Campag freehub body, which do I need?

shaw8670

I have a rear Chorus hub (the thick silver one that was made from about 1998-2006). I ordered a new freehub. The freehub (inner) side has a bush in it that is not round (thickness varies) The old one does not have this. This bush looks like if it was knocked out the freehub would fit. I expect there is some explanation, like I have bought a freehub body for the wrong year of hub. Can anyone help?

mercia_man

I have nearly identical silver Record hubs from the same era, the ones with a lubrication port covered by a spring clip, oversized alloy axle and cones that adjust by an alloy collar locked in place by a tiny allen screw. The alloy freehub split along one of the splines (a known issue). The modern beefed up replacement freehub (post 2006) does not fit because of the different shape where it meets the hub. I think the old design has a round back hole in the freehub body where it fits to the axle, the new one has a machined triangular shape.

But the good news is that a modern freehub/axle assembly will drop straight in your old hub. I discovered this doing a bit of internet research when my old freehub split. To check it out, I dismantled the innards of some modern Neutron wheels and found the freehub/axle worked fine in my old hub shell. In a Ribble sale, I picked up a modern black Record 32-hole rear hub complete with quick release for around £90. It was then just a question of putting the complete new freehub and axle in my old hub shell. A simple job. I was left with a spare hub body, bearings and QR skewer.

Just had a quick look on Cycling UK forum where the topic is discussed. http://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?t=107604

shaw8670

Thanks, good to know that there are people more anoraky than me (in a good way) !!!!

The triangulated bit looks like a bush. I wonder if I knock it out, would the FH body just slide on? The micrometer would suggest that it would then be the same?

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply. I take it the replacement axle assembly option is easier than getting the right FH? I may just get the new bearings and retaining wire for the original FH and replace them as an easier option and keep the new FH in case I need it for some of my more modern stuff?

mercia_man

Just had a look at the pix on the Cycling UK forum and it does look like you might be able to knock out the triangulated bit. Personally, I would just buy a new hub and stick the modern freehub/axle assembly in your old hubs. As you say, having a spare modern freehub may prove useful in future.

I don't think you can get the old style freehubs. At least, I couldn't find any for sale when I had my issues a few years ago. Buying a complete modern Record hub seems to be the way to get the bits you need to keep your old Chorus on the road - they certainly are more attractive to my eyes than the modern fat-bodied black Record ones. I seem to remember this topic coming up some time ago on this forum. A member called keezx (I think he is Dutch or Flemish) posted a link to a seller who was offering modern freehub/axle assemblies cheaper than buying a complete Record hub. But buying a complete hub and using the internals would seem to be the easiest solution. You just remove the freehub still attached to the axle from your old hub and replace with freehub still attached to axle from your new hub. It just slots straight in. I also used the new bearings. As someone says on the Cycling UK forum, you can always use the superfluous black hub body as a paperweight!