Spoke wheel rebuild

hat still roll smooth and
One problem with used is flat spots on the balls and races from the side loading pressing them out. To check 'em I push hard on the inner race while rotating. If they still roll smoothly... and you can re-grease 'em.... I been known to re-use 'em. :rolleyes:
 
Usually the first bearing you drive out is the one that could get damaged because you have to drive it out by pounding on the inner race. The 2nd bearing should be fine because that one can be driven out by hitting it's outer race.

I think there's a bit more to worry about besides flattening the balls. Driving it out by the inner race may loosen and damage the "cage" the balls sit in, adding more slop and play to the bearing.
 
A couple of minor updates. New brake pads showed up, so I lightly greased the brake cam and installed the new spacer along with the new pads. Also packed the fiber ring with grease and pressed it in. The new wear indicator screwed right in too and it’s all ready to go. Sorry I didn’t get a better pic.
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Also, I scored a front brake rotor from our friend Machine out in WA (thanks RANDY!). It needs some love but is very serviceable. It arrived today and I just spent a quick 30 minutes giving it a quick spit shine. Looking good! Now I just need the hardware to bolt the rotor and carrier together. They are still available through Partzilla, but they want big bucks. So I will continue my search. I did however find some new lock tab washers on EBay pretty reasonable though.
BEFORE
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AFTER
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Well, how the heck have I been missing these posts? :laugh2: Great job on the wheels, they look fantastic! I can’t wait to see this all assembled and on your bike!
 
Going to be different for sure. Not sure if they will look like I hope they do on the 75. But I’m hoping so. Still got to get them trued and balanced and check the offset. And find money somewhere for tubes and tires too. Might be time for another garage sale.
 
I don't think the disc to carrier bolts are anything special other than having thin heads. But do you really need the thin heads for clearance or something? Maybe just normal bolts will work? Or, you could thin the heads down some on some stainless bolts.
 
Only thing special about them is they are shoulder bolts. With a thin head.
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I've had my later type discs mounted with non-shouldered aftermarket bolts for many years and had no issues.
 
You have the machined fits on the hub and disc carrier to center the disc so shouldered screws really shouldn't be necessary.
With that, In looking at your pics Willis I'm more concerned with the powder coating on the machined surfaces. Could make the disc carrier, sprocket difficult to get on and not run true.
 
You have the machined fits on the hub and disc carrier to center the disc so shouldered screws really shouldn't be necessary.
With that, In looking at your pics Willis I'm more concerned with the powder coating on the machined surfaces. Could make the disc carrier, sprocket difficult to get on and not run true.

Yep, I am aware of that. I just have not removed the powder there yet. I need to pick up some more Dremel supplies to conquer that task.
 
You're lucky the powder on your hubs didn't cause any re-spoke issues. Sometimes the spoke holes get filled so the spokes won't seat as deeply as they need to. This is usually just an issue with the outer spokes and can cause them to bow when you swing them in to connect to the hub.
 
Some of the spoke holes were a little tight pushing through. I have noticed that the heads of some of the inner spokes don't seat fully flat like the outer ones do. I think this is partially the way the spokes from Mike's are designed/manufactured as I have seen a lot like this. It doesn't affect anything, but they are not completely flat in the hub.
 
Have any of you black anodized rims and hubs? Or investigated it? I'm wondering what the pros and cons of that are. Certainly, there is no buildup like there is with powder.
 
Anodize still requires masking as there is some dimensional change, though largely minimal. What it does do is surface harden the material.
The rear hub has cast in steel and to my knowledge can't be put through the process, actually now to think of it the front also has cast in thread inserts.
 
Spent a little more time on the disc brake today. Some minor polishing to my “good enough” standard and a good scrubbing and de-greasing. Masked up and ready to paint. I used some leftover Duplicolor caliper paint. Works well.
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Also cleaned up the powder from the hub for the mating surfaces. Dremel work and a scotch brite pad on my 4” grinder did the trick.
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Now I just need the hardware to mount. The search continues.

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That looks sharp. Nice contrast between the black and shiny bits. I really like the looks of the older disc, not to mention it's also like 1/2 lb. lighter because of that aluminum center part. I'd like to try adapting one to the later caliper. I know there's like a 5mm difference in offset but you can gain back about 3mm of that simply by flipping the disc over on the carrier. The last 2mm might be had by simply adding a washer on the axle, on the disc side. I don't think offsetting the wheel 2mm more to the left would affect much. You'd probably barely notice it with how the fender sits and I doubt that small amount would throw the alignment off with the rear wheel very much.
 
Some clarification for my comments above.

"Magnesium can be anodized but its applications are very limited. Titanium is perhaps the second most commonly anodized material, though still nowhere near as popular as aluminum. Some materials simply should not be anodized. Carbon steel will simply corrode if it is brought through an anodizing process"

"Anodizing is an electrochemical process that converts the metal surface into a decorative, durable, corrosion-resistant, anodic oxide finish. ... This aluminum oxide is not applied to the surface like paint or plating, but is fully integrated with the underlying aluminum substrate, so it cannot chip or peel.
Anodising is an electrolytic conversion coating – it transforms aluminium on the surface of components into aluminium oxide. Since aluminium converts rather than deposits, some of the thickness of the coating is ingress into the material and some of the thickness is growth out of the material. For most alloys, the anodised coating is approximately 50% ingress and 50% growth. The growth of coating from the original surface is therefore half the stated coating thickness. Internal diameters will get smaller by approximately the coating thickness and external diameters will grow."

Typical coating thickness is only .002" for a heavy application so that translates to 001" penetration and an additional .001" on the surface. For most areas this is negligible but for pin and bearing fits can cause you problems. It also makes the surface harder, and extremely thick applications are sometimes referred to as "Hardcoat Anodize"

With that said I love what WIllis is doing with his wheels, very nice contrast and look. I also like the early discs and have purchased a couple extra to use for my build.
 
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