Kevin,
Bring it over and we'll compare it to Jane's front hub to see if something's different. She doesn't have much clearance between the flange and fork blade. I made her fork with slender old 531 domed blades, I have a couple of ideas that might help. Maybe making slightly wider end caps.
I sent hers back to Harlan in '93 and he replaced the bearings at such a low cost I don't think he charged anything for labor.
There is an aluminum sleeve between the bearing inner races that could be compressed if you tighten the QRs too much. I'd look for a stretchy Ti QR.
At 1/15/2008 01:14 PM -0600, Kevin MacAfee wrote:
>Greetings
>
>I am looking for some information on Hi E hubs, front specifically.
>I have searched the web and cannot find anything specific to what I
>need.
>The front hub has the typical flange that fits into the front fork
>dropouts. The problem is that when the QR skewer is activated, the
>inside of the fork blades compresses against the hub flange
>preventing it from spinning. Am I missing something?
>
>Are the bearings replaceable? It looks like the flanges may come off
>the center tube? Otherwise, I cannot see how the bearings can be
>replaced.
>
>Anyway, any help would be appreciated.
>Cheers
>Kevin MacAfee
>St. Paul
Mark Stonich;
BikeSmith Design & Fabrication
5349 Elliot Ave S. - Minneapolis. MN 55417
Ph. (612) 824-2372 http://bikesmithdesign.com
http://mnhpva.org