shuru421

So I just got a NOS wheel set (Campagnolo Tubular Seoul Rims with Campagnolo Hubs). 126 Rear, with 7speed Dura Ace freewheel. I was wondering if I should replace the rear hub with a more modern (Cassette) hub? As giving the rear wheel a spin, it seems to have more resistance compared to other wheels I currently have, giving me the impression it won't perform as well as "newer" hubs. I have a 126 cassette hub I can replace it with and the time is NOW as its a tubular and after tires are glued, not really planning to turn back. What do you think?? Switch out? Or just keep and roll on? By the way, the new hub will be an 8 speed 126 cassette Campagnolo hub.

merziac

NOS grease may be long done by now, overhaul both and reevaluate. Like you said the time is now.

Road Fan

I would definitely take off the freewheel, get out your cone wrenches, and re-adjust the bearings on both wheels for free motion with minimal play. If you do that and you feel roughness, the hubs should be overhauled, cleaned internally, and re-assembled at least with fresh, clean grease. NOS may mean never used, but the old grease may have changed in storage since 1990 or so. They should feel like glass and have no play when clamped in a frame, and just a teeny tiny bit of play when in your hands, not clamped. Its also possible that the hubs are not actually NOS, and some overloaded or abusive riding has resulted in a bent axle, meaning the cups and cones are not correctly aligned with each other and the bearings will not be smooth over the entire rotation.

In my experience, Campagnolo 126 mm hubs of the old Record design that took freewheels were for standard-spaced freewheels with 6 speeds or narrow-spaced freewheels with 7 speeds. Not for 8-speed. If you adjust the axle position and the wheel dishing you can make one work and at least the rim align with the frame, but the chainline might be off, and with the extra dishing the spoke bracing angle will not be what the hub was designed for. With the wrong angles you could have premature spoke failures or hub flange failures. Not saying they will break, but those are not what I learned they are intended for.

I think it's less likely that the freewheel or freehub (not sure which hub you're concerned about) have internal problems, but making sure they also contain clean, juicy lube of the right kind is not a wrong step.

Fahrenheit531 

This.

Chombi1 

+1 about putting in new grease in the bearings.
As for whether a cassette hub would be better than a threaded one, I assume that the cassette hub will be more convenient to change out the freewheel on, but if your present hubset happens to be a Campy Record, the bearings on those should feel as smooth as glass, when serviced and adjusted properly. Pretty much one of the best hubsets in its time when it comes to bearing/race quality. I have Campy Record hubs on three bikes, and they are pretty much the best rolling hubs I have, other than the Mavic 500 hubs (with sealed bearings) I have on one of my French bikes.

repechage

I would have expected, Are Campagnolo hubs from the 90's as good as from the 80's? ….

If you are of large mass, then a freehub has the advantage of better bearing placement and larger diameter axle near the centerline.

Record hubs are famously long lived.
Take the freewheel off, flush it, replace the oil.
Take the hub apart, clean and note the race and cone surfaces. cones die first.
I suggest not removing the grit shields, devise a way to clean underneath, that labor spent will be 10x rewarded by not having to reset the shields.
Repack with Fresh new 1/4" quality ball bearings. Ceramic even.

The trick to adjust Campagnolo hubs is to verify the adjustment with the skwerer clamped… stack some fender washers each side to replicate the dropouts.
The peloton mechanics way was often a brazed up set of front and rear drops into two sections of tubing. Clamp, adjust, forget, the skewer in the pre lawyer lip days was even set that way, ready to go.

shuru421

So after taking apart the freewheel from the hub, its confirmed the hub is actually still nice and smooth. The freewheel on the other hand..might need a little work..
To confirm, Dura-Ace MF-7400 7 speed freewheel has a last cog threaded on? I can't seem to find 'servicing' guides for this specific freewheel.

squirtdad

Try letting Phil's Tenacious Oil soak in.

or send it to @PastorBobinnh for an overall

or if it is 13-28 sell it to me

merziac

These are wonderful hubs, I would still overhaul them, just sayin.

And "pics or it......" well, you know.

T-Mar

On the 7 speed version of the MF-7400 freewheel, the smallest cog is threaded onto the 2nd smallest cog. The 2nd smallest cog is threaded onto the freewheel body. The remaining cogs are splined.

shuru421

Awesome, thank you. And its interesting that 2 cogs on threaded..
Will be taking it apart today and leaving it overnight soaking in solvent. Freshing up time!