Inside my Campagnolo freehub - how to fix?

cycletothesea

Retro Guru
Has anybody got experience of the insides of a campag freehub with a loose ball bearing cage. On mine the assembly is just a little loose causing the freehub to wobble ever so slightly on the hub. The only movement inside the freehub is where the cage (pictured) with the ball bearings runs around the inside. The only problem is that I estimate the ball bearings to be about 2mm and the next bearing size up that I can find online is 2.38mm. Has anybody had a similar issue?

My local bike shop just gave up entirely and said I have to buy a new hub/freehub assembly and have the wheel rebuilt, which seems a bit extreme, but I guess if the inner run is as worn as the bearings then it's game over.
 

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That freehub takes cartridge bearings,two with a spacer between,yours has come apart.Very carefully tap the race thats left in the freehub out.Then simply buy a new bearing and replace.Not sure whats up with your shop but we do this all the time.
If that's more than you want to do then post it to me and I'll do it for the cost of the bearing and return postage.Bearings are cheap enough,or you could put a stainles one in.jm.
 
Re: Re:

jm":296rky0i said:
That freehub takes cartridge bearings,two with a spacer between,yours has come apart.Very carefully tap the race thats left in the freehub out.Then simply buy a new bearing and replace.Not sure whats up with your shop but we do this all the time.
If that's more than you want to do then post it to me and I'll do it for the cost of the bearing and return postage.Bearings are cheap enough,or you could put a stainles one in.jm.

Hi jm, I only removed the one set of bearings from the top of the hub, underneath there's a spacer, about an inch deep, that just rests on the bottom. The bearing race, and the loose cage that contain the bearings sat on top of that.

So, I'm a little puzzled. Had an exhaustive look online and couldn't find anything similar to replace with. However, if you're sure you can fix it I will happily post it to you and PayPal the cost of the new bearing. Let me know if you're sure, and message me your address.

Paul
 
It is called time vs reward. If the bearing has come apart getting the inner race out can be tricky as it can be seized in place. Soaking in plusgas can help and time comsuming. You may have time to spare in day i dont i would not waste the time on this job.

This job should cost more than the cost of a bearing. The last time i tried getting one of these broken up bearings out i gave up after an hour of tapping away.
 
Ah . . . I see, the bearing race that's visible in the picture at the top of the hub needs to come out too - But I don't see why the outer race would need to be removed - surely it needs to be stationary and solid for the bearings to run against?? The black colour race in the picture seems to be part of the hub itself.
 
It need to be removed because it was part of a sealed bearing that has fallen apart. you can't regrease the bearings on these freehubs, only replace the sealed ones. that should be relatively easy, unless as appears to have happened here, the sealed bearing unit has come (or been taken) apart
 
He's right. It's a pair of sealed bearings, inner and outer with a spacer tube between that the axle goes through. The bearings are cheap (£5+ ish depending on quality from a bearing supplier). I did a replacement of a bearing identical to your a fortnight ago on my Veloce hub. A screwdriver end against the outer race, then tap gently and progressively round the edges and out it will pop.
 
Re:

You might want to consider replacing the inner bearing too, as whilst it's not as vulnerable as the outer bearing, it does wear over time.

The only problem with that is that the lower bearing is retailed by a c-clip that is not easy to remove - there are ways to do it which are fairly straightforward but possibly not very consumer-friendly - it depends on how confident a tool-user you are.

Please email us for details if you are interested. Email address below.

Alternatively, we offer a service in the UK to do the job for users - we charge £40.00 for the full job including return carriage within the UK and the use of either EZO or SKF bearings of the correct tolerance spec (rather than generics that tend to wear faster and where the fitting tolerances are unknown). Please email at velotechcycling"at"aim"dot"com if you'd like to follow that direction.
 
Re: Re:

jm":3pzsmcyh said:
That freehub takes cartridge bearings,two with a spacer between,yours has come apart.Very carefully tap the race thats left in the freehub out.Then simply buy a new bearing and replace.Not sure whats up with your shop but we do this all the time.
If that's more than you want to do then post it to me and I'll do it for the cost of the bearing and return postage.Bearings are cheap enough,or you could put a stainles one in.jm.

I have to thank John at his bike shop in Newlyn who offered to fix this for me. My LBS in Chiswick gave up by saying that 'it's rusted inside, you to replace the whole hub' - and I actually thought they knew what they were talking about. I've never opened up a freehub before so didn't know what I was looking for. User 'jm' put me right and put a very prominent bike shop in London to shame.
 
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