I snapped a Suzue hub finally, and it took a long time. I am not quite sure of
the history of this particular hub, but I think I got several months use out of
it before it snapped. So I had to remove the cranks that I had epoxied on a
couple weeks before. They actually came off fairly easily without the
application of heat. I suspect that I did not clean the metal well enough for
the epoxy to acheive full adhesion. I wiped everything with rubbing alchohol.
Also I used the System Three epoxy which is designed for use with wood and is
softer and more flexible than others. Even the nut where I had epoxied the
threads came off with a drag that felt similar to Loctite. I am very pleased
with this technique as it held my cranks quite well and the epoxy seems to be a
lubricant when uncured, allowing the cranks to slide farther unto the hub. I did
not use any sort of press while installing the cranks with the epoxy, and I
suspect it might be a bad idea. I torqued the nuts to forty five foot pounds,
cringing all the while. I have never tried the Locktite so I cannot compare the
epoxy to the loctite.
I have observed that every time I have replaced a spoke in my life, even on my
road bicycle while riding the Bikecentennial, it seems that they are always the
ones that come out of the inside of the flange. I would like confirmation of
this, but it seems the ones that break are always the hard ones to thread, the
ones that wheel builders push through first. This leads me to believe that the
spokes coming from the inside of the flanges are subjected to more stress than
the ones on the outside of the flanges, possibly because of a slightly smaller
dish angle. I also believe that the spokes which are doing the holding back on
the downhills are stressed more than the ones that pull on the uphills. So I
have been careful to mount my new wheel in an orientation which allows the
spokes outside the flanges to do the braking.
Can anyone confirm any of this? Tell me I am crazy?
Idaho Joe