[Joe Johnson]

You can optimize whatever Performance Index you want (e.g. buying as little as possible from AM or VP) but I suggest you think hard about what your real goal is because there are really great solutions you are passing up. It is inspiring to have a "we built this" mentality but it is also pretty inspire-sucking (insucking?) to have a chassis that doesn't drive reliably.

Okay. I'm off my soap box. Now let me help.

Before AndyMark came out with those great hubs, Chief Delphi (the team) used to buy so called "Mountain Board" wheels and find ways to get sprockets attached to them (our Stack Attack chassis was bad @ss largely because those wheels -- almost nobody had pneumatic wheels back then).

SO... there was one brand in particular that had a flat disc hub rather than a spoked wheel hub and this lent itself to getting a sprocket attached. They were bright orange* and I think they were on Mongoose brand mountain boards.

Good Googling.

Dr. Joe J.

*which was AWESOME for a CD Robot -- "What's your favorite color, baby?" "ORANGE! AND! BLACK!" (nostalgic tear forms in corner of eye of typist as screen fades to memorirs of stands packed with crazed CD students doing their second favor cheer...)