Bicycle Mechanics - Campy Chorus 8 speed hub woes

Hi all,

Was in the process of building a Basso Gap road frame and got some bad news. It appears the Campy chorus hub body on my 8 speed rear wheel wants to try and seize.(LBS said it wants to run like a fixed gear) Went to bike shop and checked it out. It engages fine when pedalling, but when you stop and hold the cranks still the rear wheel slows down quickly. It is almost as if there is just a lot of gunk in the free-hub assmbly. The axle appears to be rolling smoothly. Not fun. Anybody else experience this. May I take the hub body out myself and service it to see if I can fix it? Is my only hope to go and find another used wheel. LBS said they wouldn't service the freehub body. However, found another shop in town that is a campy pro shop that said they would take a look at it. I'll probably take it to them next weekend and see what they say. Thoughts anyone.

Roland

Currently stalled on 90s Basso gap buildup.

I serviced a 1992 8sp chorus hub every 1500 miles for about 7 years. It did seem to get dirty quickly, but it's not difficult to clean and regrease. I don't have the exploded diagram, but it's remarkably similar to the new dura ace 7800 design shown on shimano's website. The drive side race is part of the axle, so you can service the freehub without disturbing the hub bearings. The right nut holds the whole freehub in place. Loosen the nut and then remove it while holding the freehub in place. Then slowly remove the freehub. Twisting it slightly counter clockwise while pulling it helps. Make sure you have a rag underneath. There are 3 small pawls and 3 very small springs you don't want to lose. The freehub rides on two cartridge bearings, which I never removed. Clean everything, re-grease, shoot some grease into the cartridge bearings, and reassemble. Again, turning the freehub slightly counter clockwise while while putting it back in helps. The nut doesn't have to be that tight because there is really no pressure on it and it makes it easier to remove next time.
I used Pedros grease.

Great information as well as Campagnolo Specific replacement parts can be found at Branford Bikes.

Here is the page detailing Campagnolo Chorus Rear Hubs

http://www.branfordbike.com/cgi-bin/perlshop/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=push&thispage=hub/hub03.html&ORDER_ID=165415175#item8

One other thing. Pay attention when you remove the cassette. The splines on the early hubs like mine were evenly spaced, meaning there isn't just one way the cogs go on. The cogs have letters which have to be orientated a particular way. There is a chart (which I still have) which shows how the letters should be aligned. You might want to draw a line across the teeth with a marker before you take it off.

Okay,

It's official. My campy 8 speed rear wheel is dead. :-( Seems pitting occurred to the cup that has the bearings around the freehub. So now I have a set of Mavic Heliums on it that I bought just in case it was a terminal condition. Also, as a back up I'm going to build up some Camy Athena 8 speed wheels from a NOS hub. Ahh... these things happen.

cheers.

I destroyed a Record hub by cranking too hard up a steep hill - the pawls bent the hub body and it would no longer coast or "freewheel." Broke an axle on another Record hub a few years earlier.

Okay,

It's official. My campy 8 speed rear wheel is dead. :-( Seems pitting occurred to the cup that has the bearings around the freehub. So now I have a set of Mavic Heliums on it that I bought just in case it was a terminal condition. Also, as a back up I'm going to build up some Camy Athena 8 speed wheels from a NOS hub. Ahh... these things happen.

cheers.

Bummer. I feel ya. I had the same thing happen to an identical rear hub. My shop guy told me it was due to a lack of maintenance over the years. He told me that I should have had it repacked annually. Maybe that's overkill, but it seems like cheap insurance to me now. Live and learn...

What generation Chorus is your's? If it was the previous generation <2006, then it's the same as the Record and Centaur. I posted about a problem in a Record freehub I acquired. It looked fine, but had a lot of resistance to turning on the axle.
Turns out, the bearing packs can flex and drop into the hub shell, past the bearing race, if one assembles the parts carelessly.
Once properly placed, the freehub spun fine and smooth.

If the LBS determined the damage was the cause of your's, I guess it's resolved. If it was a 90's era Chorus, not familiar with its design and failure states.

Hey all,

It was a 92-94 vintage chorus hub that I acquired used. Just one of those things that happens. Basically I needed a new axle, a freehub cone, bearings, and the freehub cup was pitted. So I took the logical solution and just got an Athena hub 94 vintage. Anything I should look out for on the 94 Athena. It is a NOS and going to build them and use them as back ups to the Mavic Heliums I have.