Swapping campag 8-speed freehub for 9-speed freehub
- Thread starter cycletothesea
- Start date
cycletothesea
Retro Guru
Well, I decided in an amateurish way to just go for it, and see how hard it could be.
And . . . it was pretty straightforward really. Both freewheels popped off pretty easy and was able to keep all the components together in two piles, and the two freewheels and the axles were identical in size and radius. Swapped the freewheels around and started re-assembling. Only problem I had was replacing the ball bearings inside the newer wheel hub. On the 8-speed I could take out the spindle without exposing the ball bearings, but couldn't do that on the 9-speed. Anyway, couldn't work out why the spindle wouldn't re-sit as snugly as before. Spent ages trying to work it out, and then . . . . realised that there are small bearings and bigger bearings on different sides of the hub . . doh! and I'd mixed them up. Who knew?
Got everything back together eventually and just had to re-set the pawls inside the freewheels and screw the spindle nuts back on. But, just couldn't slip the buggers in. Tried the tip about wrapping a cotton thread around and slipping it all back in tight, but as hard as I tried, I could not tie the pawls with the cotton without them slipping out or exploding loose even after greasing everything. Tried many, many times, just impossible!
So, I might take it to a local pro tomorrow, see if they have a method/tool for slotting them back in.
Got 90% of it done though, not as complicated as I thought it might be. Everything completely hot-swappable. Easy enough I think, apart from putting the pawls back. How on earth do you do that?
And . . . it was pretty straightforward really. Both freewheels popped off pretty easy and was able to keep all the components together in two piles, and the two freewheels and the axles were identical in size and radius. Swapped the freewheels around and started re-assembling. Only problem I had was replacing the ball bearings inside the newer wheel hub. On the 8-speed I could take out the spindle without exposing the ball bearings, but couldn't do that on the 9-speed. Anyway, couldn't work out why the spindle wouldn't re-sit as snugly as before. Spent ages trying to work it out, and then . . . . realised that there are small bearings and bigger bearings on different sides of the hub . . doh! and I'd mixed them up. Who knew?
Got everything back together eventually and just had to re-set the pawls inside the freewheels and screw the spindle nuts back on. But, just couldn't slip the buggers in. Tried the tip about wrapping a cotton thread around and slipping it all back in tight, but as hard as I tried, I could not tie the pawls with the cotton without them slipping out or exploding loose even after greasing everything. Tried many, many times, just impossible!
So, I might take it to a local pro tomorrow, see if they have a method/tool for slotting them back in.
Got 90% of it done though, not as complicated as I thought it might be. Everything completely hot-swappable. Easy enough I think, apart from putting the pawls back. How on earth do you do that?
Having stripped my own 10 speed hubs several times I happily waded into a mates 8 speed Record hubs. do you think that the damn thing would go back. We had been very careful to keep the balls separate to match the wear on the cones ( OTT but that what we did)
Much swearing later we stripped it right back to spot that we had mixed up one ball from each side. Grrrr.
I used grease to hold the pawls in place. A squirt of WD40 then was enough to stop them sticking. sounds and runs fine.
Lets confirm this then. A 9 speed freehub that has the same size axle as my 8 speed hub will go on that 8 speed hub. correct?
Do 9 speed hubs accept 10 speed cassettes as with Shimano. I am sure I know that but can't remember? I am about 60/40 No
I see the scope to convert some nice 8 speed wheels to suit my modern 10 speed kit.
Much swearing later we stripped it right back to spot that we had mixed up one ball from each side. Grrrr.
I used grease to hold the pawls in place. A squirt of WD40 then was enough to stop them sticking. sounds and runs fine.
Lets confirm this then. A 9 speed freehub that has the same size axle as my 8 speed hub will go on that 8 speed hub. correct?
Do 9 speed hubs accept 10 speed cassettes as with Shimano. I am sure I know that but can't remember? I am about 60/40 No
I see the scope to convert some nice 8 speed wheels to suit my modern 10 speed kit.
cycletothesea
Retro Guru
mattsccm":269myzkr said:
Well, I'm certainly no expert, but yes. I've had the 9 speed, 8 speed and their original wheels all disassembled and inspected, and apart from the differently splined freewheel hubs, everything is identical. Don't quote me on that though, no guarantees supplied with this statement! Like a previous poster has said, obviously the axles would need to be the same. My two wheelsets and freehubs were quite closely age-related which translated into compatibility.
P.
mattsccm":117gn2t8 said:
Campag even used to promote the freehub body swap as an upgrade / conversion for 9 speed - but only for late 8 speed hubs with early 9 speed bodies. If your axle and bearing dimensions are the same then it works.
Yes, 9 & 10 speed cassettes are advertised as fitting the same freehub. I've never tried fitting a 10 speed to my 1996 Record hubs mind.
cycletothesea
Retro Guru
LBS woes:
Took my 2 wheelsets and a bag of campag freewheels, springs and pawls to my LBS and asked them to slide the freewheels back on for me please. 'No problem' they say, about '10 or 15 minutes' each they say. I went back the later the same day, and found a junior mechanic, dropping the bits all over the floor before admitting he'd never seen hubs like these before, and wasn't quite sure how to do it.
I phoned his boss and asked him what was going on, he says 'sorry' and he'll do it himself in the evening. So . . . I come back the next day, and everything is fitted back on fine, until, with horror, I noticed he's fitted the freewheels back on to their original wheels, exactly as I'd taken them off two days previously . . . . aaarggh! The exact opposite of my carefully written instructions on the work ticket. So back he goes to do it all over again the next day, presumably by now, sick of the site of my freewheels.
Anyway, eventually, at third time of asking the 8 speed and 9 speed freewheels and matching cassettes have been swapped over to different wheels. Everything fits, runs and sounds just like it should. Maybe it would have been easier to tweak the drive to run the 9-speed cassette, just wasn't sure how problematical it would have been. This was supposed to have been the simpler option!
My lovely Shorter now has chrome Mavics rather than black Mavic SUPS and looks a lot better for it. It looks the business again. Love chrome wheelsets and amberwall tyres, why can't you get them anymore???
P.
Took my 2 wheelsets and a bag of campag freewheels, springs and pawls to my LBS and asked them to slide the freewheels back on for me please. 'No problem' they say, about '10 or 15 minutes' each they say. I went back the later the same day, and found a junior mechanic, dropping the bits all over the floor before admitting he'd never seen hubs like these before, and wasn't quite sure how to do it.
I phoned his boss and asked him what was going on, he says 'sorry' and he'll do it himself in the evening. So . . . I come back the next day, and everything is fitted back on fine, until, with horror, I noticed he's fitted the freewheels back on to their original wheels, exactly as I'd taken them off two days previously . . . . aaarggh! The exact opposite of my carefully written instructions on the work ticket. So back he goes to do it all over again the next day, presumably by now, sick of the site of my freewheels.
Anyway, eventually, at third time of asking the 8 speed and 9 speed freewheels and matching cassettes have been swapped over to different wheels. Everything fits, runs and sounds just like it should. Maybe it would have been easier to tweak the drive to run the 9-speed cassette, just wasn't sure how problematical it would have been. This was supposed to have been the simpler option!
My lovely Shorter now has chrome Mavics rather than black Mavic SUPS and looks a lot better for it. It looks the business again. Love chrome wheelsets and amberwall tyres, why can't you get them anymore???
P.
