I've always been interested in , and fascinated by , Harlan Meyer's Hi-E Engineering .
Anybody know anything about the current status of the man , or the company he founded ??
All I ever paid full retail price for was a wonderful water bottle cage . It was ( and still is ) indeed made of aluminum tubing with one stainless steel hose clamp ( something like 22 grams total ? ) . It's far & away the World's lightest clamp-on cage .
Still works just great on my Frejus-Legnano . It's been on there since about September of 1972 . With more than 35,000 miles on it , it still functions perfectly !
I also have a couple rims that were made specifically for Hi-E hubs & spokes . So , they were sold to me years later as "tire stretchers" ( something like 42 hole ? or maybe 52 hole ? ) . When you hear that the tubular rims were made of folded and riveted sheet aluminum , you just can't imagine how well made they really are !
The spoke holes are NOT evenly spaced around the rim . They are very definitely in closely spaced groups , with wide gaps between the groups . Hi-E rear hubs used far more spokes on the drive side . A very radical idea for 1973 or 1974 .
Loved the idea of the V shaped spokes ! One Hi-E spoke took the place of two normal spokes ! Each spoke was twice as long , with a bend in the middle . The bend in the middle was at the hub . The two ends went to the rim . Each Hi-E spoke used two nipples , and no "head" !
And , as was just mentioned on the C. R. List recently , lots of light-weight spokes , with a light-weight rim , were MUCH lighter than a few heavy spokes & a heavy rim .
By the way , anyone have any experience with Hi-E ALUMINUM SPOKES ??
Loved those pedals . Sorry I never bought any . Shimano certainly liked the idea enough to make their own versions , with the special crank arms just to fit them !
Was never too sure about the riveted bicycle frame . But , I always wanted to actually see a Cosmopolitan !!
Cheers ,
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
U.S.A.