Cycling UK Forum

The Roberts frame is back from Argos Racing Cycles and the bike rebuilt.

I haven't done anything to the wheel hubs for 16 years. Maybe I need to check and relube the internals after this neglect ?

Before my heavy hand of incompetence blunders ahead with Campag ( I have done Shimano hubs many times ) . . . . What should I know about these Chorus hubs ?
Any special tools ? Things to be aware of ?

PS. I did search for old docs on the Campag website, where I have previously found docs on the 2001 groupsets. This time I found . . nothing.

I managed to find the 2001 spare parts catalogue (which shows exploded views of the hubs) here

https://www.campagnolo.com/UK/en/Support/download

tip; select the year first and then filter document type.

The rear hub has cup and cone main bearings and cartridge bearings in the freewheel body, the only wrinkle is the bearing adjustment method. I don't think there are any traps for the moderately wary.

cheers

I agree, simple to service, the only tricky bit is getting the freehub pawls back into the body on re-assembly.

Thanks both.

Document found - as advised.

hamster wrote:I agree, simple to service, the only tricky bit is getting the freehub pawls back into the body on re-assembly.

There is a wire thing to wrap around the pawls as pictured here:

You may be able to hack one from a piece of wire.

The Chorus hub is very simple indeed, and do not worry about the pawls. They are held in place by a single circular spring ............ NOT like the lower groups with separate fiddly little springs.

Remove the cassette.
Small Allen key and loosen off the LH adjuster a tad.
Insert an Allen Key in the RH end and a 15mm open jaw spanner on the securing nut.
Unscrew CLOCKWISE, and remove the freewheel body.
Unscrew the LH adjuster right off.
With a small screwdriver, lift out the outer seal, then pull out the LH cone and clipped balls.
Slide out the axle through the RH and do the same with the seal and balls.
The RH cone will come out with the axle, and you can prise it off the taper.

Reassembly is the reverse, but the RH seal is a bit fiddly to get clicked in.
Adjust the bearing play after getting the wheel into the frame. The QR tension has no effect on bearing play, so you can adjust when it's tight.

Hope that helps!
Done it loads of times, and could do it with my eyes closed.

PS.
Missed a step out.
You need an Allen Key in each end of the axle. Unscrew the LH end of the axle ANTICLOCKWISE before you remove the LH adjuster. There's a thin washer between the removable axle end and the axle itself. Easy to lose, so keep an eye out for it.

Mick F wrote:Hope that helps!

Thanks very much. It certainly does.

If you need plenty spares, it can be cheaper to buy a whole new Record hub ......... if you can find one.
I did this, and harvested the cups, cones, balls, seals and freewheel body. All I had left was the hub shell and the QR ............ I sold the QR, so that offset the cost of the hub. I did need a new freewheel body as mine had split.

If you were to price up two cones and two sets of Campag balls and seals, you would be horrified. Eventually, you'll need the cups, and these are expensive too.

I did think about removing the ratchet ring, but the cost of the tool to do it was prohibitive. I gave the hub to an engineer mate who was a dab hand at design and he was going to design a tool to do it as a favour to me ................ this was a few years ago, and he still hasn't done it!

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/camp ... -prod25955
This isn't 8sp of course, but everything internal is the same I think ....... but the axle is different due to the freewheel body being different.

Since my rebuild, the freewheel body split again, so I've given up on these hubs. I now have a Miche - far more robust.

Mick F wrote:Insert an Allen Key in the RH end and a 15mm open jaw spanner on the securing nut.
Unscrew CLOCKWISE, and remove the freewheel body.

I must have been doing it with my eyes closed.

17mm spanner.

Mick F wrote:...
Insert an Allen Key in the RH end and a 15mm open jaw spanner on the securing nut.
Unscrew CLOCKWISE, and remove the freewheel body.
Unscrew the LH adjuster right off....

Worth saying that often the Rh nut that holds the freehub body, it can get a bit seized. Use a good 5mm allen key and fit it as deep as you can, to avoid rounding-off the hex. If not moving, pour some boiling water over -lean the hub so the water doesn't go in the freehub- then spray some penetrating oil.

When unscrewing the Lh adjuster -those would still use a21mm for the cover - again make sure to use a good 2.5mm allen key and poke the hex to remove any possible dirt that could prevent the allen key to fit as deep as it should, been a small size it could round-off easy if not fitted to full depth.

It's worth saying that those freehubs are not in production anymore, if both the bearigns fail are tricky to replace, and if the freehub body is damaged or cracked, it needs a new freehub and axle altogether.
Check along the splines, and repack with semi-fluid grease the outer freehub bearing by carefully lifting the rubber seal, this also can give a visual check if contamination has gone in that bearing.

Gattonero wrote:It's worth saying that those freehubs are not in production anymore, if both the bearigns fail are tricky to replace, and if the freehub body is damaged or cracked, it needs a new freehub and axle altogether.

Like I said.
Easier and maybe cheaper, to buy a whole new Record hub ................. but be quick, there's not many left.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/camp ... -prod25955

If all you want is a complete bearing set, buy a front one as the bearings are identical front/rear.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/camp ... -prod25954

Mick F wrote:

Gattonero wrote:It's worth saying that those freehubs are not in production anymore, if both the bearigns fail are tricky to replace, and if the freehub body is damaged or cracked, it needs a new freehub and axle altogether.

Like I said.
Easier and maybe cheaper, to buy a whole new Record hub ................. but be quick, there's not many left.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/camp ... -prod25955

If all you want is a complete bearing set, buy a front one as the bearings are identical front/rear.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/camp ... -prod25954

Yep, very good price, though the skewers and hub shell won't match, the rest is perfectly usable

Gattonero wrote:Yep, very good price, though the skewers and hub shell won't match, the rest is perfectly usable

Like I said at the beginning.

Yes but I'm a bit surprised you get the body to crack in the new freehubs too? Usually, at the end of their life what you get it fatigue that leads the pawl pockets to flare, which makes the pawls dislodged under pressure.
Ghis type of failure depends greatly on the rider and pedalling style

First one split longitudinally.

Second one cracked near the pawls.

The first one had a steel pawl carrier that screwed into the alu body and original with the 2006 Churus hub.
The second one - more modern - was an alu one-piece unit from a late Record hub. It needed the newer axle to match the freewheel body, so I turned my older Chorus into a newer Record but still in the Chorus shell.