Physique Switching – Bike Snob NYC

The additional I journey the LeMond the additional I want it:

Sadly, the additional I like a motorbike the additional I’m inclined to fuss with it, and the latest object of my fussing has been the wheels.

The wheels that obtained right here with the bike are the so-called Rolf Prima Elan Aero, and the company nonetheless presents primarily the similar wheel within the current day, though with out the aero spokes. They’re almost shockingly delicate, and whereas I wouldn’t get your hands on an ultra-light wheel myself they’re pleasurable to journey. On the same time, ultra-light wheels are like linen pants: whereas they actually really feel good and likewise you’re tempted to placed on them regularly, in the back of your ideas you’re always considerably bit apprehensive that somethings going to go mistaken. (With the ultra-light wheel, that may be a broken spoke, and with the linen pants that may be a rain bathe that renders them utterly clear.) For regularly driving you want a wheel that’s like a pair of well-worn jeans: cozy and relatively delicate, and however reassuringly sturdy. For that goal the wheels I truly wanted to utilize on the LeMond have been these:

They’re the one issue I’ve left of the Litespeed:

They often’re a changing into choice for the LeMond in that it’s kind of the Litespeed’s successor. The one draw back is that they’re Campagnolo hubs, and the Litespeed makes use of Shimano.

Campagnolo in spite of everything hasn’t provided hubs in a couple of years. They hit their peak in that division with the attractive Report 10-speed hub, which is why delusional of us assume they are going to get well from $500 for them:

And the hubs on these wheels are the last word mannequin of the Report hub, which is functionally the similar, albeit in black and with all the aesthetically pleasing stuff away from it.

Nevertheless whereas Campagnolo not promote hubs, they do promote wheels, every beneath their very personal title and beneath the Fulcrum mannequin:

The entire title of the wheel is presumably not the Sharquille O’Neal, though the weird character on the end does counsel that at one stage it was generally known as the Shart they often modified it on the ultimate second:

Anyway, clearly to have the ability to promote loads of wheels Campagnolo should make them applicable with Shimano-splined cassettes, and fortunately their pre-built wheels use primarily the similar hub design as these closing Report hubs, which means you presumably can merely get a Shimano freehub physique and stick it on there:

Constructive, it might be jarring to see a Shimano spline pattern in a Campagnolo area:

Nevertheless in making the change it opens up a whole new world of cassette availability.

So I began working. For a dependable explicit particular person, engaged on a Report hub is about as simple as it would get. First I eradicated the cassette:

Then I eradicated this nut:

After which I pulled the freehub physique off the axle:

Easy!

From there all I wanted to do was pop the model new one on in its place:

So I wiped off the grime from the hub and lubed the pawls on the model new freehub physique:

Then I slid the model new freehub physique on, gave it a spin, and…it was grinding like a spoke in a garbage disposal.

Eradicating the model new freehub physique, I found that the spherical pawl spring was all mangled:

As I well-known above, servicing Report hubs is easy for a dependable explicit particular person. I, nonetheless, am incompetent, and by not taking the time to fastidiously seat the pawls I perhaps managed to dislodge the spring–though in my safety the spring is tiny and delicate and about as simple to see and work with as a pubic hair.

Anyway, I wasn’t about to be undone by a pube, so I fastidiously eradicated the spring from the outdated freehub physique:

This time I inserted the freehub physique with additional care, and the operation was profitable:

Fortuitously these springs are simple to get and as quickly as I’ve a various I’ll put the outdated Campy freehub once more collectively in case I ever need to revert.