[Alan Ing]

Some teams mentioned that they had trouble with the bearings and that the sideplates were getting bent.

We didn't have this problem and as a suggestion, teams might want to consider modifying the IFI wheel like we did. In our application we weren't confident that the bearing support/sprocket holder would be as robust as we were used to, so we machined solid hubs and spacers to mount our own bearings and sprockets. I know it adds time and weight, but it really stiffend up the assembly. Like I said we only had problems with the three rim sections getting bent, not the sideplates.

We basically enlarged the center hole in the sideplates to 1.125", took some 1.75" round aluminum bar, and turned both ends down to 1.124" leaving the center section at 1.75" drilled and tapped the 1.75" section to mount the sideplates on either side and installed 8mm ID bearings on the two ends of the hubs. 8mm bearings are common inline skate bearings and work great with 5/16" bolts. 8mm = .3149" which allows a good slip fit for 5/16" (.3125" bolts). I know a lot of people advocate 3/8" and 1/2" bolts for wheel axles, but we have never had a problem with grade 8 5/16" bolts when properly supported for wheels (no long spacers between wheel hub and axle mount). Long spacers between the axle support and wheel hub puts a bending moment on the bolt where the spacer meets the wheel. If the hub is long enough to reach the axle support, the bolt will mostly be in shear.