I did this when I was a mechanic back in the day, on a few different hubs. It wasn't to take out pitting, but to just make the bearings run as smooth as possible, and boy did it work! Pack the bearings with Simichrome, as you would normal grease. Adjust as you would normally and ride for a few hundred miles, as I recall. Then repack with new bearings and grease. Smooth as glass! Of course you've got to clean out every last spec of Simichrome.
I suppose this might work if the pitting were very minor.
YMMV.
Drew Ellison Everett, Washington USA
On Oct 23, 2007, at 9:06 PM, Ted E. Baer wrote:
>
> Does anyone remember the procedure for "ironing out" pits in hub
> bearing races? As a teen, I remember these super serious guys at
> the shop with the little wire framed glasses and scruffy beards
> repacking their old pitted Campagnolo hubs (which were laced to
> wheels) with Simi-Chrome--yes, Simi-Chrome. Then they would ride
> around on said wheels for a certain amount of miles in hopes of
> removing wear and pitting on the internal race of the hub shell.
>
> If I wanted to try this, (and I doubt many here recommend I do,)
> how much Simi-Chrome should I put in the hub before fitting balls,
> cones, and shaft? How tight should the hub be? Standard
> adjustment--(bit of pre-load?)
>
> The next question would be: How many miles should I put on this
> wheel with Simi-Chrome packed bearings? I am being totally
> serious. If memory serves me right, some of these guys rode around
> on those gritty wheels for weeks if not more.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Ted E. Baer
> Palo Alto, CA