Bikeguide, missed you guys, been about 12 years since my last post here. Mid-school rider and I need help understanding new modern Female 3/8th's axle's, and how I they can be ridden.
Ill try to explain my self as best I can. 30 year old "mid-school" rider and this year I plan on setting up my first new Bike in basically 15 years. That said, Riding for me these days is mostly cruising city streets, hopping up and over things, and I only do the occasional 180 or 360 'for the girls'. I also ride trails when I can get out to them. I have had 14mm axles front and rear my entire bmx riding life. I have never rode a 3/8th axle what so ever, neither male or female, except goofing around on my roomates jr. race bike. Ill get to the point;
To this end, My new Set-up is going to be a Standard 125R on 3/8ths axles front and rear. I will ride 1.95 tires in the back and 2.25/ Tioga Street blocks. I am just shy of 6ft tall and weight about 175lbs. I have never rode a female 3/8th axle rear, and I tried to browse some old Gsport posts about them to learn something, but I came away less than certain I knew what to expect and how to set the new wheels up. Further, I browsed/lurked "pinkbike" and "vital-Bmx" to gleam a little bit of information about setting up these hubs, and literally not a single one of them seemed to know even the first thing about BMX let alone any real information about this.
From what I read, 3/8th's female axle's will have either an Aluminum/Chromoly inner axle, and will have Chromoly Bolts that mate to the hub. Also, various sources claim that a female 3/8th axle will have similar strength to a male 14mm axle comparatively speaking. I have looked at the Profile Mini-cassette's and the Odssyey anti-gram 3/8ths rear, as my tentative choices. Despite the "Race" nature of my future bike, I will likely ride a 25/9 gear setup for money and convenience sake. I saw profile offers an inner-chromoly axle as well as aluminum option. Given that Rear wheels are extremely expensive, I want to make sure im not making a really stupid decision going with a 3/8th rear "race" set up to cruise streets and Ride trails. I meticulously maintain my parts and bikes, never throw or abuse them, and I dont slam the bike around ever.
Given my weight, and that I will never ride pegs, grind , do any stair bombs or anything of that nature, could I get away with 3/8th female axles in the REAR, bearing in mind I will likely hop some trash cans or rails, do the ocassional street gap maybe in to grass, wall ride or two, and some park action, along with mostly hard packed trails and generic city cruising? Will I crush or bend these axle's in this type of riding? I know 3/8ths should generally be run only on bikes that see transitions for most of there life, but I will inevitably be on the streets, as well as some parks.
also any additional experience or knowledge on 3/8th female rear wheels is appreciated. lol dont be shy, I saw all those S&M CCR's out there! I know us "old" guys be on that steadfast geometry. Sry for long winded/ got a little too excited posting again.