George Allen wrote:
> I have a Hi-E wheelset. The rear hub is currently spaced at
> 120 mm. I'd love to change the spacing to 126.
> I have a full machine shop so I
> could machine my own axle. However, I can't figure out how to
> get the darn thing apart as it appears to be a sealed unit.
If your hub is the same as the ones I have worked on, the real axle is a thin wall 1/2" diameter tube, Cr-Mo steel. The aluminum parts you see, that interface with the frame dropouts, are caps which are pressed onto this steel axle. You just need a longer cap. They are an interference fit but I don't think the force needed to pull them off is exceptional. I think I held the cap in a collet on a Bridgeport mill and held the hub body in a vise and used the mill's knee action to pull it off - probably overkill but if you have a Bridgeport just sitting there, it's quick and easy.
If I recall correctly, the overlap between the cap and steel tube is enough that you can add a 6 mm spacer without needing to remanufacture the whole cap. Don't count on my feeble memory on that, and yours may be different.
Mark Bulgier
Seattle WA USA