While rear indexing is the same for all recent shifters/derailers, Shimano fronts use a different amount of cable pull for drop-bar vs flat-bar controls. If you do re-space your hub, you'll also need to re-dish your wheel, because the extra space will all be added on the right side by installing the wider Freehub body. You'll need to tighten spokes on the right, possibly also loosen some on the left, to move the rim 2mm to the right so that it will once again be centered in the frame. This tool is a splined unit that may be mounted in a vise or turned with a wrench. The splines engage matching splines in the interior (always rotates with the wheel) part of the freewheel body. Different brands of freewheels have used different spline patterns, but there is a recent tendency to standardize on the Shimano pattern. speed freewheels with 13-15-17-19-21-24-28 teeth are available from Shimano, SunRace and IRD. This is a nice, even progression, or you may choose another -- see list of available freewheels from Harris Cyclery. Modern freewheels have the same easy-shifting features as cassettes. Hyperglide cassettes are commonly sold as a unit There are dozens of different cassette combinations available. Most cassettes are designated by a one- or two-letter code.

The type of grease used is not all that important, but you must use something. The anti-seize compound that is commonly used for spoke nipples also works. Campagnolo made a very slight change in indexing in 2001. Supposedly, you need to use 2001 or later shifters with 2001 or later rear derailers, but the difference is so small that it doesn't matter in practice.

The earliest Shimano Freehubs, however, used a more primitive construction. There was a set of splines to keep the body from rotating on the hub shell, but instead of a hollow bolt to secure the body to the shell, there was a smooth cylindrical projection past the splines, and the corresponding Freehub body was a slip fit over this projection. The axle held the assembly from falling off, but the design was not fully satisfactory. The Freehub body could burnish the projecting sleeve, and loosen. Shimano Freehubs dating from the mid 1980s onward have replaceable bodies, held onto the hub shell by screw threads and, usually, splines. This is explained above in the transplant section of this article. Leave the freewheel in place on the wheel, or screw it onto a wheel, so that you will have something to hold it with. Breaking the freewheel loose from the wheel now with a freewheel remover reduces the likelihood of damage to the inner body if you have to remove it for reassembly. (If you don't have the right freewheel remover, or the remover splines on the freewheel are munged up, it is useful last resort to grab the inner body in a vise to remove it, after disassembling the freewheel.) Except with 11 speeds, cog spacing is different enough from Shimano's that Shimano derailers and shifters may not work well with Campagnolo cassettes, and vice versa. It is possible to fudge compatibility in some cases where cog-to-cog spacing is similar.

Triplizer (adaptor) chainrings for 130mm BCD area available from Spa cycles, but IIRC a record ace will have a 144mm BCD chainset in which case a 'red clover' triplizer might be the only off the shelf option. An additional complication is that "road" front derailer cages are shaped to fit well with a 52-53 tooth big chainring, while most current "mountain" front cages are shaped to fit with a 42-44 tooth big ring. Long-cage derailers have greater takeup capacity, and work with all types of cassettes. Long-cage derailers are commonly called "mountain" derailers currently, though in the past, this style of derailer was known as a "touring" derailer. (The marketeers retired the use of "touring" as a buzzword in the late '80s when mountain bikes became the hot item.)

Early Uniglide: 1970s-early '80s

Campagnolo's first attempt at indexed shifting, "Synchro" was designed to work with older Campagnolo derailers, but the cable travel was too short and cable tension too high for reliable indexing. In the early 1990s, Campagnolo abandoned the Synchro system and redesigned everything around a longer cable travel. I don't know the exact year of this change, but I believe it happened at the same time as the move from 7-speed to 8-speed. With other freewheels, reassembly can be more difficult. In days of yore, there were special bobby-pin-like clips to hold the pawls compressed against their springs while you re-assembled the freewheel. These are no longer available. FH-7850 and FH-7900 Dura-Ace bodies, which have returned to a splined attachment between Freehub body and hub shell, but it is larger than the usual one. It is similar but not interchangeable between these two models. Shimano information on the 7850; 7900. Triple" front derailers have a wide, shaped inner cage plate. They generally work OK with double chainrings as long as the step between the chainring sizes is matched to the derailer.