Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub? Completed 8/19

[Pudge]

Before I attempt this I wanted to post a thread for advice. I have a hub I want to lace to a hoop but the spoke holes in the flanges are way too big; like the spoke heads slip right through the holes big! My LBS advised me to drill entirely new, much skinnier, holes between each of the existing holes in the flanges and use those new holes to lace to and ignore the bigger fatter ones altogether. There is enough room between each hole to do it but I want to get feedback here first before I go out to the drill press and start "swiss cheesing" a perfectly good hub!

I don't know gauges but the spoke that seemed to fit was super fat, like a Worksman kind of spoke. The hoop I'm trying to use is pre-war and I don't want to do any adaptations to it. Also, I want black spokes and was told they don't come in as many sizes as the others. The advice I was given was that the super fat spokes that would fit the hub really wouldn't be as good of a fix as using the right size spokes for the hub and rim and that drilling the new holes was the best fix.

So, what do ya'll think?

 

[HotRodRob]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

I've never done it but I would drill the holes in the hoop a little bigger rather than the hub. The larger spokes would make for a nice heavy duty wheel.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

I had the same problem on my old 3 wheeler I had, spokes would have been like $50 per wheel so I went with the cheapskate method (as I normally do). I used a bunch of little washers from the hardware store, slip them over the spoke, then lace the wheel and tighten them accordingly. Worked great and not all that noticeable.

 

[mesome]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

I had the same problem on my old 3 wheeler I had, spokes would have been like $50 per wheel so I went with the cheapskate method (as I normally do). I used a bunch of little washers from the hardware store, slip them over the spoke, then lace the wheel and tighten them accordingly. Worked great and not all that noticeable.

That sounds more like my kinda fix, besides cheapskate methods are always more fun anyway.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

fits in great with rat rod style too.

 

[udallcustombikes]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

I have some of those big ol' spokes awaiting a use. If you want to go with the larger ones, let me know the length you need and I'll see what I got.

 

[Rustinkerer]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

I'd think that drilling new holes in the hub would be a bad idea! It could be the setup for an epic FAIL! I like the washers idea much better! -Adam

 

[Pudge]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

Thanks for the replies, guys. I have to admit that I'm surprised that I didn't get a single "drill it and shut up" reply. And I'm glad I decided to work on converting my single bulb bullet headlight into a 30 LED spotlight instead of drilling yesterday!

Well, since I can't do any modifications to the size of the nipple holes on the hoop to accomodate fatter spokes I'm at least going to try the washer approach and see what I get. Thanks again for all the input. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Pudge

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

cool man, worked great for my trike, Throw up some pics when you get done.

 

[Bettleguise]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

Don't drill and I recommend staying away from that bike shop too, they sounds like some hacks.

 

[Rustinkerer]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

Don't drill and I recommend staying away from that bike shop too, they sounds like some hacks.

They probably wanted to sell him a pricey fancy shmancy new hub after his drilled one shatters into a bazillion pieces!!! :lol: -Adam

 

[JeepDave]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

Don't drill and I recommend staying away from that bike shop too, they sounds like some hacks.

Seriously, any shop would tell a customer to drill holes in a hub is asking for a lawsuit. Lets say you do it, lace up the wheel, ride it and it fails at 30mph going down a nice long hill. You face plant and shatter both cheek bones. Now you have to have reconstructive surgery and are out of work for the next year. Guess who is liable, that's right your LBS. Who is now out of business because their shop was worth less than your medical bills. I'd call the owner of the shop and tell him one of his employees told you to drill out your hub.

 

[udallcustombikes]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

I have to speak up here. I sold the hub in question to Pudge and it is not a standard hub. It is a Sachs Spectro Drum brake. I can understand the LBS recommendation because there is plenty of meat between the existing holes. The body of the hub and the flanges are machined from a solid piece of aluminum. I spoke with Pudge and recommended trying the washers first because that would be easier to undo than drilled holes. Should the washers not work I think he would be fine drilling the holes. Here is a pic of the hub in question.

He had the hub in hand when he visited the lbs. They inspected the hub before making their suggestion to drill it.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

Don't drill and I recommend staying away from that bike shop too, they sounds like some hacks.

Seriously, any shop would tell a customer to drill holes in a hub is asking for a lawsuit. Lets say you do it, lace up the wheel, ride it and it fails at 30mph going down a nice long hill. You face plant and shatter both cheek bones. Now you have to have reconstructive surgery and are out of work for the next year. Guess who is liable, that's right your LBS. Who is now out of business because their shop was worth less than your medical bills. I'd call the owner of the shop and tell him one of his employees told you to drill out your hub.

Thing is in the lawsuit you know as well as I do the shop employee would never admit to telling you to do that.

 

[JeepDave]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

Don't drill and I recommend staying away from that bike shop too, they sounds like some hacks.

Seriously, any shop that would tell a customer to drill holes in a hub is asking for a lawsuit. Lets say you do it, lace up the wheel, ride it and it fails at 30mph going down a nice long hill. You face plant and shatter both cheek bones. Now you have to have reconstructive surgery and are out of work for the next year. Guess who is liable, that's right your LBS. Who is now out of business because their shop was worth less than your medical bills. I'd call the owner of the shop and tell him one of his employees told you to drill out your hub.

Thing is in the lawsuit you know as well as I do the shop employee would never admit to telling you to do that.

Not sure where you live but where I live we have an abundance of sneaky dirty take any case that get's them paid lawyers. So that being said I never put it past a lawyer to get paid. But I hear ya.

That is a nice hub. let us know how it goes which ever way you decide.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

yeah we got crooked lawyers here too but I was just saying the bike shop would never admit fault. It'd be your word against theirs.

 

[Pudge]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

Well guys, I was actually planning on posting a reply with pics once I gained some time but just sneaked on for a sec and saw that Cameron beat me to it with a pic of his old hub that I now own so I better jump in now. The only thing that chaps me about where this thread is going is that the guy who gave me the idea to drill it is one of the best mechanics and LBS owners in my area and I hate to see him being run through the mud. Trust me, there's some pretty shady bike shops around here but this guy is the real deal and specializes in all kinds of vintage bike restorations. He truly is one of the best around here. Who knows, he may even lurk around on this site, and if he did, I'd hate for him to see himself being slandered without me at least trying to set the record straight.

Here's the thing. Both ideas, drilling new holes AND using washers are good ones. I think the hub's flanges are meaty enough and the holes far enough apart to safely handle new holes. But the recommendation of adding washers to the spoke heads is a great one that I can try BEFORE doing something like drilling, which is much more permanent. Washers the size that I'd find at a big box store like Home Depot are way too big, and if forced to use them I'd probably be happier with drilling new holes. But I've found some very small stainless steel washers that really don't look bad at all. Too bad they only had 7 of them and I need 36, so I'm waiting for the next shipment. I guess what I'm saying is, I appreciate all the feedback and all the ideas. If I hadn't posted the question I would have drilled the holes and not looked back. I'm thankful you guys are willing to take the time to respond with your ideas. You saved me! At the same time, this LBS OWNER in particular is the real deal and I kinda layed him out here to be grilled by how I positioned my question. I still think his idea would work and I think it would be safe. Right now I just look forward to getting a few pics of the finished hub with washers so I can move on with my build.

Cameron, thanks for the hub! You priced it very attractively and it's even better than expected. It's going to look awesome on my bike. The flanges are just about the exact same size as the rear hub, a Nexus 7. I really like how they'll both be the same size. I look forward to showing both hubs off in some future pics.

All is well!

Peace,
Pudge

 

[JeepDave]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

I'm guessing the LBS guy you talked to was holding the hub in hand when he said to drill it. Which would give him a better idea if it could handle the machining. From my experience and knowing that many hub manufactures including Shimano & Chris King do not even recommend lacing their hubs radially due to the added stress on the flange and the soft material King uses will actually open up the bearing cavity, is why I said I wouldn't drill out the hub.

I did just have an idea that an engineer or someone who may have even tried this may shot down immediately, is to heat up the spoke heads and hit them to flare out the head a bit more. It may be more work than it's worth. Now, I don't know how spokes are heat treated or even if this is a viable option but it's worth thinking about.

 

[Fireproof]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

Something to consider (if you haven’t thought of it already) . . . by adding a brake to your hub, be it drum, disc, etc., all the torque required to stop the bike will be passed through the spokes to the hub, so, you WILL be stressing the spokes and hub flanges more than with rim brakes.

You have a beautiful new hub there . . . you might want to wait ‘till you can get the proper spokes for it.

 

[deorman]

Re: Drilling New Spoke Holes in Hub?

Pop rivet washers.