I am seriously considering buying a 1980 gazelle champion mondiale "A" i found on craigslist. Its got mavic rims laced to 105 rims. it has been upgraded to 7 speed with old 90s shimano brifters. I really REALLY prefer Campy shifters to Shimano. I can't find campy 7 speed brifters so I was wondering does anybody know if I can run a campy 8 speed with a campy 7 speed derailleur and 7 speed freewheel? is the pull ratio too different? or could I just mess with the cable tension or something?

I am afraid to use an 8 speed freewheel drivetrain because I have heard about people breaking hubs because of the bearing placement. Is this really a common problem or would I probably be safe? (I will be doing some semi-casual racing (cat 5, maybe 4))