Replacing bearings in Campy 1999 nine speed freehub

[[email protected]]

Hi guys,

My cassette has been dragging when I backpedal. Last night, I took the
freehub assembly off the axle to grease the bearings, and found one of
the cartridge bearings has self-destructed. There appear to be three
bearings; one outboard, which is really easy to remove, then a spacer,
then another two inboard. It's one of the inner two that's failed.

I tried pressing the bearings out using a 12mm rod, to press the
bearings toward the threaded end of the freehub, but to no avail. I
note that the aluminium freehub body appears to be threaded either end,
so I could conceivably unscrew it from the steel pawl carrier. Would
this help?

Failing this, are old style (steel axle) 9 speed Chorus freehubs still
available as a spare part? The rest of the hub is in really good
condition, so I'm loathe to chuck it and buy a new hub.

Regards,
Suzy (wanting some sagelike advice before plunging into the unknown)

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

Suzy-<< Last night, I took the
freehub assembly off the axle to grease the bearings, and found one of
the cartridge bearings has self-destructed. >><BR><BR>
<< Failing this, are old style (steel axle) 9 speed Chorus freehubs still
available as a spare part? The rest of the hub is in really good
condition, so I'm loathe to chuck it and buy a new hub. >><BR><BR>

Not uncommon with this hub and it is a 1998 hub. 1999 and it was aluminum axle
ala Record.

No more freehubs available unfortunately, not new and from any suppliers I know
of in the US.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[[email protected]]

I know it's slightly perverse answering your own question on usenet,
but I figured it may be a useful thing to have in the archives for
future reference.

>From Peter's advice, I figured there was no way I was going to find a
replacement freehub assembly, so I endeavoured to fix the one I had.

Taking the outer cartridge bearing out is simple. All one needs to do
is tap the freehub on a bench, and the outer (24mm OD, 12mm ID, 6mm
thick - SKF 61901) bearing pops out, followed by a spacer.

Next, after a thorough scrub, if you look carefully inside the
assembly, you'll see a c-clip holding the inner bearings in. I had to
make a special tool to get this out, that resembles a small screwdriver
bent at 90 degrees a few millimetres from the tip. It's a little
tricky, but once you get one side of the c-clip out of it's groove, you
slip the pick tool underneath, and then you can pop it out.

Once that's done, the remaining two cartridge bearings (21mm OD, 12mm
ID, 5mm thick - SKF 61801) can be pressed out from the other side. In
my case though, the inside of the innermost one was broken, so it fell
apart once the middle bearing came out. The only way to get the
outside of the bearing out was a half-hour with a dremel and small
abrasive wheel.

So that's it. A pair of SKF 61801 bearings (with all the seals removed
except the one facing the outside of the freehub) can simply be pressed
in, followed by the c-clip, lots of grease, the spacer, and finally an
SKF 61901 bearing (with it's inner seal removed.

Hope that's of help to someone
Regards,

Suzy (hates throwing stuff out)

 

[Jay Beattie]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I know it's slightly perverse answering your own question on
usenet,
> but I figured it may be a useful thing to have in the archives
for
> future reference.
>
> >From Peter's advice, I figured there was no way I was going to
find a
> replacement freehub assembly, so I endeavoured to fix the one I
had.
>
> Taking the outer cartridge bearing out is simple. All one
needs to do
> is tap the freehub on a bench, and the outer (24mm OD, 12mm ID,
6mm
> thick - SKF 61901) bearing pops out, followed by a spacer.
>
> Next, after a thorough scrub, if you look carefully inside the
> assembly, you'll see a c-clip holding the inner bearings in. I
had to
> make a special tool to get this out, that resembles a small
screwdriver
> bent at 90 degrees a few millimetres from the tip. It's a
little
> tricky, but once you get one side of the c-clip out of it's
groove, you
> slip the pick tool underneath, and then you can pop it out.





>
> Once that's done, the remaining two cartridge bearings (21mm
OD, 12mm
> ID, 5mm thick - SKF 61801) can be pressed out from the other
side. In
> my case though, the inside of the innermost one was broken, so
it fell
> apart once the middle bearing came out. The only way to get
the
> outside of the bearing out was a half-hour with a dremel and
small
> abrasive wheel.
>
> So that's it. A pair of SKF 61801 bearings (with all the seals
removed
> except the one facing the outside of the freehub) can simply be
pressed
> in, followed by the c-clip, lots of grease, the spacer, and
finally an
> SKF 61901 bearing (with it's inner seal removed.
>
> Hope that's of help to someone

Suzy, your escapades are more fun than re-runs of "McGuyver." So
how much for the bearings? I figure anywhere from about $5-15 a
pop USD, depending on the quality. Lastly, why did you have to
cut out the cartridge ring? Couldn't you tap it out? -- Jay
Beattie.

 

[M-gineering]

[email protected] wrote:
>
>
> Once that's done, the remaining two cartridge bearings (21mm OD, 12mm
> ID, 5mm thick - SKF 61801) can be pressed out from the other side. In
> my case though, the inside of the innermost one was broken, so it fell
> apart once the middle bearing came out. The only way to get the
> outside of the bearing out was a half-hour with a dremel and small
> abrasive wheel.
>

If you have access to a lathe it's much easier to improvise a bearing
puller which expands to clamp on the race track. Basically you make a
tube with a ridge to fit the bearing race, slit it with a hacksaw so you
can knock it in the bearing, fill the tube with a rod so it can't go out
again and remove the assembly.
--

Marten

 

[[email protected]]

Jay Beattie wrote:

> Suzy, your escapades are more fun than re-runs of "McGuyver." So
> how much for the bearings? I figure anywhere from about $5-15 a
> pop USD, depending on the quality. Lastly, why did you have to
> cut out the cartridge ring? Couldn't you tap it out? -- Jay
> Beattie.

The smaller ones were AU$20 each, and the large one was AU$15. That's
AU$55, or around US$40. They're not cheap (but are cheaper than a new
hub).

The last bearing sits on a shelf, so I couldn't easily get behind it.
I could have made a tool to get it out, as suggested in another post,
but the dremel was handy. Once I'd cut most of the way through one
side of the ring, it came out fairly easily.

I like knowing that there's noting on a bike that can defeat me. I
realise I could have just bought a new hub, but I only relaced this one
onto a new rim about six or eight months ago, and it was still in
perfect condition (except for this bearing) so I figured it was worth
putting some time into fixing it.

Regards,

Suzy

 

[A Muzi]

[email protected] wrote:

> Jay Beattie wrote:
>
>
>>Suzy, your escapades are more fun than re-runs of "McGuyver." So
>>how much for the bearings? I figure anywhere from about $5-15 a
>>pop USD, depending on the quality. Lastly, why did you have to
>>cut out the cartridge ring? Couldn't you tap it out? -- Jay
>>Beattie.
>
>
> The smaller ones were AU$20 each, and the large one was AU$15. That's
> AU$55, or around US$40. They're not cheap (but are cheaper than a new
> hub).
>
> The last bearing sits on a shelf, so I couldn't easily get behind it.
> I could have made a tool to get it out, as suggested in another post,
> but the dremel was handy. Once I'd cut most of the way through one
> side of the ring, it came out fairly easily.
>
> I like knowing that there's noting on a bike that can defeat me. I
> realise I could have just bought a new hub, but I only relaced this one
> onto a new rim about six or eight months ago, and it was still in
> perfect condition (except for this bearing) so I figured it was worth
> putting some time into fixing it.

Good for you, both perseverance an innovation.

Suzy, try something like this, easily fabricated. I remove
the inner Campagnolo cassette bearing easily.
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfromthepast/HUBCUPTL.JPG


Bearing price and quality vary a lot for any given size.
Also note that this series of bearing is usually delivered
with an oil coating but no proper grease so you should lift
a seal and fill it before installation.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[Ronsonic]

On 6 Oct 2004 19:02:52 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>I like knowing that there's noting on a bike that can defeat me. I
>realise I could have just bought a new hub, but I only relaced this one
>onto a new rim about six or eight months ago, and it was still in
>perfect condition (except for this bearing) so I figured it was worth
>putting some time into fixing it.

I am so madly in love and I have no idea what you look like.

Ron

 

[Jay Beattie]

<Ronsonic> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 6 Oct 2004 19:02:52 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>
> >I like knowing that there's noting on a bike that can defeat
me. I
> >realise I could have just bought a new hub, but I only relaced
this one
> >onto a new rim about six or eight months ago, and it was still
in
> >perfect condition (except for this bearing) so I figured it
was worth
> >putting some time into fixing it.
>
> I am so madly in love and I have no idea what you look like.

I think she is taken, Ron. Just look for the guy with clean
fingernails riding the bike that runs real smooth-like. -- Jay
Beattie.

 

[Colnago C40]

Unearthed this post and found the right info. Thanx all especially Suzy for the bearing info..............

a happy and completely overhauled hub and freewheel