More wheelbuilding today (details omitted).
I received a wheel built with silver Open Pro from a customer.
Starting with the front wheel.
HB-7400 32H hub, stainless steel #15 plain 6x6 Italian laced.
The spoke head has a ★ stamp,
so it's supposed to be stainless steel (a product name, not a generic term)... (more on this later).
Since I'm tearing it down anyway, it doesn't matter,
but the spoke length is on the short side, though still within acceptable range.
Torn down.
The rim will be reused, so I released the tension before cutting the spokes.
I'll do a hub overhaul.
The grease had lost its color and turned into an emulsified mess.
The HB-7400 dust cap has
a sliding grease port,
and when it's dirty you can't tell, but
the component inside the dust cap is white Delrin (probably).
↑Grease port
I slid it to open it.
When using 7400-series hubs, you need to watch that this isn't left open.
Next, the rear wheel. The rim is the same as the front.
FH-7403 32H #15 plain 6x6 Italian laced.
Spokes:
Non-freewheel side has H stamp so Starbrite
and it sticks to a magnet.
The freewheel side should be stainless, but
it sticks to a magnet.
This kind of poor differentiation
is the reason I really hate current ★ spokes,
though some people say they've improved recently.
Like I would know. I'm too scared to buy them.
If I order Starbrite and it sticks to a magnet,
are they going to replace it for free?
Also, how much they stick to the magnet differs from old Starbrite.
I can only think that either the material or the manufacturing process—or both—has changed.
Actually, the supposedly stainless spokes on the front wheel also stuck to the magnet.
↑Freewheel side spokes too long
↑Non-freewheel side is also long, but probably they used the same length spoke for both sides.
What's puzzling is that the front wheel spoke length
should be about the same as the non-freewheel side length,
so if there were enough spokes, they could have used them all for both wheels
and ended up with: front wheel OK, freewheel side too short, non-freewheel side OK.
Obviously too-short freewheel side is NG, but that would be better than sticking out like this.
Torn down.
I can definitively say this is an 8-speed FH-7403
and not the 7-speed FH-7400 based on
one thing: this left end. The actual
over-locknut dimension of this rear hub is 129.6mm, essentially 130mm,
but during this hub's era rear end width was transitioning from 126mm to 130mm,
so the left end has this shape to fit smoothly into a 126mm end with a slight spread.
The other thing is the dust cap.
The FH-7400 also has a sliding grease port,
but the internal component is black plastic,
so the hole appears black even when closed.
The hole is white starting with the 7402.
Furthermore, on the 7402 both left and right have grease-port dust caps,
but on the 7403 the freewheel side is just a plain cap
and only the non-freewheel side has a grease port.
Backing up in time: the freewheel side looks like this.
The grease is hardened and dirty, but
the bearings show no damage.
I've cleaned and regreased them, but I'm not using this one.
I set the bearing adjustment loose,
so play will develop during wheel building.
What I'm using is a Record hub from the customer.
For this era, besides 32H there were also 28H and 36H, but this is 32H.
The hub shell looks clean, and that's no accident—
the customer polished it.Abrasive residue was stuck in the flange holes.
Built.
Front wheel is CX-RAY 6x6 Italian laced.
Rear wheel is semi-comp 4x6 laced.
I'll braze the spokes later.
Actually, there's another pair today
I received a wheel built with Formula Chrono 20 from a customer.
Record hub 32H, Champion #15 plain outpoke radial laced.
I'm not going to comment on the whole "Campagnolo hubs are radial lacing forbidden" thing.
I've seen flanges break from radial lacing, but not on this hub.
In my opinion, given the spoke hole positions,
flange breakage is virtually impossible.
↑The spoke length being somewhat short, and
the fact that the radial front wheel isn't even centered well—those I do have opinions about.
The customer also asked for a hub overhaul.
The grease on the outside of the seal and
grease packed inside the hub like butter served at a restaurant
suggest—though I have no proof—that
grease is filled from the hub-shell center grease port during factory assembly.
It's impossible to get this result by applying grease from the outside.
Cleaned.
Subsequent hubs don't have grease ports and the hub-shell inner diameter and hub-shaft outer diameter are very tight.
Complete wheels have a grease guard to prevent grease from flowing into the hub shell.
Initially it was a plastic ring, but it became a ring with a membrane
pressed in together with the cone.
Next, the rear wheel. The rim is the same as the front.
Record hub 32H, Champion #15 plain 4x6 laced.
The front wheel had decent tension, but the rear is a bit loose,
especially the non-freewheel side, which is really droopy.
The spoke length is below the slot depth—out of the question.
Even if tensioned, it might barely reach the slot, so they're simply short.
It's shifted opposite to the way it would shift from normal use,
so the centering error was there from the start.
Unlike the front hub (with original grease), this was filled with Dura-Ace grease.
Since grease was seeping past the cone locknut on the back side,
I think the grease was filled via the grease port.
To apply grease to this retainer
you don't need to pack grease this thick on the inside,
and I don't think you could get this result even by working grease in from the outside.
Cleaned.
It had a Shimano-type freewheel body for the unbattened old shaft,
but the customer wants to change to a Campagnolo-type freewheel body.
Time flows backwards: this is before hub cleaning.
The part number for this unbattened shaft is FH-RE201,
and the round-hole Campagnolo-type freewheel body
(the one that came with the Record hub on the Open Pro)
is FH-RE415.
Of these, FH-RE201 isn't in the price list, so it's discontinued.
This isn't a problem because the new shaft supersedes the old one.
FH-RE415 is available, but for some reason it comes as
freewheel body + hub shaft bundle
at about ¥17,000 list price.
FH-RE415 should originally be a part number for just the freewheel body,
but somehow it's become a part number for the combination with FH-RE201.
So using the new shaft + current Campagnolo triangular-hole
freewheel body is better for both delivery time and price,
so I decided to swap in the new shaft + current freewheel body.
Built.
Front wheel is Record hub 32H, CX-RAY 6x6 Italian laced, but
the front and rear rims aren't Formula Chrono 20—
they're Mavic's so-called "red label" GP4.
Rear wheel is Record hub 32H, semi-comp 4x6 laced.
I'll braze the spokes
I received a wheel built with silver Open Pro from a customer.
Starting with the front wheel.
HB-7400 32H hub, stainless steel #15 plain 6x6 Italian laced.
The spoke head has a ★ stamp,
so it's supposed to be stainless steel (a product name, not a generic term)... (more on this later).
Since I'm tearing it down anyway, it doesn't matter,
but the spoke length is on the short side, though still within acceptable range.
Torn down.
The rim will be reused, so I released the tension before cutting the spokes.
I'll do a hub overhaul.
The grease had lost its color and turned into an emulsified mess.
The HB-7400 dust cap has
a sliding grease port,
and when it's dirty you can't tell, but
the component inside the dust cap is white Delrin (probably).
↑Grease port
I slid it to open it.
When using 7400-series hubs, you need to watch that this isn't left open.
Next, the rear wheel. The rim is the same as the front.
FH-7403 32H #15 plain 6x6 Italian laced.
Spokes:
Non-freewheel side has H stamp so Starbrite
and it sticks to a magnet.
The freewheel side should be stainless, but
it sticks to a magnet.
This kind of poor differentiation
is the reason I really hate current ★ spokes,
though some people say they've improved recently.
Like I would know. I'm too scared to buy them.
If I order Starbrite and it sticks to a magnet,
are they going to replace it for free?
Also, how much they stick to the magnet differs from old Starbrite.
I can only think that either the material or the manufacturing process—or both—has changed.
Actually, the supposedly stainless spokes on the front wheel also stuck to the magnet.
↑Freewheel side spokes too long
↑Non-freewheel side is also long, but probably they used the same length spoke for both sides.
What's puzzling is that the front wheel spoke length
should be about the same as the non-freewheel side length,
so if there were enough spokes, they could have used them all for both wheels
and ended up with: front wheel OK, freewheel side too short, non-freewheel side OK.
Obviously too-short freewheel side is NG, but that would be better than sticking out like this.
Torn down.
I can definitively say this is an 8-speed FH-7403
and not the 7-speed FH-7400 based on
one thing: this left end. The actual
over-locknut dimension of this rear hub is 129.6mm, essentially 130mm,
but during this hub's era rear end width was transitioning from 126mm to 130mm,
so the left end has this shape to fit smoothly into a 126mm end with a slight spread.
The other thing is the dust cap.
The FH-7400 also has a sliding grease port,
but the internal component is black plastic,
so the hole appears black even when closed.
The hole is white starting with the 7402.
Furthermore, on the 7402 both left and right have grease-port dust caps,
but on the 7403 the freewheel side is just a plain cap
and only the non-freewheel side has a grease port.
Backing up in time: the freewheel side looks like this.
The grease is hardened and dirty, but
the bearings show no damage.
I've cleaned and regreased them, but I'm not using this one.
I set the bearing adjustment loose,
so play will develop during wheel building.
What I'm using is a Record hub from the customer.
For this era, besides 32H there were also 28H and 36H, but this is 32H.
The hub shell looks clean, and that's no accident—
the customer polished it.
Built.
Front wheel is CX-RAY 6x6 Italian laced.
Rear wheel is semi-comp 4x6 laced.
I'll braze the spokes later.
Actually, there's another pair today
I received a wheel built with Formula Chrono 20 from a customer.
Record hub 32H, Champion #15 plain outpoke radial laced.
I'm not going to comment on the whole "Campagnolo hubs are radial lacing forbidden" thing.
I've seen flanges break from radial lacing, but not on this hub.
In my opinion, given the spoke hole positions,
flange breakage is virtually impossible.
↑The spoke length being somewhat short, and
the fact that the radial front wheel isn't even centered well—those I do have opinions about.
The customer also asked for a hub overhaul.
The grease on the outside of the seal and
grease packed inside the hub like butter served at a restaurant
suggest—though I have no proof—that
grease is filled from the hub-shell center grease port during factory assembly.
It's impossible to get this result by applying grease from the outside.
Cleaned.
Subsequent hubs don't have grease ports and the hub-shell inner diameter and hub-shaft outer diameter are very tight.
Complete wheels have a grease guard to prevent grease from flowing into the hub shell.
Initially it was a plastic ring, but it became a ring with a membrane
pressed in together with the cone.
Next, the rear wheel. The rim is the same as the front.
Record hub 32H, Champion #15 plain 4x6 laced.
The front wheel had decent tension, but the rear is a bit loose,
especially the non-freewheel side, which is really droopy.
The spoke length is below the slot depth—out of the question.
Even if tensioned, it might barely reach the slot, so they're simply short.
It's shifted opposite to the way it would shift from normal use,
so the centering error was there from the start.
Unlike the front hub (with original grease), this was filled with Dura-Ace grease.
Since grease was seeping past the cone locknut on the back side,
I think the grease was filled via the grease port.
To apply grease to this retainer
you don't need to pack grease this thick on the inside,
and I don't think you could get this result even by working grease in from the outside.
Cleaned.
It had a Shimano-type freewheel body for the unbattened old shaft,
but the customer wants to change to a Campagnolo-type freewheel body.
Time flows backwards: this is before hub cleaning.
The part number for this unbattened shaft is FH-RE201,
and the round-hole Campagnolo-type freewheel body
(the one that came with the Record hub on the Open Pro)
is FH-RE415.
Of these, FH-RE201 isn't in the price list, so it's discontinued.
This isn't a problem because the new shaft supersedes the old one.
FH-RE415 is available, but for some reason it comes as
freewheel body + hub shaft bundle
at about ¥17,000 list price.
FH-RE415 should originally be a part number for just the freewheel body,
but somehow it's become a part number for the combination with FH-RE201.
So using the new shaft + current Campagnolo triangular-hole
freewheel body is better for both delivery time and price,
so I decided to swap in the new shaft + current freewheel body.
Built.
Front wheel is Record hub 32H, CX-RAY 6x6 Italian laced, but
the front and rear rims aren't Formula Chrono 20—
they're Mavic's so-called "red label" GP4.
Rear wheel is Record hub 32H, semi-comp 4x6 laced.
I'll braze the spokes
Products Mentioned in This Article
- 🛒 Mavic Open Pro bicycle rim
- 🛒 Sapim CX-Ray bicycle spoke
- 🛒 Sapim Champion bicycle spoke
- 🛒 Formula Chrono 20 bicycle hub
* Amazon affiliate links — prices may vary
Original Japanese post: のむラボ日記 #3915