Been working on the building until it gets too hot, then going to the shop to tinker with the bike until it gets too hot in there. Finally got both wheels respoked. Not too complicated, but I'm wondering why Simplex didn't put a "dish" shape into the front hubs (or the small flange on the back hub). Without a dish shape, the spokes are in a slight bind. If I'd realized it before hand, I would have probably made a ring to press in a little bit of bend into the flange. As you can see in the photo, I layed out a circle on some cardboard & marked where each hole is on the rim, then did a dry run of where the spokes would land when I added the rim.
Anyway, I pulled out the 2 baggies containing the axles & bearings so I could clean them up & install them so I can start to true the wheels up. They had been in the bags since I took the bike apart. I dumped the bag into a pan of gas to get all the old grease & dirt off the parts. When I started pulling the ball bearings out of the pan, I found something odd.....there were brass colored broken bearings, and a bad gall mark on one of the bearing cones. Upon closer examination, the back wheel was missing 2 balls, and apparantly in thier place, somebody put 2 hollow brass balls in their place. They didn't hold up very well. I guess I'll call Wayne this week to see if he's got any bearing cones. If it weren't for that odd thread, I could probably make one, but I don't want to buy a tap that I'll only use one time.
Mike Sal
