Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Question around Campagnolo haute-bride hub

Please excuse my english, I am a francophone. I am interested in building my old Gitane into a fix-gear, and am asking about Campagnolo "haute-bride" (sorry, do not know term in english) velodrome hub in use for road. Many people say hub is not strong for road riding. I have had much good luck with Campagnolo on many bikes in past, and even with Vitus I now own with Campagnolo Chorus 10. I would like to make Gitane into fix-gear weigh less than 7.25kg, and velodrome hub is very light. Would such hub break if I ride on road? I live now in Ville D'Anjou near Montreal.

High flange is the term you're looking for, I believe. While there have been a few visible things on the web about the high flange hubs not being strong enough for road use, I get the feeling that the broken hubs are more of a fluke than anything else.

Please excuse my english, I am a francophone. I am interested in building my old Gitane into a fix-gear, and am asking about Campagnolo "haute-bride" (sorry, do not know term in english) velodrome hub in use for road. Many people say hub is not strong for road riding. I have had much good luck with Campagnolo on many bikes in past, and even with Vitus I now own with Campagnolo Chorus 10. I would like to make Gitane into fix-gear weigh less than 7.25kg, and velodrome hub is very light. Would such hub break if I ride on road? I live now in Ville D'Anjou near Montreal.


Campagnolo has stated that none of their track hubs are suitable for road use. They even include a disclaimer in the new low flange hubs that they ship now. The older hubs with the high flange are discontinued and no longer available except as high cost used or leftover hubs from private sources and some shops which have a supply left over. The later edition high flange hubs had some problems with breakage of the flanges and that is what led Campagnolo to discontinue them. That said, there are many people who have used and continue to use them for fixed gear road use, especially the older edition ones form 5 years or so and older. The only thing to be aware of is that they do not have sealed bearings and as such if they come into contact with rainy weather, they will require much more frequent servicing and re-greasing. They are an elegant hub and are lovely to look at and use . Just be aware of the extra challenges associated with their use. Good luck

fixedgearhead

I think Campy basically wants to cover their butts in case of lawsuit. I can't imagine how a hub can be strong enough to have real live track guys generating 1500 or 2000 watts on them yet not be strong enough for skinny messenger types to ride them on the road. I'm thinkin' they are plenty strong enough for the road...don't radially lace them, though...might not want to bunny-hop so much, either.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/record-track.html

Above link will shed some light on campy 'engineering'.

I think Campy basically wants to cover their butts in case of lawsuit. I can't imagine how a hub can be strong enough to have real live track guys generating 1500 or 2000 watts on them yet not be strong enough for skinny messenger types to ride them on the road. I'm thinkin' they are plenty strong enough for the road...don't radially lace them, though...might not want to bunny-hop so much, either.


I agree about the strength issue and big guys honking on the hubs, but the KYA issue is real for them. Lets say this guy up in Toronto went ahead and put a set of HF track hubs on and rode them all winter. Come spring when he started to hear this grinding sound in the hubs he would take the bike in to the shop and find out that the grease has washed out and the bearings were running on sweat and scoring. Bingo! What the heck is this big name company doing selling me these high priced hubs and then can't even be used for half the year on the streets of Toronto? So you see, they KYA with the caveat that the hubs can't be used on the streets. If you fry them you loose. There were some issues about hitting potholes and shattering the flanges in a couple of instances also. Lets face it the Hubs are pretty looking and also fragile, or should i say delicate. I love them and would not hesitate to run them if I could afford them. But if they fried I wouldn't ***** to the company about it. I would just suck it up and get a replacement, or better yet run Phil Wood hubs on all my bikes but one, like I do.

fixedgearhead

I understand how bearings are greased. I was mechanic for racing team in 1972 on the Tour De France. Anyway, I find set of hubs only $350 canadian, and will build wheels now. I never ride this velo in rain.

I understand how bearings are greased. I was mechanic for racing team in 1972 on the Tour De France. Anyway, I find set of hubs only $350 canadian, and will build wheels now. I never ride this velo in rain.


Good luck with them. You say you know about the maintenance requirements. Then you should not have any trouble with them. I was only stating the problems that somebody without the understanding of the maintenance requirements would have, and the issues that the Company is trying to avoid in that regard. Watch out for those pot holes.

fixedgearhead

I understand how bearings are greased. I was mechanic for racing team in 1972 on the Tour De France. Anyway, I find set of hubs only $350 canadian, and will build wheels now. I never ride this velo in rain.

I think there is a real issue with the strength of campy hub, especially for street use where you occassionally hit potholes and the like. The issue I see is regarding the design of the flange where they put big holes. If you observe the elliptical hole carefully you see that there is minimal metal between the holes. In the pictures (see my earlier post) the failure happened at the notches where the metal is minimum. I am inclined to beleive that there is not enough metal between the holes to make it robust enough for street use. It can withstand track use because the stresses are minimal at the hub flange. This does not mean that the failure is imminent. But there is a significant potential depending on the type of roads you ride, how heavy you are, how fast you ride etc. If you have to have these, and want to use it on the street, then you could try some other model (and make) of hub where the holes in the flange are smaller (more metal where it counts) or that the notches are more rounded.

I think there is a real issue with the strength of campy hub, especially for street use where you occassionally hit potholes and the like. The issue I see is regarding the design of the flange where they put big holes. If you observe the elliptical hole carefully you see that there is minimal metal between the holes. In the pictures (see my earlier post) the failure happened at the notches where the metal is minimum. I am inclined to beleive that there is not enough metal between the holes to make it robust enough for street use. It can withstand track use because the stresses are minimal at the hub flange. This does not mean that the failure is imminent. But there is a significant potential depending on the type of roads you ride, how heavy you are, how fast you ride etc. If you have to have these, and want to use it on the street, then you could try some other model (and make) of hub where the holes in the flange are smaller (more metal where it counts) or that the notches are more rounded.

I think you hit the nail on the head. velodromes are smooth. those beautiful cutouts are at risk of failure under sudden ultra harsh circumstances, such as potholes, while not a risk for the greater torsional and lateral forces of racers in track conditions.

wait! if you can buy campy record hubs...just get phil wood track hubs! they have purdy flanges!

attends! si tu peux te permettre des pieces campagnolo, pouquoi pas t'acheter des phil woods, ils ont aussi une belle haute bride et ca dure!

(tu m'en achetes une paire aussi?)

mmm, phil.

wait! if you can buy campy record hubs...just get phil wood track hubs! they have purdy flanges!

attends! si tu peux te permettre des pieces campagnolo, pouquoi pas t'acheter des phil woods, ils ont aussi une belle haute bride et ca dure!

(tu m'en achetes une paire aussi?)

The difference in weight between Campy HF track hubs and Phils HF is significant. I Have Phils on every one of my bikes except one and I think the original posting stressed weight as an issue. I love and use Phil hubs but for the reasons of strength and utility not weight weeny-ness.

fixedgearhead

attends! si tu peux te permettre des pieces campagnolo, pouquoi pas t'acheter des phil woods, ils ont aussi une belle haute bride et ca dure!

(tu m'en achetes une paire aussi?)

No. Vous achetez votre propre paire.