Thursday, February 19, 2009

Hi-E

I absolutely love Hi-E hubs...For the most part because they were very light and innovative for their time and also because they were made in the good ol' US of A. Pictured below is my collection (so far) of hubs (minus one which is laced into a Fiamme tubular rim). I've got a bit of research to do so that I can figure out which models are which but that's half the fun. I found this page with some catalog scans so I'll do some digging there. And there is also a bit of discussion about Hi-E in general in the bikelist archives. Velobase has a few entries on Hi-E as well. If you havent' been to that site it's great and I use it almost daily!
Aside from hubs Hi-E also made rims (which I will have very soon), spokes, spoke nipples, bottle cages, pedals and a roadbike frame (and probably more stuff I haven't varified).


If anyone has any info on Hi-E I'd love to hear it.....If you have any parts gathering dust I'd like those too ;)....Or at least a pic and a story about the part!
The company is still listed in the yellow pages so I wonder if it is still around? I've read that Mr. Meyers tried to sell the biz in the late 80's/early 90's and I have not found any indication that Hi-E components are still being produced.
I certainly admire his work and would love to have a chat with him.....

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Some parts I like

A good friend stopped by and after we dug around in my bike room for a part he needed....He stated rather matter of fact like that I'm crazy. He said I'm more of a collector than a rider and that he thinks I like the mechanical aspects of bikes more than the riding. Well....I suppose that's kinda true. The bicycle is to me virtually all consuming. I really love the bicycle as a machine. And I certainly spend more time researching, reading about or just tinkering with the contraptions then I do riding them.

So I'm gonna share a few of my favorite bike parts. I'll apologize in advance for the crappy pics. First up is the Huret Jubilee rear derailleur. I'd say it is probably in my top five favorite parts mainly for it's simple beauty. What's amazing to me is that despite it's age it still may be the lightest rear derailleur ever made. I have three of these. Two of the older models and one of the newer ones which has drilled pulley cages. Lovely!


Next up are some Modolo Kronos brake levers. I think being a child of the 80's gives me a special appreciation for these levers. But to be perfectly honest it's the weight that I really love. At 180 grams I believe they are the lightest aero levers ever. Plus.....They match nicely with the next component.....


Modolo Kronos shift levers. Like the brake levers they have a bit of a reputation for being flimsy. That's OK with me 'cause these are some seriously light levers at around 40 grams.


So....That's it for this installment.

Cheers!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

1 step forward & 2 steps back

This (my first blog post ever) is just an observation of my latest bike building process and I was wondering if I'm the only crazy person that does this....

I'm building a vintage weight weenie which has been an ongoing project for nearly 2 years. I've spent umpteen kazillion hours reading and starting posts in forums and other places, scanning catalogs, talking to local guys in the know trying to figure out what parts I wanted. The “vintage” part comes in with a cut off date of around 1992.

The craziness started when I finally had an idea of what I wanted parts wise to get to my target weight. I started searching for parts and being a thrifty fellow decided that it would be OK to compromise a bit on some of them even if I was gonna get a penalty for being a bit over weight with some parts. Sometimes you gotta draw the line somewhere on how much you’re willing to spend or how long you’re gonna look for a part right?

Well, first I bought a Zeus 2000 alloy freewheel and was pretty stoked as it is lighter than the Suntour Winner Pro which I love so dearly. Then I read about the Campy Ergals and just had to have one. Well they are a bit on the pricey side but in a saved search for Ergal freewheel I came across an Italian alloy freewheel by a manufacturer I'd never heard of before (something like machisimo?sp? I’ll dig it out later and update…). It is a 7 speed and weighs less than the 5 speed Zeus which is cool 'cause my frame is spaced for 126 out back. Then I happened upon 2 Suntour Microlite freewheels for a reasonable price (lighter still). Point is I've got a crap load of freewheels. I even bought some Reginas and other Suntours thinking the auctions weren’t represented well and maybe I'd luck out with an alloy version. Long story short….I could have bought a Campy Ergal or 2 (or 5) for the amount I have into this pile of vintage freewheels layin’ around here. I just tell myself I’ll need them someday.

I kinda did the same with stems.....I had a Cinelli stem lying around but decided it was a bit on the portly side for my likes so I then started hunting for and eventually bought a SR ESL which is very nice and certainly light but ended up with a Ti quill for cheap that weighs a bit less. The headset was an easy choice (although very hard to find)….A Nylfor. It weighs 38 grams! I also bought a couple of different alloy and Ti stem bolts just in case they are lighter than what my stem has.

The wheel build is where it gets real nutty. I went on a rampage buying all sorts of hubs trying to come up with a vintage wheel set that rivals the weight of new $3000+ wheel sets. Hi-E, American Classic, Paul, Mavic, etc...I've settled on the Hi-E's as the clear winner in light weight. Stupid light some of these things...Then I needed rims.....I bought a 24 hole Fiamme yellow label to match a hub set I have but have had no luck finding the match. Then I bought a very nice wheel set from a fellow with Campy NR hubs laced to 24 hole Fiamme Speedy rims but the angled braking surface makes me paranoid. Now I just scored a set of HI-E rims which are SUPER light but they are 36 hole and I only have one 36 hole Hi-E hub which just happens to be laced to yet another Fiamme yellow label! Not to mention I'm gonna have to source those pesky special washer thing-a-ma-bobs for the spoke holes in my Hi-E rims....So I'm about to freak out at this point.

The brakes were easy...CLB Spacelines (I bought 2 pairs for good measure and a set of Olympics just 'cause), Modolo Kronos levers and CLB duroLinox cables and housing. Some of it took a while to get especially the cables.


Shifty bits...I had a Huret Jubilee rear derailleur before this build but it was missing the special washer. I won one of those and bought another Jubille RD for good measure. Then I got it into my head that the drilled cage version must be lighter so I got one of those too. They're heavier FYI. I'm using either Modolo Kronos or Ofmega Mistral shifters and the front derailleur is a Rino but I'd prefer the 5 hole version of the Jubilee if I ever find one....

For the cranks I’ve got a fantastic set of Toplines and a White Industries bottom bracket with a Ti spindle and alloy cups. I’ve got some alloy crank and chainring bolts too. I haven’t gotten chainrings yet and I still need to get some AeroLite pedals.

Seat and post are either a Wound Up or American Classic with a Concor Lite.

So still on the list of to do’s…..Chainrings, bars, spoke washers, a 36 hole Hi-E hub (Or better yet 2 so I don’t have to take apart my wheel….Or maybe a 32 hole Hi-E rim.), quick releases, an alloy seat binder bolt, chain, pedals and I’m sure something I’m forgetting…..
Of course the bike will probably blow up on my first outing but I expect the whole thing to cave under my weight of 145 soaking wet. We’ll see…..Either way, it’s been a fun adventure but I really wish I could finish this thing!

So I guess the moral of the story is….If you’ve got a bare frame to build up and you have an idea of what you want. Stick to your guns! Or you’ll end up with enough parts to build 10 bikes or spend enough getting parts that you could have just bought a complete bike outright and saved yourself some serious coinage! What fun would that be though?


I just gotta keep telling myself the hunt is half the fun…..Right?