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Wheelbuilding
This page is where I'll
list my exploits into wheels, wheelbuilding and anything else associated
with wheels for bents. I'll show some of the options you can use
for trike and bent wheels as well as a few rants about the "myths"
associated with wheelbuilding. I'm not going to go into all the
details about wheelbuilding because there are a lot of good walk-throughs
for that on the net, but I will provide some links to them. This
will be under construction most of the time as I compile the content
and build more/different wheels and bents.
Light Wheels
There are lots of nice looking wheels
out there, I think, that are minimally spoked with both wheels and hubs
that are specifically designed to have as few spokes as possible. Unfortunately,
most of these wheel sets are pretty expensive as a result, and being
a frugal kinda' guy, that puts them out of my price range. While
these wheels are designed with rim profiles and hub features that make
them strong enough to support a rider's weight with minimum spoke counts,
I think there are many other rims out there that will do the same for
much less money. Often I see weight limits of about 175 to 200lbs
for the wheels that have 20 spokes or less, but with inexpensive wheels,
I am not afraid to try low count wheels at 210lbs when the rim and spokes
might only have cost me $20 or $30. While it might be harder to
find an inexpensive, yet strong rim with 20 spoke holes or less, the
poor man's solution is to take any old 48, 36 or 32 hole rim and simply
put in only half the spokes. The following are the wheels that
I've tried this with along with how they have worked out.
| 16" (305) AL 28H rim, 28H Bontrager hub w/sealed
bearings, SS spokes |
| This was the first wheel
that was decided to be half spoked and is used as the rear
wheel of my friend's Python
so it will get the same kind of loading and treatment as the
front wheel of a regular bike/bent. The rim was about
$10 and is a basic, low priced AL rim. The spokes are
SS for a little better strength than plain steel spokes and
cost about $15 for a box of 72. The Bontrager hub was
free - off of a wheel in the dumpster! No kidding! :) IT
has a Schwalbe Marathon 16 x 1.5" tire on it too. It
was also decided that radial spoking would be the way to go
because the hub flanges looked robust enough to take radial
lacing. My friend trued up the wheel, it's very stiff,
and has been riding it with no problems since. I'll
get an update on the mileage later. He weighs about
160lbs. |
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| 451 AL 36h rim, Shimano M475 36H disc hub, black SS
spokes |
| This wheel is going to
be used on a dual 451, rear wheel drive low racer. It
has a low cost, double wall rim that cost about $10, the SS
spokes were about $17 for 72, and the disc hub was about $30.
I also bought a set of funky violet nipples for an extra
$6 :) The wheel is 18 spoke, radial laced, again, because
the M475 hub looked like it had meaty enough flanges. It
has a Schwalbe Stelvio 451 x 1 1/8" tire. It trued
up beautifully and feels nice and stiff. I need to wait
to use it til I build the lowracer frame and hopefully me
being 210lbs won't be a problem. If the wheel does fail,
it'll likely be the rim and/or spokes that go . . . hopefully
:) I'll update when I get some oad time on it. |
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Trike Wheels (front)
One of the biggest hurdles I had to
overcome when building my first trike was figuring out what I was going
to do for front wheels. I had pretty much assumed that the standard
3/8" (and its metric equivalent) were not going to be strong enough
to support my weight mounted from only one side, and I didn't like the
look of adapting a complete bike fork to support the weaker axle. I
knew there were wheelchair hubs that would work perfectly, but I think
the cost of them is way out of line, plus I was unable to locate a source
for hubs from trashed or used wheelchairs. In the mean time, these
are the following options I have tried or seen used, and I'll list what
all is involved with the wheel, what it costs and how successful it
was. These wheels can also be used for the non-driven rear wheel
of a delta trike, or both rear wheels of a FWD delta trike.
I'll also add right now that rim brakes
work just fine - it's not necessary to absolutely have disc brakes so
don't get sold on the "disc brake hype". Most of the
problem is due to dry/crappy pads. Even low end side pulls will
work more than well enough with some half decent pads on them.
| This
is a 20" jogger/stroller wheel with 36 spokes, off something
like this.
This one is steel, but they also come in AL, as well as 12"
and 16" sizes along with the 20" pictured. I think
I might have even seen one with 24" rear wheels too. The
nice thing about these wheels is they alreday come with ½"
ID sealed bearings as well as a tire and tube. They cost around
$30 to $40 and can be bought from any bike shop as they are in most
catalogues. Some of them even come with a quick release axle,
ready to be used. This wheel will be more than strong enugh
for kids or light adults but may not stand up to hard/aggressive
riders or riders over about 220lbs. Depending on the rider
size and riding style, it might be a good idea to pop out one of
the bearings and install a compression
tube and a simple ½" Grade 5 bolt is all that's
needed for an axle. |
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| This is a 20"
steel BMX wheel, 48 spokes with 14mm axles. They come in a
variety of rim styles and materials/finishes, hub designs and bearing
types. They cost anywhere from about $30 up to over $250 each
(no tires or tubes). To use them, simply loosen the cone and
jam nuts on the axle and shift the axle as far to one side as you
can. After that, slide it through the axle mount of your chice,
spin the axle nut on, and you're rolling. These things are
absolutely bullet-proof and I can't imagine what it would take to
taco one. They are so strong, in fact, that I am considering
taking half the spokes out on a set I am going to use on my next
trike. The bottom picture shows the wheel mounted after shifting
the axle as mentioned. |
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| These are spoked
poly wheels. They come in sizes ranging from 12" up to
20", come in a variety of colours and generally come with some
crappy, bargain basement variety semi-sealed bearings. The
bearings do not come with strong enough races to withstand the lateral
loading when used on a trike front end, so usually the original
ones are popped out and custom bearing carriers are installed with
good quality sealed bearings (usually ½" or 12mm) and
a compression tube. They are very inexpensive and can be as
low as $5 each and are rarely more than $20 each for the 20"
version. The problem is, you need access to a lathe to machine
the adapters, and then you need to buy four ½" or 12mm
sealed bearings to press into them. I made my own so you'd
have to check locally for machinist charges to make some. You
also have to factor in the cost of the bearings at anywhere from
$4 to $10 each depending on quality. One drawback to these
is that for heavier or harder riders, the spoked wheels will actually
flex on corners so they're really only best for childrens' trike,
light adults, or very casual riding adults. The bonus is you'll
never have to worry about spoke tension or wheel truing. You
also need to be careful about using high pressure tires (ie over
about 75psi) as I have seen the plastic sidewalls blown off by too
high air pressure in the tires. They wouldn't be my preferred
choice, but they can look cool and if that's all you can find, go
for it. |
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More to follow . . .
Wheelbuilding
What is a compression
tube? Well, first, some bearing info. With a
sealed bearing, there is an inner and outer bearing ring. The
outer ring supports one side of the ball bearings and fits tightly into
a recess in the hub. The inner ring supports the other side of
the ball bearings and has a hole in the middle that the axle goes through.
You need to use a compression tube for "annular" or
"radial" bearings that are designed to be loaded perpendicular
to the axle. Most all bicycle wheels come with radial bearings.
If you use "axial" or "thrust" bearings, these
are designed to take the biggest load laterally, or parallel to the
axle so you wouldn't need a compression tube for them. Thrust
bearings are usually a fair bit more expensive as they need to be built
much stronger than radial bearings.
Now, what a compression tube is, is
a small hollow tube that fits tightly between the inner rings of the
radial bearings on both sides of the wheel and can be made out of steel,
stainless steel of even aluminum. The compression tube is hidden
inside the hub body and is hollow so the axle can go through the center
of it as well. The compression tube's job is to act as support
for the inner races so that when the axle nut is tightened to keep the
wheel in place, the force doesn't push the inner rings out of alignment
with the outer rings, otherwise, the bearings would fail. To install
the compression tube, you would remove one of the sealed bearings, insert
the tube and hold it in the proper alignment using the axle from the
other side, and then gently press the bearing back into position and
if you got the compression tube length right, the bearing will be properly
seated as it comes in contact with the compression tube. Back
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