Hope or Campag Hubs

shaw8670

Hope seem to have soft freehub bodies, but easily replaceable bearing cartridges. Campag have old fashioned non sealed bearings. What other hubs are worth considering about this price point?

cycleclinic

Nothing really, for me it the record hubs all the way so long as you don't mind black 32H hubs that is. Campagnolo record hubs have very well sealed angular contact bearings. My own record and chorus hubs cope with wet weather quite well but no letting water in.

Ultegra hubs are cheaper and abit heavier but every bit as reliable. Dura Ace 9000 are a little bit more expensive and Record standard.

ugo.santalucia

Soft alloy splines are not a real problem... never had to replace a free hub because it was dented. Moreover, if you have a Campagnolo group set, the splines are deep and won't get dented... so buy Hope with confidence if that's what you prefer

passout

I've found Hope hubs to be excellent - no issues. Good seals. Noisy freewheel though, which I quite like - sounds like engineering precision! Never had campag. I'd guess both option (plus Shimano) would be sound.

Ber Nard

thecycleclinic wrote:

Nothing really, for me it the record hubs all the way so long as you don't mind black 32H hubs that is. Campagnolo record hubs have very well sealed angular contact bearings. My own record and chorus hubs cope with wet weather quite well but no letting water in.

Ultegra hubs are cheaper and abit heavier but every bit as reliable. Dura Ace 9000 are a little bit more expensive and Record standard.

Can't help but think Campag are missing a trick by not offering Record hubs in a polished finish.

ugo.santalucia

Ber Nard wrote:

Can't help but think Campag are missing a trick by not offering Record hubs in a polished finish.

Considering they only care about full on UCI compliant race bikes and don't cater for any other form of cycling, I am surprised they still offer hubs at all, that have nothing in common with that

bikeus mikeus

Hope are so easy to service too.

cycleclinic

They used to offer silver hubs. I have a set they are sublime. I am not sure why Campagnolo still make hubs either. I still maintain they are best hubs in production given the replaceable bearing cup. Essentially you cannot wear out a campagnolo hub as the HB-100 service kit replace all the internal that can wear.

Both Hope and Campagnolo hubs are easy to service, in fact all hubs are easy to service.

mercia_man

You are right. The old silver pre-2006 curvy Campag hubs are a thing of beauty. I run a pair of Record 36-hole hubs from around 2001 on my touring bike. Servicing them and taking them apart is so easy. Adjusting the bearings for play with the locking collar is simple - so much easier than the cone spanner system. I like the fact I can grease them through the little hole in the hub body covered by a spring clip. It all feels and looks high quality and the hubs run so smoothly. I much prefer the appearance to those dull black modern Record hubs with the fat body.

Hopefully, I'll still be using them when I'm too old to ride any more because everything is replaceable. I did fear I might have to get a new back wheel when the alloy freehub body cracked a couple of years ago. Looking on the Internet, this has happened to a few people. The design has been beefed up since then. The latest freehub body will not fit the old hubs. But (this is thanks to Internet forums) I found the solution was to buy a modern Record 32 hub cheap in a Ribble sale, strip it down and insert axle and freehub straight into the old hub. This left me with a bare shell, a skewer and various spares.

cycleclinic

'the RE415 freehubs for these old hubs is still made but expensive, but cheaper than a whole new record rear hub.

mercia_man

thecycleclinic wrote:

'the RE415 freehubs for these old hubs is still made but expensive, but cheaper than a whole new record rear hub.

That's interesting to hear, Malcolm. I see you have them for sale on your eBay site. Nice to know it is possible to get them if you know where to go. Small independents like you are brilliant for spares to keep older or more unusual stuff working.

I couldn't find a source when I needed my new freehub. So I tested out my later model freehub and axle from some Neutron wheels in my old Record wheels, found they fitted fine and so ordered a complete new Record hub. As it was in a sale, it was a similar price to the RE415 freehub kit. So I was able to fix my wheel and get a spare skewer, bearings etc as a bonus.

I had a similar problem when I needed new non-cartridge bearings for my old style Stronglight A4 headset. Eventually, thanks to a CTC forum thread, I found them for sale from a chap in Holland called Mario who seemed to have stockpiled all Stronglight's old stock!

ugo.santalucia

Mercia Man wrote:

I found them for sale from a chap in Holland called Mario who seemed to have stockpiled all Stronglight's old stock!

Mario Verhoeven of course! A good acquaintance if you need old stuff... both myself and Monty Dog ended up buying the same CInelli hairnet helmet from Mario!

mercia_man

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Mercia Man wrote:

I found them for sale from a chap in Holland called Mario who seemed to have stockpiled all Stronglight's old stock!

Mario Verhoeven of course! A good acquaintance if you need old stuff... both myself and Monty Dog ended up buying the same CInelli hairnet helmet from Mario!

Yes that's him. Just looked up his site - I'd forgotten Mario's full name - and he's still got three sets of those headset bearings left! I made a mistake - It's Stronglight A9, not A4. Mario was a good bloke to deal with and his prices were not expensive.

shaw8670

Thank you for all the replies. A