I’m building a new trials wheel. I have the hub, cranks, and spokes. My lbs sold their last trials rim yesterday, so I’m off to the internet. Since I want this wheel to last forever, I’m getting the best compnenets I can. I’m testing a profile hub built by Steve Howard. So the components are profile hub/cranks, black spoke, whiteline tire, and try-all drilled trials rim. I chose this because the rim is 15mm wider than the DX-32, yet it’s still 90 grams lighter. There’s only one hitch in this master plan. I have no idea where to get a try-all rim! It’s called the Try-all XXL rim, but I can’t seem to find anywhere in North America that sells them. Can anyone help?
I can’t find the dimensions on these rims now, though. Does anyone know their dimensions? Also, just kinda curous, should I get red, gold, or blue? I’m leaning towards blue or gold, but red is kinda nice…
I bought mine through Webcyclery, their a good company. One problem I am having with the rim is with the holes. Make sure you use really good rim tape and you probably want to wrap it atleast twice. After a season of riding, the tape seperated and let the air out. Note, I am running it tubeless. If you run a tube, the tape seperation will definately blow the tube out. Riding in wet conditions or rain will shorten the lifespan of the tape as the holes are all the way through the rim. I ended up buying a section of steel facia (for a house), aluminum gutter would also work, and cut a strip to go under the rim tape to support the rim strip over the holes. I have had no other issues since then.
i hope its differant than the 48 splined SH hub i tried. the Profiles splines were loose and after about 1 hour. the back lash was huge. i could slip the Profiles onto the axle without a mallet. the broched AL cranks cranks that SH sent me later were good though (nice and tight) but i wouldnt trust those for trials.
I know vivalargo has a drilled tryall rim on his trials rig. I got to ride it (im not sure he knows this lol) and it rides like a dream. Maybe shoot him a pm if he doesnt see this thread.
Thanks for the advice, Dan. I am thinking of red, but it just doesn seem like it’ll match the rest of the uni.
Dirtsurfer: I will be riding an innertube on this uni. I have a double thickness dirtjumpind tube in it right now. I’ve pinch flatted through the whole thing, and there has been a 1-2mm deep slice in the tube. Still, it held the air and didn’t leak. I think a regular drilled rim specialty rimstrip will work out fine.
Jagur: Thanks for the warning. The hub I have sitting on my desk right now is almost exactly the same hub as the one you rode on your 29’er. As a matter of fact, until I saw that your hub was painted, I thought I somehow got the same one. This one is the same hub that Steve was riding at moab. The splines seem to be in fine shape except for some dirt and grease in them, which I will clean out. I’ll try anti-seize, and then, if that fails, I’ll go for locktite.
Thanks for the help. And if all else fails, I’ll get a new profile hub and warranty the cranks if they are damaged.
It’s the same as the one you tried, Jagur, but this one is tighter. I’ve been riding it for a couple years without any problems with my Profile cranks. Bevan’s Profile cranks might be loose though … who knows? That’s the problem I had with trying to make Profile splined hubs; I couldn’t get a consistent fit from one to the next so I’ve given up on trying to make hubs with the Profile spline and I’m having much better luck making hubs with the KH splines.
This particular hub was laying around not being used so I let Bevan sweet talk me into letting him try it. If the cranks are loose on it then it would make a great paper weight.
Speaking of which, thanks, Steve! I must say it is rather amazing how each spline ends at the exact same point in the axle. Also, the welds on the flanges are excellent. I wonder if you cnc’d this, since hand cutting all those splines must be pretty painstaking… Thanks again, it looks great. If it is loose, would a bit of locktite do anything to help?
One last thing, there is a gouge through about 7 or eight splines on one side. I don’t know how it could have happened, and is rather inconsequent, since the bearing and spacers cover it, but I do wonder how it got there. do you have any ideas?
Any other ideas on rim color? I’m still looking at gold for the pimptastic factor, but a blue or red rim would also be cool. I need help…
What color rim strip can you get? WebCyclery carries the Try-All rim strip, but it looks like they’ve only got black.
A red rim with the black rim strip would look nice. Or you could try putting some sort of colored ribbon under the rim strip to give it some color.
As for the machining on the Profile hub. I think Profile rolls the splines into the axle. It doesn’t look to me that they’re machine cut. Rolling the splines into the axle would require specialized tooling to do, but would be very quick and efficient on a mass production scale. I’m not sure what Steve did to cut the splines. I suspect they’re CNC machined.
I’ve asked a bunch of people, and Dan and john are the only people who said red. Everyone else said blue. I think I’m gonna go with blue.
The coloring of the rim strip would be cool. A bit of nylon ribbon would work for coloring. I could also check with my LDHBS (local downhill bike shop) and see what color strips they have…
I know that Steve machined the splines, but I don’t know what kind of mill he used. Can you explain what rolling a spline is? Also, do you have any idea what accuracy they machine the splines to? A local shop said they get .0005" accuracy so it would always be possible to machine a new hub out of solid chromoly. I assume you have to machine it before heat treating.
Does anyone know anything about whether locktite would remove play from the splines? What color would I use?
Edit: would a red and black rim match blue or orange pedals? Oh the decisions…
Rolling is a process that is commonly used to make threads on bolts and similar objects. You have a die with the thread pattern and you press the die over the part as the part is rolled under the die. The same process could be used to make the Profile splines on the axle. No material is removed from the part when threads or splines are rolled into the part. The metal is just squished and moved around. Here’s a page that gives a brief explanation of the process: thread rolling
Choose your rim strip wisely. I think the Try-All rim strip is the only one that is going to be wide enough. You’re also going to want a rim strip that isn’t taped to the rim because the adhesive that is exposed by the holes in the rim will get all gunky.
For color coordination I’d go with pedals that are the same color as the rim. The Odyssey Jim Cielencki pedals are available in blue and red so you’ll be able to match whichever rim color you decide on.
I have a set of blue snafu’s and a set of the old green ones. The green ones are the ons currently on my uni. My next set of pedals is gonna be a set of jim c’s, probably in orange, so I guess a red rim would look better. But still, blue is pretyt sick and jim c’s come in blue…
I understand how rolling works now, thanks. The method for rolling a spline is much different from the method of rolling a thread, though. I will check my standard profile hub tonight to see if they roll or machine their splines. I think it would be possible to tell because if they machine the splines then the spline trenches will taper off at the end of the splines, like on an Onza hub. If they roll them, then it is likely that they simply end at a distinct spot. I am not sure of this, though. It’s possible that they use a custom rolling machine that tapers off so that the splines don’t end abruptly. I would like to know, though…