I have a Tuff II from a score a while back and just noticed it has factory drilled holes in several spots on each spoke. Was this something special (graphite?) or was this something else?

Sorry, but I can't get pix until later this week.

Thanks,
PJBAZ

sounds to me like its a home-made modification. never heard, or seen of a "drilled" tuff wheel

[ August 21, 2005, 11:14 PM: Message edited by: Scott R. ]

Neither had I but they are spaced way too perfect to be ( I guess it's possible though) some rider mod.

The holes are in the "web" off the hub, not through the spoke themselves.

PJ

I dont think that is something Skyway would ever do!! Go to ebay and do a search for radracingbmx.....ask him...he should know for sure!!

once you find out...let us all know!! I'm sure we'd all like to know!!

No, Skyway never drilled holes in their Tuff wheels. If you are looking for rare Tuffs, a few of the factory riders had their graphites without gold anodized hubs (silver that were stamped "graphite"), about three sets went to factory riders with blue anodized hubs and there was a short run of unauthorized Tuffs in the UK that had Andy Patterson's signature on them.

Tuffs were made in the UK in the mid 80's for a short period of time in High Wycombe, just outside London, from a company licensed to do so. This was to avoid the steep import duties at the time, and these Tuffs have "Made in the UK" stamped on them. I believe the license was revoked after the whole Andy Patterson signature model fiasco.

Other rare Skyway stuff includes the 24" graphites (~300 sets), cruiser T/A frame and fork (~13 sets) and the special run of new school 16" graphites (10 sets). But I'm not aware of anything with holes drilled in it that came out of the factory.

Eric

Eric is right...
Skyway never produced a drilled out Graphite Tuff Wheel. What you have there is a home-made modification!
-Ed

What about the set that Haney has? Weren't those drilled out graphites for Greg Esser?

Found this very interesting as I have been trying to get some info on my wheels for a while. I have a set of Andy Patterson signature Tuff II been trying to find out for some time whether they were fake or real and whether they were a limited addition. Noticed that Brutux said they were made in the Uk but my Tuffs definately were made in the US I have contacted Skyway and to their knowledge there was talk about them making them but they never went into production. This is the first time I have posted on here not sure how to post the pictures any help with that would be great!

Brutux you forgot to mention the Graphite '24's were sealed bearing... Only a few sets of campy hub'd '24's were made and there were a few sets of flip flop models floating around that are suppose to be " piece together's"

and I had a set of the silver flanged graphite '24's also...they were loose ball non campy hubs.
If I am wrong please excuse me , I am by no means an expert.
Brett

When I talked to Ken and Bart at Interbike a couple of years back, they indicated the Andy Patterson sig models were made in the UK and not authorized. They may have been pressed before the molds were changed to read "Made in the UK" - either way, they were created from Skyway molds and you have a rare set there UK,TA. Post a pic of 'em!

3rd Gear, yeah, I didn't want to go into all the hub types that were available on the Graphites. Bill would pounce on it 'cause he is the Skyway Hub Guru! I have a set of the 1st gen Graphites with Campy loose ball flip/flop hubs (hand tempered by Ken Coster himself); next came the Skyway loose ball hubs, and then the Skyway sealed hubs. Silver hubs are really rare, but not quite as rare as the blue hubs. The rarest Tuffs of all are probably the two sets of white (non-graphite) that had blue hubs. I think one set of each went to Bob Haro and Mike Dominguez.

Eric

Here's a photo of the drilling- one closer inspection I guess it probably is a homemade mod- but a nice job they did anyway.

1BrokeSpoke found a set of the Patterson signature Tuff II's in Oak Creek Wisconsin on a total junker bike.Small world!LOL!

That's pretty cool - every set of Patterson Tuffs I've seen/heard about were in the UK, and on the rare occasions I've seen them up on ebay they have all been from UK sellers.

pjbaz, it looks like the holes are small enough that it shouldn't compromise the integrity of the wheel if you ride on it. Definately not a Graphite, as they did not come in gray (or any other color besides black) and the hub type is not correct for either the old school or new school ones. Which should be a relief, as it would have been a damn shame to have an old school graphite with holes drilled in it!

Eric

The ri is supposed to be black! Just faded like a MOFO. I wasn't woorried about integrity- jjust wondering if it was something...obviously it's not.

I don't know what the modification was intended to do- shave .000000003 grams off the wheel?

PJ

Way back in the day, there was a trend (at least on the East Coast) to drill Tuffs, heck, at one time we drilled everything.

Ah yes- rod cycling went thorugh the same thing. It had a name- Drilliium!

Seriously, there were some silly things drilled out for weight reasons but to make tiny holes in a tuff...no real savings- they're still heavy as hell.

PJ

I knew a guy Eric Knaur not sure of the spelling exactly and he drilled his graphites out on all the webs of the spokes, talk about flexing.

I went through that stage too. We drilled brake calipers and anything I could drill through. Didn't help the racing at all.

and the holes in that tuff are not evenly spaced if you look closely.

I know I am bringing this up from the past but I ran into this today. My daughters wheelchair has skyway mags on it and it has those holes drilled for the hand rail.


Jess

Their called speed holes.....they make your bike way faster!!! Homer Simpson had some on his car..

They are definately speed holes , Call Ned Flander's over to have a look at them <heh>

The person who drilled them out has used the small circular casting relief marks as a guideline as to where to drill them.

Have a close look or feel around any non drilled Tuff wheel you may have handy & on one side of you will see the ~4mm diameter impressions they used as a guideline to drill out the speed holes.

JB

so, you put speed into them holes ?..........

i seem to have one front, rare silver hubbed graphite right here !

Hey Eric:

I think Ken Coster has the mold insert that put the Patterson signature into Tuffwheels.

I did not know about the UK models. In fact, until Ken showed me the mold insert I did not even know we did a signature model.

I learn something new every day.

Bart

Here you go Bart

I was just wondering how many of these sig Tuffs are out there, as I am yet to see any others anywhere else. Anyone got any ideas? If they were made in the UK I am yet to see another set over here cheers Tony

You guys are nuts!

How much can Ken Coster get for the Tuff II mold insert that has Andy Patterson's Autograph in Hardened Steel Tuff II mold coponent.?

We have that jewel.