wheel build/rim help please?

[Miznomer]

Hello, i wonder if somebody could advise me on a wheel building project?

i have a bafang motor that needs to be built into a wheel. I have spokes, but they are assuming an alex101 rim which i can't seem to source here. From some conversations with bike shops, it seems that there are enough discrepancies between 700c wheels to make it so i can't assume these spokes will work with any 700c rim. Is this true?

With regard to the build, i have 2 choices. I can post this motor to the only dedicated wheel builder in the country and they will have a variety of rims, one of which should surely work with the spokes supplied.


alternatively, i can go to an old bike shop about 30 miles away where a lovely old man who hasn't built a wheel in 25 years is willing to give it a go - as much as a favour as anything else.

In any case i need to make a decision on a rim. The gentleman in the next town has old wheels he's prepared to dismantle to supply a rim (though whether they had the right number of holes, we didn't check)
However, is it a poor economy not to go for double wall vrims. (which my current bike has). I would have thought so, yet the suppliers of kits don't seem to be doing this and i haven't read of any wheels buckling.

So, the first ask is advice on the rim, any particular make/model, or settle for the salvaged one? has anyone experienced problems with rims in their setups?

The second is whether i would be better off going for the more experienced wheel builder.

Finally, i put "rim" into the search engine and came up with nothing, i'm pretty sure i've read threads with "rim" in them, am i missing a trick?

i've gotten lots of great info from this forum, thanks guys!

 

[Straylight]

People here seem to have had very good service from SJS cycles when wanting a wheel built from a motor hub, anecdotally very fast too. I believe there are onliine spoke calculators to help you see if a particular rim would work with your spokes.

 

[Miznomer]

thanks, i might call them tomorrow, just to clarify, i'm in Ireland, so having them do the build is probably not an option.

 

[NRG]

I had my wheel built by SJS, Bafang motor and they specified a Ryhno rim having done a quite a few before. First class build, spot on run out and just about the most even spoke tension I've come across...highly recommended, came in at £96 including the shipping and rim tape I asked for.

 

[wurly]

Do a search on the www for 'spoke length calculators'. I have laced a couple wheels myself. There is a definate art to it, but it isn't difficult when you know how.I think i had 5 attempts at first. I bought my spokes from SJS and laced up a secondhand rim (doublewall). A good book on wheel building would be useful, maybe they have one in your local library.
Mel

 

[Lloyd]

Don't re-use your old spokes, you might as well use spaghetti. DT Swiss is the most reliable spoke calc online, with hundreds of rims stored on the database.

Welcome

If it's not on there the you can still enter the erd (effective rim diameter) in a seperate box and it will work it out for you based on your hub. With a Bafang you would need to measure your flange diameter, and flange distance, and manually input the numbers.

You can see that there is more to it than meets the eye, so you are best of taking it to a professional. There are many specialist wheel builders in the country, often hidden in the deepest, darkest depths of your local shops workshop, having a whip being cracked at them or drinking tea

With regards to rims, a dpuble walled and eyeletted rim will be much more prone to staying straight, but the overall strength is down to the spokes. Having the wheel handbuilt will certainly help your case, but ensure that quality double butted spokes are used. The Bafangs use larger than the standard 2.60mm eyelet hole, so usually people use 13g plain guage spokes as they are the only ones large enough. Problem is that 13g spokes in the right length will be hard to come by, so you will likely be left with poor quality plain guage spokes.

Two spoke options I reccommend, standard 14/15g double butted DT swiss spokes, they will be available in the right length off the shelf in any good wheel builders workshop, and are very supple and strong. They give a nice ride with hub motors.

The second option is to use a quality 13g. Sapim do one but it is like hen's teeth to find, let alone in your correct length. DT Swiss do one called the Alpine 3. You probably won't find it on the shelf in the correct length, but it is available to order in boxes of 100 from a UK supplier (Madison).

When I re-built a batch of Bafangs on the early Ezee's I used Mavic rims with DT alpines, and the difference was amazing. No more brake judder due to the rim tolerances being spot on, it stayed true for longer, and the wheel had much more compliance to it.

I hope that is of some help.

 

[Tex]

NRG: that's a nice looking wheel build brother. well done. but I see it's hard to get a pic taken up there without rain being involved tho!

 

[Miznomer]

Hi guys,
thanks for all the advice - and the picture. I think i will probably go with the tried and tested, i.e., sjs. I initially ruled it out because of postage costs, (€32 for just the motor from this side of the irish sea), but they say they can send it back wheel and all for 11stg. So, though it adds up, it's probably worth it to have the benefit of experience .
At some stage in my life i wouldn't mind trying to build a wheel, but now wouldn't be that time.

Re: bikeshops with indentured wheelbuilders in the back. I called about 10 bike shops around here, including some in cork city and only one of them would touch it. He hasn't built a wheel in 25 years. I visited his establishment yesterday and i really should have taken a picture. There wasn't room for a truing stand in his workshop, it was unbelievable, but that was where he did the repairs!

thanks again for all the input.

 

[Mussels]

A good choice I think, I had my Bafang motor wheel built by an LBS and it broke about 4 miles later.

 

[NRG]

NRG: that's a nice looking wheel build brother. well done. but I see it's hard to get a pic taken up there without rain being involved tho!

Yep! Wet weather comes with the territory! LOL!