Iwf

I’m building up a road bike from an old frame I have. So far far I’ve got all the bits I need except wheels. I decide way back on campo mechs. In looking at sites like eBay the majority of wheels sold have Shimano hubs.

a simple question then

Can I change the hub to fit a Campo cassette? I read of things called free hubs, but don’t know whether all wheels have a free hub which can easily be changed.

thanks in advance

dsbrantjr

It is a property of a particular hub design whether its freehub body can be swapped between Shimano- and Campagnolo-compatible types. Most cannot.

Andrew R Stewart 

To my knowledge there are no freehubs compatible with Campy cassettes. But if you're OK with retaining the Shimano hub/freehub body/cassette there are shifter cable pull adaptors that allow Campy shifters/ders and Shimano cassettes. The JTech Shiftmates are such a device. There's another brand out there too but forget what brand. I use the Shiftmates on 5 of my bikes and have zero issues with them. But like any adaption the set up is the detail that makes the difference. No problem for me but I have head of others who have either picked the wrong Shiftmate ( a few different versions depending on what combo of parts is in play) or can't follow directions. Andy

To add- I don't know why one would want to limit their gearing selections to Campy's cassette range offers, Shimano has a far larger number of choices and in may opinions their cog/teeth profiles shift better.

Jtek ShiftMate Gear Shifting Adapter for Shimano Campagnolo and SRAM components

AnkleWork

If you're willing to swap hubs, you would be far ahead to assemble the wheels in the first place from the components you want.

I must continue to believe that you can find suitable complete wheels for purchase.

CliffordK

Details... Details... Details...

As @Andrew R Stewart; states, Shimano does not sell Campagnolo freehubs for their hubs.

Many other brands sell both Campagnolo and Shimano compatible freehubs. For example ZIPP sells both, and one can convert from one to another quite easily (with the purchase of a few parts), and perhaps depending on year of manufacture.

I think there are manufactures that sell Campagnolo compatible cassettes for Shimano freehubs, or you might be able to swap spacers to make your own.

Many people have also mixed Shimano 11 speed and Campagnolo 11 speed with favorable results.

There is a lot of information on this page which both explains why there are issues, as well as specific equipment components that may work.

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Bicycl...ing_Dimensions

Iwf

Thanks all.

what I was wanting to do was to buy a wheel set with a Shimano hub and by changing the hub be able to fit a campo hub and cassette. The replies suggest I can’t and though many wheels can either be bought with either hub once built they can’t be changed.

very interesting link to the ratio page. Understanding it is another matter

thanks again

Andrew R Stewart 

Almost. As we tried to say, Shimano won't produce a Campy compatible freehub (why support your competition?) But there are other brands (Bontrager, Mavic being two we deal with) that do. Sometimes one has to buy the stock freehub body (nearly always Shimano) version and also purchase/swap out to the Campy body. Sometimes the wheel is available with Campy right off the bat. Often when swapping a Shimano body to a Campy one the wheel needs a slight redishing as the axle width can grow by a mm or two as the Campy body can be a tad wider. Andy

CliffordK

There is confusing terminology here.

HUB... vs FREEHUB.

HUB is the whole center part of the wheel.
FREEHUB is specifically what the cassette attaches to.

In many cases you can do a hub swap easily enough. Remove the rim from the old wheel, and lace new spokes to the new hub (big reason would be to match the front and rear rims).

HOWEVER... even that has many caveats. For example, I think Campagnolo may sell some "generic" hubs for J-bend spokes. But, their big push is a fairly proprietary 21 spoke wheel.

Shimano also sells a lot of fairly generic J-bend hubs. But, many of their mid to high-end complete wheels have unique characteristics that would make a hub swap problematic. I think the RS10/RS11 wheels use a straight-pull 20/24 spoke lacing. that could probably could be respoked despite the oversized spoke nipples. On the other hand, I believe the recent Ultegra & Dura Ace wheels use a reverse mounted spoke with the "nipple" to the inside and the spoke head to the outside. That would be much harder to relace.

You should be fine using off-brand cassettes if you're using 11 speed (and perhaps 12 speed).

Iwf

Andy

thanks. Exactly the answer I needed. It was actually Mavic I was thinking about , not wheels made by Shimano. So I buy a set of Mavic wheels with the shamy body then swap out the body for a chamy body, understand the possible need for redishing.

apologies for using the wrong language.

i guess though I’d might be better waiting on a set of wheels with the campy body ?

HillRider

Absolutely, do it once, do it right.

RGMN

What Campag do you plan on putting on? If you go with 11 sp Campag just use an 11 speed Shimano cassette on the hub. The cog spacing is close enough to be work fine over the whole range.

Iwf

So either buy a wheel with a Campo hub or a wheel with a Shimano with a 11 speed cassette ?

actually the first use will be with a wahoo trainer, so I’ll get it with a shim 11 speed cassette then see how I get on.

thanks all for the great advice and explanations

TiHabanero

I run Campy 11 speed record shifters with chorus derailleurs and use an 11 speed shimano cassette. Shifts perfectly. Campagnolot cassettes are very expensive and don't shift any better than shimano in the 11 speed set up.

big john

The 11 speed cassettes are similar in spacing between Campagnolo and Shimano. 10 speed not so much. I have a set of Mavic wheels with their hubs and I have both Shimano and Campagnolo freehub bodies for the rear. I put the 10 speed Campagnolo wheel on my Shimano 10 speed bike once and it works in some gears but makes noise in others and does not shift right, (duh).

I have some Super Record hubs and they are standard j-spoke 32 hole, not sure what year they are, but I have them laced to Open Pro rims and they have been pretty dependable.

alcjphil

With a Mavic wheel, redishing isn't necessary when you change the freehub body since the Shimano freehub body was already the same width as the replacement Campagnolo freehub body

zacster

I've made a Campy 10sp setup work on a Shimano 11sp freehub by adding .2mm spacers between all the loose cogs on an Ultegra cassette. I had to do this because my Kickr Core trainer only came with an 11sp Shimano freehub. It works very well.

If you are buying wheels OTOH, you can just buy the type of wheel you want. 11sp is compatible across brands though and really makes it easy. Freehub splines haven't changed, so 9, 10 and 11 speed are the same within brand, only the length has changed. The cassette still has to match the freehub by brand as you won't be able to put a Campy cassette on a Shimano freehub or vice versa.

Wilfred Laurier

Actually, the whole assembly (axle, body, freewheel mechanism) is the HUB.
Shimano calls their HUBS with integrated freewheel mechanism a FREEHUB
The part containing the freewheel mechanism that is included as part of the FREEHUB but is replaceable is called the FREEHUB BODY

/pedantry