# Shimano vs. Campy freehub...how to tell the difference?



## tamjam (Jul 12, 2002)

Searched the archives, and found plenty of threads about switching freehub bodies when going from Shimano to Campy, or the other way, but nothing is answering my question.

I am building up a frame and bought some Topolino wheels from a buddy. He said he's 99.9% sure the freehub body on the wheelset is a Shimano, but also gave me what he said is a Campy freehub body to go with it, just in case. What little road bike experience I have has always been with Shimano components, but I have been toying with the idea of Campy for this build. 

I took a close look at both freehub bodies to try and determine which is which, and the spline pattern on both look the same. I was able to put a Shimano cassette on both. They appear to be identical, aside from a few lines/markings that go across the spines on the loose one he gave me.

So my question is, how exactly does one tell the difference between Campy and Shimano freehubs?


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

If you can put a Shimano cluster on it, its a Shimano freehub. Campy uses deeper splines than the Shimano 9sp format that almost all aftermarket hubs use. And they have a different number, shape and position of the splines.


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## tamjam (Jul 12, 2002)

ericm979 said:


> If you can put a Shimano cluster on it, its a Shimano freehub. Campy uses deeper splines than the Shimano 9sp format that almost all aftermarket hubs use. And they have a different number, shape and position of the splines.


Got it, thanks. So I have two Shimano freehubs then, in other words. I thought they looked awfully similar, but having never seen a Campy one, I wasn't sure.


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## Mark McM (Jun 18, 2005)

*Quick way to differentiate Shimano from Campagnolo freehubs*



tamjam said:


> So my question is, how exactly does one tell the difference between Campy and Shimano freehubs?


Count the splines. All Campagnolo freehubs have 8 splines. All Shimano freehubs have 9 splines.


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## fiddledoc (May 28, 2003)

You can tell a Campy hub by the racket it makes.


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## Barabaika (Jan 15, 2007)

There are pictures on the Park Tool website.
https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=45

Shimano. Small splines.









Campagnolo freehub. Deep splines.


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## Mark McM (Jun 18, 2005)

*Freehub color and spline depth don't tell the whole story*



Barabaika said:


> There are pictures on the Park Tool website.
> https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=45
> 
> Shimano. Small splines.
> ...


Unfortunately, the waters are muddier than that, and those simple descriptions aren't enough. For example:

Both Campagnolo 8spd and Shimano 8/9spd have black freehubs with small splines.

Both Campagnolo 9/10spd and Shimano Dura-Ace 10spd have silver freehubs with deep splines.

As I said before, the easiest sure-fire way differentiate Campagnolo from Shimano is the number of splines - 8 splines is always Campagnolo, 9spd splines is always Shimano. Unlike color or spline depth, the number of splines is a constant.

There are further ways to tell between Uniglide, Hyperglide, Hyperglide-C and Dura-Ace 10spd (Shimano) and pre-EXAdrive 8spd, EXAdrive 8spd, Super Record Ti 8spd, original 9/10spd and 9/10spd OS (Campagnolo).


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