wheels from a Battaglin abomination that I managed to salvage into a very nice bike - with lots of work and money. The wheels I think are Chorus or Record 8s Exadrive hubs. Someone not so brilliantly tried to spray paint the hubs silver for a fast sale rather than just leave well enough alone. I checked the wheels out thoroughly, spokes, nipples, rims, hub shells, and they seem solid and true, problem is the rear innards were kludged by a total moron to convert to 9/10 speed, it wasn’t even a good try. I pulled all that out and it’s a sad mix of parts, plan is if I can find an old Exadrive wheel or hub cheap to pull the innards and use them to salvage the wheels for a backup on an other 8s bike. I have some Exadrive cross-compatibility hub questions I’ll ask later, but first I need to open up the front hub to check the cups and cones to see if the effort is worth it. So, how the heck do I get this dust cap off to get the wrenches on the nuts? It doesn’t unscrew with pin pliers as it only has one hole. I’m good around bikes but this has me flummoxed:

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BTW If anyone knows exactly what year/series Campy these hubs are it would be a big help in rebuilding the rear hub:

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As we all love bike picts, here's also the rebuilt Battaglin, once stripped of the all the kludged abominations, and built up as a fast commuter. Bike had been assembled with broken parts from a someone’s junk box, probably a mechanic or small <i>[inappropriate word removed]</i> store, for a quick internet sale. Sometimes you get the bear sometimes the bear gets you, but I feel good about having saved a nice frame.

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Last edited by Rusty Crank on 27 Jan 2022, 2:17pm, edited 1 time in total.
tatanab
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Joined: 8 Feb 2007, 12:37pm

Re: Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by tatanab »

Rusty Crank wrote: 26 Jan 2022, 11:37amSo, how the heck do I get this dust cap off to get the wrenches on the nuts? It doesn’t unscrew with pin pliers as it only has one hole. I’m good around bikes but this has me flummoxed:
It just levers away. There is a special tool, of course, a bit like a big pair of tweezers with blades to fit opposite each other in the slot. A pair of thin blade screwdrivers will do just as well. I have had one hub like this, an old Record "Sheriff Star". I'd say very late 1980s to mid 1990's.
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Mick F
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Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall

Re: Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by Mick F »

Yep, a couple of thin screwdrivers does it.

Nice hubs BTW :D
Mick F. Cornwall
bgnukem
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Re: Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by bgnukem »

I also have a Record front hub of this generation. The single hole in the endcap is just to allow grease out when fresh grease is injected through the hole halfway along the hub shell.
hamster
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Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by hamster »

Looks like a 1994/5 Chorus shell - the decider is the axle diameter, for one year only it was larger with a step inside. This in turn means a different right hand side locking nut with grub screw. If all hex with no round part it's 95 and has the fatter axle.

The Campag exploded views help, but they have the locking nut incorrectly numbered. You can imagine how I know this... :wink:

Of course, the various elements of it being a Frankenhub may complicate matters. It looks like a RHS lock nut on the outside at the left for starters. Let me know if you want photos of my one as a guide.
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Mick F
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Re: Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by Mick F »

Just looking at the OP's pictures again.
Seems to me, that the dustcaps are partially out. There shouldn't be a gap.
Screen Shot 2022-01-27 at 09.36.46.png
Mick F. Cornwall
Rusty Crank
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Joined: 26 Jan 2022, 11:19am
Location: Italy

Re: Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by Rusty Crank »

OK, caps popped right off, rather loose too, so duh-slap merited. No idea why I didn't just try to pry them off first thing but they were such husky dust caps I figured there was something unique about them and didn't want to chew them up. Cups and cones are impeccable with new grease, odd too given the wear on the hub outside, original owner of these wheels rode them hard but serviced them well. So, plan now is to not throw them in the dumpster and find the rear parts cheap.

Here is the original innards that came with the rear frankenhub that didn't work as the pawls slipped, that they were packed with a ton of grease didn't help - but it was clean grease! The cups here are impeccable too. Freehub body must be 9/10 as a 10s cassette was on it. Maybe somebody can make sense of it. Hamster noted that there were two axel types in 94/95 and I need to resolve this and get the right hub on eBay first time around, I've sunk too much money into this project to waste any on these wheels, I'm in Italy and can find a nice spoked wheelset used for ~€100 so I'm not going to sink more than €30-40 into these, I just hate throwing reparable stuff out.

Remember these parts may have little relation to the original hubshell, oh, and the freehub is the kind with the pawl ring spring clip not the three individual springs:

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Here are a few more images of the rear frankenhub, maybe someone can nail exactly what I need to find to restore this. Reading around I don't think Campy 8s can be converted to 9/10s at least not easily, or at least without too much confusion that I want to avoid for stated cost reasons, so a safe restoration to 8s would still be useful to me:

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Here's a current eBay hub, described as 'pre exadrive' will this work?
https://www.ebay.it/itm/175045281525?ha ... SwUU9hnhv5

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Last edited by Rusty Crank on 27 Jan 2022, 2:26pm, edited 3 times in total.
Rusty Crank
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Joined: 26 Jan 2022, 11:19am
Location: Italy

Re: Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by Rusty Crank »

Here the 1994 & '95 blowups that might help the discussion, hopefully the correct ones. And fixed the image hotlinks :)

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hamster
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Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by hamster »

The error in those drawings is that FH-RE019 does not fit on the FH-RE101 axle, which is fatter. The equivalent locknut with grub screw does not have the cylindrical section, it's hex the whole length.

I found this out the hard way.
Rusty Crank
Posts: 4
Joined: 26 Jan 2022, 11:19am
Location: Italy

Re: Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by Rusty Crank »

hamster wrote: 27 Jan 2022, 2:50pm The error in those drawings is that FH-RE019 does not fit on the FH-RE101 axle, which is fatter.
So much confusion with Campy after the glory years of Nuovo and Super Record. The plan is to get an old decent 8s hub with all the complete parts, so do I have to get the exact same to match my shell with either the thin or fatter axle, or did Campy keep the shell the same for both size axles and I can use either complete set of working parts? It's going to be a problem if I have to buy several old 8s hubs hit or miss till I find the right one. Off hand seems if the axle diameter changed the hub shell would also change, but who knows.

BTW it's for friction stem shifters so as long as an 8s cassette Campy, Miche, etc, fits properly I really don't care much about whether the freehub is pre Exadrive or Exadrive, as long as the working bits fit into my shell.
hamster
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Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Campy 8s Hub Dustcap Removal

Post by hamster »

I think the one thing I would check carefully is whether the freewheel body fits on the axle correctly. It occurs to me that you might have a fat body sitting with slop and play on a thin axle, hence the slipping etc.
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