New life for a worn drive roller

rawly old

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The problem with your typical diamond-checked drive roller is that
the tiny points intended to grip the tire wear quickly down to lit
rounded nubs while the groove between fill in with rubber & grime
to the point where it's slipping a quarter turn every revolution.
Fear not! You can make your old roller perform better,(wet or dry),
than when you bought it. Check this attachment.
By cutting deeper grooves to make new larger diamonds you can
create a roller that will last longer grip better even in wet weather.
I used a dremel with a small diamond wheel from Widgetsupply.com
They carry a wide range of dremel bits a very reasonable prices.
If you don't have a dremel a hacksaw would work provided you
are careful. I've highlighted grooves for better resolution.
They should be cut 3/32 deep.
Will this wear a tire more quickly? If it's grippin' it ain't slippin'.
I think you'd lose more rubber to a worn regular roller.
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Looks like you did well. How is it going, in use? What is the result, on the tire wear?

re: skate board wheel. How would you mount it?

What drive system are you using? I have the dax kit and it has a narrow driveshaft. It uses either grub screws to lock the roller, or a sprag "clutch" on the bigger one.
 
It seems to have 30/40% better grip than standard staton; works in the
wet but not as well as I had hoped. Staton has new design 1" looks like
worth a try. I think my modification will work better with a 1.125" spindle
as I'm getting a larger engine anyway. The 7/8" with a gx35 isn't gonna climb
well pulling a trailer.
 
neoprene is the best try it out get the 90 grade 1 1/8th in roller..if you havent tried. try it.you will be surprised how great it works..its definatly hands down the best roller.
 
well...
It has gotten up to 70 degrees here once since Sept.; we've had maybe 12 days
since then without rain. For me the roller question is now moot; I've converted
both my friction drives to belt drives by rotating the engines to the right side and
tooling shafts outa 7"x 5/8" galvy bolts... with very satisfactory results I might add.
 
Where do you buy them, and what kits does it work with? (Dax? Staton? Other?)

neoprene is the best try it out get the 90 grade 1 1/8th in roller..if you havent tried. try it.you will be surprised how great it works..its definatly hands down the best roller.
 
I have a Staton,(the most precisely made), and a refitted & aligned BGF fric kit.
I turned 'em 180, tooled one end of the bolts to fit the clutch bells, and used the
rim from a 20" wheel for the sheave on one and a 24" rim for the other. I have
several different pulleys that bolt onto the shaft and can be changed out in less
than 2 min. giving me a wide range of ratios for various road conditions. I can
get 26 to 1 like a fric drive on up to 13.5 to one for flat out on flat roads. My
general purpose pulley is 19 to one, top speed 30 mph, yet it will climb most
hills with a not too strenuous pedal assist for my 3 spd hub. I really don't
need a lot of gears with a motor. The 3 spd makes everything elegantly simple.
 
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