| In was in the early 1900's that the hirth joint or hirth | | | | No need for external flanges or bushings thus less |
| coupling was born, from the tinkering of Hellmuth Hirth, | | | | rotational mass, greater pedal efficiency and smoother |
| the young son of a German engineer. He was | | | | riding. |
| fascinated with developing new and emerging | | | | External bearings can now be mounted on the half |
| technologies for the maiden aircraft industry. Hellmuth | | | | spindles leaving the entire circumference of the bottom |
| developed the hirth coupling as a high strength locking | | | | bracket shell available for a larger hollow spindle. This |
| joint used initially to connect two ends of a shaft, in | | | | larger spindle makes the drivetrain more rigid. |
| gasoline engine crankshafts. | | | | The Campagnolo crank arms can be fused to each |
| It looks like a set of teeth milled on the end profile of | | | | half axle, so no pinch bolts are necessary for crank |
| each half shaft. They mesh together in a self centering | | | | attachment. This reduces the weight making the |
| and self aligning locking joint. The amazing engineering | | | | ultra-torque the lightest crankset in the industry. |
| of the Hirth coupling is that it offers such a high | | | | The final benefit of using a hirth joint in the ultra torque |
| strength connection on such relatively small diameter | | | | crankset is that Campagnolo can promote themselves |
| shafts. It has since been used for reversing gears in | | | | as having THE most easily installed crankset in the |
| marine applications and cooling water pumps in almost | | | | industry. With traditional tools the cups can be inserted |
| every sector including automotive, rail and nuclear. | | | | followed by the half axles and a 10mm bolt to hold it all |
| Thus it is not surprising that Campagnolo was | | | | in place. |
| interested in using such a proven piece of technology | | | | Certainly this particular Campagnolo component has |
| in their newest cranksets designs. It has a long history | | | | taken technological sophistication to the limit offering |
| of testing for strength and reliability in the most | | | | cycling enthusiast something to talk about. At these is |
| extreme environments from marine to nuclear energy. | | | | further information about Campagnolo's bicycle parts |
| Advantages of Using the Hirth Coupling in the | | | | innovations including the scoop about their newest |
| Campagnolo Crankset Design: | | | | carbon fiber forming capabilities and new ceramic |
| The axle of the new Campagnolo Crankset can be | | | | bearing bottom brackets. |
| spliced in the middle of the bottom bracket shell | | | | |