At 7/13/2005 09:33 AM -0400, George Allen wrote:
>I have a Hi-E wheelset. The front is 28 spoke radial-laced. The rear
>is 32 spoke, 4 cross. The rims are the super-light Super Champion
>Medaille d'Or. The rear hub is currently spaced at 120 mm. I'd love
>to change the spacing to 126. I obviously have no 126 mm axle for
>HI-E hubs. Does Hi-E still exist or is there anyone that can make
>this modification? 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. BTW, I am impressed with
>the quality of these hubs. They're extremely light and spin
>beautifully with absolutely no play.
George, If your Hi-E hubs are the same as mine, you should have no trouble pulling off the end caps. Mine are a light friction fit over an axle that is just a piece of tubing. When I wanted to go from 120mm to 126mm. Harlan just sent me a longer right end cap. Anyone with a lathe should be able to make a new end cap.
BTW My original caps were nickel plated steel on the left and aluminum on the right, but the new right one he sent was also steel.
I bent the original 1/2" x 0.035" tubular steel axle. Due I assume to the increased leverage of the longer end cap. I made a new thicker one from a piece of 1/2" x 0.049" 4130 tubing. I had to take down the OD a bit as tubing is often just slightly oversized.
My rear wheel isn't being used right now, so I pulled the axle out
and got you a photo, including the original right cap.
http://bikesmithdesign.com/
Mark Stonich;
Minneapolis Minnesota
http://mnhpva.org
http://bikesmithdesign.com