sbarner 

No, the cracks were not there when the hub was new. As dddd pointed out, stamped bearing cups are rounded on the backside as well, yet pressed into a counterbore that has a square shoulder, leaving it unsupported in the area of greatest stress. This isn't a problem at all under normal use, but it leaves a space for the cup to deform into under the severe stress caused by a loose right cone self-tightening into the hub. It is this deformation that causes the radial cracking. This is not a design defect, as the bearing is going to fail under such a severe load anyway. Interestingly, the Brits had an elegant solution to this that was phased out in the early 1970s and that was to put a shoulder on the axle on the right side. You screwed the cone tight to the shoulder and did all disassembly/adjustment on the left cone. The problem with this was that you had even bigger problems on the front if you installed the wheel backwards, especially when they eliminated the locknuts, which they often did. Some of these hubs also incorporated the first wheel safety retention mechanisms, but I digress.

I really like Bulgie's special tool, but it only will work on Campy and other better-quality hubs that have a recess in the hub shell behind the bearing cup. Even if you could find a bearing cup the right diameter (it needs to be within about 0.001" diameter), or a donor hub, you can't get any purchase on the cup to push it out. Hub replacement is the only viable option. I've run into this problem even with some early Dura Ace hubs. I took a standard remover for cartridge bearings, spent a few minutes grinding off the corner, and use that to get behind the cup on Campy hubs. Bulgie's idea is better, but this one works well and it's a rare job these days.