xg43x

how do i disassemble an old campagnolo record front hub? i am having one hell of a time trying to figure that out. i have disassembled many front hubs but these are completely different as there is no way to use a cone wrench on these hubs. whats the trick?

this is exactly how my hub looks:

Jeff Wills

The outside end of the hub shell comes off, revealing the flats for the cone wrenches. There's a special Campy tool for this (naturally), but you can do it with two screwdrivers prying up on opposite sides of the cap. Pry evenly- there's a hairspring between the cap and the shell that can get lost if you're too rough with it.

Panthers007

Here's Park Tool's take on the old standard hub with loose bearings. Be sure to measure the bearings before replacing them. Grade 25 Chromium-Steel is the most commonly used ones:

https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=105

And here's the Bicycle Tutor video:

https://bicycletutor.com/overhaul-wheel-bearings/

Have fun!

xg43x

Thanks for the help! I got the hub disassembled and cleaned now i just need to grease everything and reassemble.

equinoxranch

NO "trick" to the front (or rear). Easy as pie. The front cones require a 13mm cone wrench. The outside nut requires a standard 16mm box wrench. That's all, ever, period. Do NOT ever remove the dust caps. EVER! Once disassembled and fully cleaned, VERY lightly grease the races, make sure the bearings are fully greased in hand and the cone has a slight coating of grease for that part of assembly. For final reassembling, assuming the axle is perfectly centered (!!!), on final setting calibration, always set fractionally "loose", hardly detectable in hand......., you will feel it is not perfectly set. This applies to both front and rear........ When correct, the quick release - with proper closing pressure shores up the gap (wobble) for perfect pressure between the cone to bearings to race. Many times you have to go back and forth to get this set right. Yes, it can be a pain. But, it's the difference between your standard, everyday junk "wrench" job and true precision. Ask me why I have SR hubs/wheels from the 70's and 80's that have over 130K+ miles on them and are perfect. Once precisely set you can simply periodically regrease without disassembly through the side cap dust hole. Just a light application works well enough several times per year. Purge will come out between the con and cap. Many greases work perfectly, but I've always employed Phil Wood. It's the easiest to inject through the aforementioned cap hole.

On the rear you employ two 14mm cone wrenches per side.

Camilo

Does anyone keep track of records for stuff like this?

Kontact

You sure about that? Do you see an outside 16mm nut?

JohnDThompson 

That's a C-Record front hub, not a vintage Record front hub. Unfortunately, the OP's picture of the actual hub in question has disappeared in the 13 years since the question was first posted, so we'll likely never know if the OP was referring to a Record or a C-Record hub.

To service the C-Record hub, you need a special tool to remove the end caps on the hub shell to expose the nuts, as @Jeff Wills noted at the time:


For the older Record hub, a pair of 13mm cone wrenches will work.

Jeff Wills

Astonishing, isn’t it, that threads I commented on are still being found and added to after more than a decade. It really makes me feel validated… or at least tolerated.

Andrew R Stewart 

Do I recall correctly that Campy Valentino/Gran Sport front hubs do use a 16mm lock nut? Andy

JohnDThompson 

Both Record and Gran Sport/Tipo front hubs use a 16mm lock nut. Record rear hubs use a serrated locknut with 14mm flats, and Gran Sport/Tipo rear hubs use a 17mm locknut.

Kontact

The OP said there is no place for a wrench. Which other hub would that be?

equinoxranch

equinoxranch

KONTACT: The remarks in my original post were specific to the classic SR hub as demonstrated in the photo with the referenced 16mm outside nut/13mm cone. Whether of interest or not, this hub/wheel (and its rear brother) are now around 40 years of age with approx. 110k miles on same. All original spokes (2.0/1.8 with brass nipples) on the SSC's. 32x3X "Build from strength". I have no time for cutting corners and saving some ridiculous gram or two........

mpetry912 

those are some beefy spokes for a front wheel.

Looks like an SSC rim however.

Very pretty

/markp

tiger1964 

Oh, c**p, I inherited a set of wheels with those hubs, and old enough I'll need to get inside. Is that tool unobtanium? It looks kinda like gear puller but suspect the exact size is critical. OK, a search for "Campagnolo hub tool" on eBay finds some, $150-$200; perhaps cheaper to discard the wheels and start over.

Andrew R Stewart 

One can pull off the conical dust caps that cover the axle's cone and lock nut with a thin blade. Of course there is the greater possibility of slight cosmetic marring than if the Campy tool was used. I've done a number of overhauls on these hubs (personal and customer) without using the tool. Just take care and "work" around the dust cap bit by bit. Andy

equinoxranch

MPETRY : It looks like an SSC because............ It IS an SSC. They, along with the Nemesis are the only two I've ever run since they came on board. Beyond ballistic. Confident. They haul. Alas, only the Nemesis THANKFULLY are still being made. I genuflect before Ambrosio for that. Clinchers......?? How hysterical.

If you go back and re-read, the spokes are simply classic 2.0/1.8, or 14/15's. I honestly cannot imagine so much as THINKING of going lighter. No need. All this worthless lightweight insanity is, simply stated, at a minimum unreliable, or WORSE! No one wants to know of still standing UCI fastest course records from the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's when the lightest rig was coming in at 21lbs/9.5kg, earlier still 23lbs/10.5kg, all with friction shifters, a 5/6/7 cog rear, "etc.". It has become so plastic now. So plastic. So plastic. So soulless. So fay. So pre-assembled. So Made in China. Pure pop out plastic fantastic, etc....... Thank goodness I and others knew it when........