Campag 32h hubs on a touring bike??

John77

Hello all

I'm overhauling my touring bike, and was thinking of getting a new set of wheels built around a pair of Chorus 32h hubs that I have lying around. While I'm light enough myself (70kg), I usually go fully-loaded on the touring bike - I'd have two large panniers & a tent over the back wheels (in addition to two smaller panniers on the front).

My current set-up uses 36h XT hubs, so just wondering if 32h will be strong enough?

satanas

First problem is that XT hubs will be 135mm spacing and Chorus will be 130mm.

Next and biggest problem is that the two hubs take totally different types of cassettes which are not interchangeable.

Then there's the issue of wheel strength.

FWIW, I weigh ~63kg and have had reasonable success with touring on 32 hole hubs on both the road bike and the MTB, the latter including some pretty horrendous roads in the Indian Himalaya. However, I have built wheels professionally, I am careful, I have a smooth riding style and don't tend to break things, and I don't carry any more stuff than can possibly be avoided. For touring, more spokes and less dish is always better. 32h should be fine on the front, but chances of problems are much higher at the rear. Since there's sod all difference in weight and aerodynamic drag (given that you'll be carrying front and rear panniers) I'd stick with 36h given the choice.