Splined?

I was just wondering, what does it actually mean when you say splined hubs? I know my Qu-Ax has it (and yes, it sounds awfully cool), but what is it actually?

I tried to look up the word in a dictionary and that only go me so much further, so now I’m asking you guys. Thanks.

I had the same question

Ok, thanks… I tried a seach but I guess I was too impatient going throgh the results, then…

I hope this works…

splined explained.gif

Its about a 6 foot drop diference

http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38277

like memphis mud said, the hub and crank arms have teeth on them for more strength and efficiency. square-taper hubs are the standard: instead of many teeth, they simply have one square shape.

with square-taper cranks, you can only sensibly do 1ft drops without breaking it (i found out the hard way). splined cranks give loads more strength, so you can drop pretty much as high as you like.

brief, but i hope this helps a bit . . . . .

I object…My friend John used his Torker CX for a half a year before he got his muni. It’s got square-taper cranks and he did a lot of 4+ foot drops on it without much of a roll out and it held up strong. John weighs at least 120 so its not because he’s light. Also the cranks were never tightened at all.

I’ve heard of other people with CX’s that take them off curbs and breaking them, so I think its just the luck of the draw. John just got really lucky and got a crazy strong Torker CX.

Depending on your weight and riding style, simple hopping can break a square-taper axle – after a while. You can probably do tons of 1’ drops on it first, as I used to do.

The weakness of the square taper is a smaller diameter of contact area (square instead of more circular), and the taper itself, which encourages the crank to always want to work itself loose. Loose cranks cause wear & tear, and more looseness.

I have a friend that rides a CX like that, he’s had the axle bent for months, Its probally only a matter of time untill it breaks. He jumps a 3 stair, picnic tables, all kinds of drops on that stock CX.

Cough