I was cleaning a customer's old Campagnolo hub and found the bearing cup was actually aluminum, not steel.

I was overhauling a vintage road bike from the late 80s, and the rear hub felt gritty. When I pressed the old cup out, it was way lighter than expected. A quick check with a magnet confirmed it was aluminum, which I'd never seen in a high-load cup before. I looked it up in an old Campy tech document online, and sure enough, some of their Record hubs from that era used a specific aluminum alloy. Has anyone else run into this and know the best way to source a replacement if it's worn?

2 comments

2 Comments

sanchez.mary13d ago

Yeah, those old aluminum cups are a surprise, I found the same thing on a Nuovo Record hub last year.

hugo_coleman2813d ago

Man, that's wild. I've only ever seen steel cups too. It makes you wonder what they were thinking back then, right? I had a similar shock with an old bottom bracket once, but it was a different brand. The threads were totally stripped because the aluminum just gave up. Makes you really check every part on these old bikes twice.