silky

Well, progress has been slow but steady. I made the expected mistakes for someone inexperienced, ignorant, and a little dim-witted: I lost bearings out of the headset and had no idea how many to use when reassembling. After several hours of research I dug up multiple answers and settled on one that seems to be working well. My biggest question, now, is what to do about the hubs. The race on the rear axle is pitted, and I'm not sure if it's okay to use now (I still can't attach photos, so I uploaded one to my album). I haven't found any indication of brand for the hubs, so I don't even know what to look for with a replacement. I went ahead and reassembled it with new bearings, and it seems functional. Is this okay to use until I find a replacement?

I've gotten the impression from reading about the Grand Sports/Gran Sport that the wheels on this bike are the biggest weakness. I replaced the tires with Paselas, but should I be looking for new hubs/rims as well? If so, what should I be looking for?

Thank you!

steelbikeguy

Pitted cones aren't great, but probably don't mean that you have to quit using them now. It does mean that you'll have to quit using them eventually, though. Definitely start looking for new cones, or new hubs or wheels.

I think my '74 (or '75?) Gran Sport came with Normandy hubs. Nothing fancy, and they weren't designed for a lot of use. They were quickly replaced with some Shimano 600 hubs, which were a bit better. Eventually those were replaced with Campy Record hubs, which I'm still using more than 40 years later.
I'm not sure what is available to you, but one sign of a good hub is the near lack of roughness when you spin the axle. After being used to cheaper hubs, the silky smooth feel of a Campy Record hub was amazing!

Steve in Peoria

silky

Thanks for the info. I will start looking, although I'm not looking forward to building new wheels after my most recent attempts to true-up my current wheels. I may opt to hire-out that piece.

Are there good alternatives to the Campy hubs without the price premium?

silky

My stickers faded quite a bit in the OA bath. I think I left it in a little too long.

merziac

My workaround for going bad hubs is thick auto axle grease, this can often buy a lot of time if you set them up right and stay on top of it.

Campy are of course the gold standard, they can often be easily found on bikes that can be considered "donor's" for cheap/er if you get a bit lucky, patient and temper your expectations on pricing.

Guess we were typing at the same time.

WOW!

Great job, that looks fantastic!

steelbikeguy

hmmm... I've mostly settled on Campy, and they've never been cheap. However, maybe you can get Shimano Dura-Ace or SunTour Superbe at a cheaper price?
The ads for the early Dura-Ace definitely impressed me!



There must be some other good European hubs too. Nothing comes to mind right now, though.

Steve in Peoria

silky

Thanks! I think I found a similar solution for bad hubs through dumb luck. I started with white lithium grease and then overtightened the hubs when I reassembled them. I thought the grease was the problem, so I took it apart, cleaned it, and used marine grease. I got a pointer about not tightening them too much before I reassembed. The end result seems to work pretty well.

I guess I'm not in any hurry, so I'll see if I can find a good deal on the Campy over the winter. After only a couple of days of looking prices seem to be all over the place. I also started looking at old bikes to salvage for parts, and I now see why people on this forum seem to accumulate so many bikes. I'd better be careful.

merziac

You're welcome

Yep, big time touchy feely work your way through it, Also always remember they tighten up when mounted in the frame with QR tightened down and you have to hands on the axle, not the wheel as it diffuses the roughness and can minimize it.

steelbikeguy

I haven't shopped for Campy hubs, but I have been picking up some SunTour Cyclone rear derailleurs. I see ebay starting prices nearing $100, but I've also picked up some for $30. Sometimes it's as if no one else is looking for one, and a nice derailleur doesn't get any other bids.
A quick search brings up a pair of low flange Campy Record hubs currently at $45... but there are 12 people watching. I may have to watch it just to see what it sells for.

I posted an ad for the Dura-Ace hubs, which showed the lovely cone. For comparison, I feel like I should show the cones from one of my Record hubs. Like the Dura-Ace, the cones are sooo smooth and precise!! So wonderful! The serrated locknuts are a nice feature too, since they really grip a chromed dropout well.




Steve in Peoria

rustystrings61 

The most common stock wheels on these bikes were Normandy Sport high-flange quick release hubs laced to Weinmann 27-in alloy rims. If the pits are on the cone that is threaded onto the axle, and not the bearing race pressed into the hub shell, I think pretty much any of the Atom/Maillard/Normandy hub cones will work just fine, and they're common and not too hard to find. The 1972 catalog lists Normandy (Luxe) Competition hubs, which used a cone that was not easily found 50 years ago and is essentially unobtainium today. That said, my '76 Puch fitted with these has some nasty pits on the cone; figuring I would use it until I could find better, I repacked it with nice black grease with some moly-slip like stuff in it and dialed in the best adjustment I could. It is shocking how smooth and fast that bike coasts on 27-in Paselas at 70 psi.

The Normandy Sport hub doesn't get a lot of respect, but they're better than people give them credit for being. Q/C was uneven, but if you find a good set (or good replacement internals) I think they produce a very nice ride.

Classtime 

Your G. S. Looks great. Consider Shimano 600 hubs for your wheel build. Plenty of them still on rims on Craigslist.