I have a set of 99 Record hubs (the kind with the slide on cones). The Campy maintenance manual (http://www.campagnolo.com/pdf/177-FI Mozzi Ant 2000.pdf) page 15 says to adjust the hub such that "the axel slides easily and without play". I've read elsewhere (Park Tools and Sheldon) that you want a little bit of play which will then be eliminated when the wheel is put back into the drop outs and the quick release tightened. Any thoughts?
Adjusting Campy Hubs - Play or No Play
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The Campy hubs are so easy to adjust, you can try it both ways. The important thing is just that the hub feel right when it's attached to the frame, that is, smooth and non-binding but with no play. I can tell you from personal experience, though, that my Campy hubs (Year 2000 Choruses) are unaffected by quick release/frame compression.
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No play
Per Mapei Roida's comments, with a high end Campy hub you get VERY little compression tightening of the bearings when clamping the wheel into the frame. I did some experiments with older Campy C-Record and found that the amount of tightening due to QR forces was equivalent to 1/36th of a turn of the cones. Also, Campy hubs have always had a range of adjustment where you could eliminate play and still not have binding, so if you just eliminated play with the wheel out of the frame, you got no binding when clamped in. Cheaper hubs typically require that you have some play in order to eliminate binding AND compress more due to QR forces. My current experience with Record and Chorus hubs suggests that the high performance of Campy hubs is still there, though I have not quantified it yet. Time for some new experiments, I guess.
Per Mapei Roida's comments, with a high end Campy hub you get VERY little compression tightening of the bearings when clamping the wheel into the frame. I did some experiments with older Campy C-Record and found that the amount of tightening due to QR forces was equivalent to 1/36th of a turn of the cones. Also, Campy hubs have always had a range of adjustment where you could eliminate play and still not have binding, so if you just eliminated play with the wheel out of the frame, you got no binding when clamped in. Cheaper hubs typically require that you have some play in order to eliminate binding AND compress more due to QR forces. My current experience with Record and Chorus hubs suggests that the high performance of Campy hubs is still there, though I have not quantified it yet. Time for some new experiments, I guess.
Great, thanks all. I didn't notice any compression either when I put the wheels back into the drop outs. I ended up tightening the lock nut such that a 1/8 turn counter-clockwise and a little tap on the axel would introduce a bit of play.
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