[CR] lotsa Hi-E questions, WTB & pictures

Content-class: urn:content-classes:message
Subject: [CR] lotsa Hi-E questions, WTB & pictures
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 00:52:57 -0700
Thread-Topic: [CR] lotsa Hi-E questions, WTB & pictures
Thread-Index: AcWHb5bBmZn+qlLWRGiTvx1cO5qR7AACIZcg
From: "Mark Bulgier" <Mark@bulgier.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>

Hi all, I'm back on the list after being an archives-only reader for awhile.

The recent discussion of weird Hi-E spoking patterns interested me, partly because I have a 40-hole Hi-E rim and I'm looking for just the right rear hub. Er I mean, correct rear hub - it's not for a tricycle. ;) I'm hoping to find a Hi-E rear hub with 24 holes right and 16 holes left. Any spacing, but 120 is 1st choice. Or actually I could make do with any Hi-E rear hub that has 24 holes on the right, as long as it has at least 16 holes on the left - more holes on the left would be OK.

The front wheel for this set has the elusive, some might say insane, Siamese Spokes. Anyone seen those? The fact that they are aluminum not steel isn't even the weirdest thing about them. This wheel has 40 holes at the rim (and they all have spokes in nipples in them) but only 20 holes at the hub. How's that work? The spokes are threaded for nipples at both ends, and instead of terminating at the hub, they just do a dog-leg bend through the hub and keep on going to the rim on the other side of the wheel. Picture here if that helps envision it: http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Parts/Wheels/Siamese_Spokes.JPG

The rims, in case you haven't held or beheld one, are also near that border between wacky and insane - not sure which side they're on. Made from a thin sheet of high-strength aluminum alloy that's bent around, as Larry Black put it, like making rain gutters, the two edges overlap so that the part of the rim that the spoke nipples pull on is double thickness. There's a pretty good view of that at http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Parts/Wheels/Hi-E_rim(1).JPG Look inside the valve hole, you can see the double thickness; also what appears to be glue between the two layers, unless that's just spooge. My cheesy little scale can't really be trusted but it shows my 40-hole rim as 220 grams, anyone know if that's the claimed weight or near what others have weighed them as? I think that would make it the all time lightweight champ, even lighter than the Scheeren Weltmeister. There's another picture, showing the riveted joint opposite the valve hole, at: http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Parts/Wheels/Hi-E_rim(2).JPG

My next Hi-E question is: Who knows what is missing from my Hi-E pedals? I bought them recently from a reputable dealer, and they came with threads (for the crank) looking like this: http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Parts/Cranks_Pedals/Hi-E_pedal_threads_clos eup.jpg

I think the problem shows clearly in the photo: The shoulder at the base of the threads is recessed down inside the bearing housing, so the bearing housing hits the crank long before the thread shoulder tightens against the crank. No way this can work; my only thought is there must be a bushing that's missing.

Notice the Hi-E pedal on Dale's website (are those your pedals Dale?) http://www.classicrendezvous.com/USA/Hi_E_pedals.htm (upper photo) Those threads stick out past the bearing housing like they should. Dale, or whoever owns those pedals, do you know or could I get you to look, are those separate bushings over the threads, or are yours designed different than mine?

Final question for the night: Does anyone know if Harlan still operates, still sells Hi-E parts? OK one more question, a follow-up if I may, got any contact information for him? (or the new owners if he sold the business - I know he wanted to sell it a number of years ago)(Hard to imagine anyone but Harlan Meyers running Hi-E though!)

Thanks, to anyone who's still reading, for sticking it out!