Old Frame + Campy 10 speed problem
 

Has anyone had this problem:

I have a mid 80's Columbus tubed Bianchi with horizontal dropouts. I had it powdercoated.

I purchased a centaur 10 speed hub and just had it built up into a wheel today.

I went to put the wheel into the frame.

Of course the spacing is off, but a little spreading of the dropouts and I'm fine, but the hub itself seems to have little metal rounded ends that seem like they should fit INTO the dropout. Neither side fits by a half a milimeter, so although I can basically get the hub/wheel into the dropout, I can't slide it back to seat it in the frame.

My only idea is that maybe the powder coat is too thick in the dropout and I need to file or sand it down a bit for the hub to fit?

Man, that would suck if I can't get it to work since I just spent all this money having these wheels built up...

I'm looking for a 10 speed Centaur or above wheelset. I have lots of 6-7 speed stuff to trade!

Are the dropouts perhaps 'closed' a bit?

This is C&V, pictures are required;)

filing should do the trick. even if you have to file the actual steel just a bit. start by taking off the powder coat

Try to see exactly what's binding. There are some toothy flat faces on the hub surrounding the axle that should fit BETWEEN the dropouts. Coming out of the middle of these should be some threaded hollow rod, about 5 mm worth on each side of the wheel. These are the axle stubs, and they NEED to slide into the big long slots on your dropouts. I don't think of any of these parts as "little metal rounded ends." Not intending to belittle, but are you sure the quick releases are really loose enough for an easy test installation? Sometimes I forget to do the obvious stuff, myself!

What do you mean by "neither side fits by half a millimeter?" Are the slots half a millimeter too small for the axle stubs to go through?

I wouldn't start filing if it was mine until I know what is really wrong. Filing can probably fix it, but I'd rather understand the real problem first. Did the wheel fit before you had it powder coated, or did the old wheel fit before then? Powder coat sometimes does build up too thick. But if the dropouts are closed a bit, you need to have them opened, rather than filed. It's steel, it'll bend back safely.

I've seen and described exactly whats binding, but apparently didnt do a very good job at it. You have though:

What you describe above is exactly what I was trying to explain. Those are what don't fit in the dropouts. I have no idea if they fit before powdercoating as I just bought the wheel set today.

I dont really like the idea of scraping off powdercoat but I guess I have no other choice.

Take measurements on the hub and post up the results. It may be the powdercoat is too thick. I may be wrong but it seems to me the hub dimensions would be something of an industry standard.

I have some old Campy dropouts out in the garage. I'll edit this post in a bit once I measure them up. That may give you something to go by.

Okay, I measured an old Campy dropout from my wannabe framebuilding days. It's 10 mm inside (actual measurement .394). It's an old style long dropout with eyelets.

I then measured the threaded part of a Campy record hub (the part that slides into the dropout) and it measures 9 mm (actual measurement is .350)

Kurt

Take a good blade and shave the powdercoating from the slots in the dropouts. Simple fix. As previously said you can sand it out too. Best to use something like an emory board. Lp

..............

Sure, other wheelsets fit fine, but none of them have campy hubs or the "axle stubs" described above.

And I've already got a set of 6-7 speed wheels I need to get rid of :)

Here is what I would do, remove the skewer from the new wheel, place it along the outside the frame and check both sides independent of placing it between the stays, in other words, just test the axle into the dropout channel. If a no go, check the dropouts for slots that are parallel, measure (caliper being best) the dimension along the U fully. If too narrow, file it, most powder coat can be filed readily, use a single cut file or Swiss pattern type, an emery board might even work.

The problem after you get the axle to fit in the slot will be that the rear derailleur will not be parallel to the cogs, this can be tweaked with the wheel in place by a shop with the proper tools, but for best performance, do this weather you re-space the frame or not.

fixed. I filed down the powder in the dropouts slots a bit and it now fits like butter.

I also don't think I'm going to bother cold setting the frame because the 10 speed hub already fits pretty easily in the frame without too much effort.

thanks for the suggestions!

Glad you got it fixed. I just measured a Centaur axle and an old Record axle. They are the same diameter.

I too have this problem. I recently purchased some Vuelta Corsa Lites for my 1985 Ciocc steel frame bike and found the rear wheel would go into the(Campy) dropout, but it is very tight. I know I probably shouldn't have done this, but I very gently used my Dremel tool to file it down some. The thing that worries me is my old rear wheel seems a little loose in the dropout now? There must be a diameter difference between the two (axles).