Depends which cartridge bearing wheels you have.
Wheels designed after 2015 all have a preload adjuster on the axle, those designed prior don't.
Bear in mind Campag don't refresh the full range of wheels every year so it's down to the design year, not the date you bought the wheels.
You can see a small decal on every wheel with a QR Code on one side and usually three sets of digits next to it. The middle set tells you the year of design - so a wheel WH15-xxxx is a 2015 design, WH17-xxxx is a 2017 design and so on. Sometimes that middle number is missing, in which case you'll need to email one of the Service Centres with the 7-digit number at the top - we can x-reference that to a year of design.
It sounds as if the OP has the type with no preload adjuster - just squirting grease into the bearings won't do anything, other than prevent corrosion - it'll spread out onto the balls into a layer a few microns thick but it won't fill the gap that bearing wear has created!
If it's the non-preload adjuster type, fit new bearings BUT ... either get the correct parts from Campag (HB-SC013) or, if you want to buy a third party bearing, be careful - make sure that you are buying a "name" bearing from someone like EZO, SKF, etc and that the source that you are buying from is reputable - local bearing factors generally being a safer bet than "anything-you-can-sell-I-can-sell-cheaper" bearing merchants on the Internet. Many years of servicing hundreds of sets of sealed bearings have taught me that the sizing tolerances are not well applied, especially by the very cheap pattern bearing makers - reputable companies like EZO, SKF etc are very careful about sizing, strictly applying the ISO standard, so the interference fit that you should have in your hub really will be the correct amount of interference, not an doo-dah in a bucket fit, or super-tight (which often results in a bearing that binds up). Go to a reputable source because counterfeiting of "name" bearings is rife. It might cost a couple of pounds more but at least it'll be *right* ...
The procedure for servicing Campag hub bearings - which are basically the same as most others - is:
- Using 2 x 17 mm spanners, undo the axle end nut on the front hub, a 5mm allen key in the gear side & a 17 mm spanner on the non-gear side on the rear axle.
- The wheel axle will then slide out. Occasionally it needs a tap with a mallet as it's alight interference fit into the bearings.
In the front wheel, it comes out as just a plain steel shaft, the rear will come out the gear side with the cassette body still attached.There is a spacer under the cassette body. Don't lose it, they are not normally available as a spare part. There is a spacer on the non-gear-side too - same applies.
- Use a 12mm ID bearing remover to punch the old bearings out - we do not recommend "walking" them out from the back with a drift - you can damage the hub, or worse, if the bearings are very worn, you can end up removing the cone, balls and ball carrier but not the cup. Then you are in a world of pain.
- Between the bearings is a sleeve, that will come out when the first bearing comes out.
- Liberally grease the inside of the hub shell, all the way through - the gap between the bore through the hub shell and the inner sleeve should ideally be filled with grease. If you are using a third party bearing with two seals (2RS type bearings) you do not really need to do this.
- Make sure there is grease in the bearing seats so that the bearings will slide into position cleanly and with the minimum chance of any swarf being raised as you press them into place.
- Position the 1st bearing onto the correct sized drift on a bearing press, slide the sleeve over the shaft of the press and pass it through the hub, then position the second bearing and the correct drift. Make sure that if you are using the Campag bearings, the "open" side of the two bearings is facing inwards.
- Wind the bearings into place with the press, taking care that they go in dead square - if you are using a proper press, they will. If you are using a backyard lash-up - maybe not. If you are using a hammer and a block of wood or any other gash method - good luck and don't go crying to your LBS or blaming the wheels if it all goes horribly wrong.
- The sleeve in the middle will set the correct bearing distance - don't rely on the bearing seats being exactly the right depth, especially if you are using a third party bearing.
- Slide the axle back in (making sure that the external spacers on the rear axle go back in the right places). When you do the rear wheel, slide the axle through until the drive pawls on the cassette body are *just* in contact with the drive ring, then applying a very small amount of force from the axle end, depress each pawl in turn so that they drop into the drive ring - there is a tiny amount of wriggle in the fit of the pawl to the cassette body to allow this. Once all three pawls are compressed, the cassette body will drop into place. Don't just turn the cassette body counter-clockwide and press, as some other hub makers recommend - in a Campag hub, you can "notch" the spring doing that - it may subsequently break, leaving you with no drive on the cassette body at all. Sod's Law dictates that will happen 60km from home in a snowstorm on the third Tuesday after the great horse plague of old London town Refit the axle end nuts and torque.
- With the right tools, it's a 30 minute job at worst, to do a pair of wheels - using alternative methods, take apiece of string - it'll take about that long ...
HTH
Graeme
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