9 mm to 15 mm Stan's 3.30 hub conversion

[bsgerig]

I was reading the manual for my new Stan's wheelset and it suggests using a bench vice to swap end caps for the 9 mm to 15 mm conversion. Is this really needed? Anybody do this swap occasionally. This wheelset will be occasionally working double duty between my geared and ss bikes.

[slower_than_u]

I used the Park Tool axle vise when making this end cap swap. The o-rings on the end cap OD sit in the hub ID firmly. It might be difficult without a vise but I haven't tried it.

[rob1035]

Just use a skewer, stick in in one side of the hub slightly tilted until it rests on the backside of the QR cap, and smack it gently with your hand. The cap will pop right off...

[hillbilly_hank]

The front conversion is super easy. When installing the new caps, a drop of tri-flow on the o-ring will make the install much easier. To remove the caps, I just used some tongue and groove pliers to gently grab and pull the caps off.

[bsgerig]

Thanks for the tips guys!

[Pelly_NH]

Anyone have issues with the 15mm axle having a very tough time passing through the inner o-rings?

[slo_rider]

yes to difficulty passing 15mm thru axle thru end cap on stan's 330 hub.

i was searching forums to see if any others had the same problems:

(1) Stan's 330 front hub w 15mm end caps--couldn't pass White Bros Loop axle through the end caps.

(2) Stan's 330 HD front hub w 15mm end caps and same White Bros 15mm thru axle--axle passes easily through end caps.

I took everything to LBS and the mechanic measured the inner diam of 330 end cap which was 14.85 mm, while outer diam of axle was 14.92 mm. For what it's worth, a Fox 15mm thru axle passed through the 330 end caps without difficulty.

So I removed the inner O-rings from the end caps, got some medium grit emory cloth, and wrapped a strip of emory cloth around a metric socket that was pretty damn close to the end cap's inner diameter--i had to do some fiddling to get the right amount of emory cloth so that once it was wrapped around the socket it fit snugly inside the end cap. then i proceded to bore out the end cap slightly by hand with my socket wrapped in emory cloth until the 15 mm axle could pass through easily.

I then cleaned all the grit from the end caps, replaced the inner O-rings, and then easily passed the thru-axle through the hub to install the front wheel.

BTW, if LBS had another set of 330 end caps available, I would have simply bought replacement caps (presuming inner diam was big enough to accept my thru axle).

[92gli]

That's really weird that you guys have that trouble. The end caps on mine just fell out of the hub all the time, usually when trying to put the wheel in the fork. I replaced the O rings once, but that only helped for a little while. I got so tired of it I finally bought a king front hub to match the rear one I've had for a few years. With the king there's no fiddling needed to get the axle through, it's precise and slides in easily.

[slo_rider]

yeah--my end caps just pop off if i so much as flick them with my finger, and i have to be a little careful when replacing front wheel because they pop off sometimes while inserting wheel between fork dropouts.

definitely no tools required to remove end caps, and that goes for both my brand new 330 HD/Flow wheelset as well as the used 330/Crest front wheel i described in prior post. The 330 hub with end caps that pop off easily was bought used from ebay, but in pretty good condition.

Sounds like Stans may have a slight quality control / tolerance issue from factory regarding end caps.

FWIW, my end caps aren't a problem anymore. At least not yet...

[bsgerig]

Really crazy. I ended up taking my wheels to a bike shop so they could use an axle vice to take them off. I tried the channel locks but was concerned about marring up the endcaps. My caps sure didn't fall off.