Folding Bikes - Custom Wheelbuilder for Folding Bikes

Hi all,

I'm just curious, is there anyone out there who specializes in building wheelsets for folding bikes? I've looked over a couple of wheelbuilders out there and they don't seem to stock small rims. (Maybe look at recumbents?) So, can we get some names together? Thanks. :thumb:

Gaerlan, Peter Reich, Peter White, etc. Not sure who in Canada, but why don't you just buy the rim and bring it to the mechanic? Or build your own? It is a challenging but fun experience.

Thanks Joako...had a look at Gaerlan and they do seem to do custom, Peter Reich - never heard of him until I found the Swift website - doesn't seem to indicate that they build wheels, Peter White does not do small wheelsets according to his price list.

Thanks Joako...had a look at Gaerlan and they do seem to do custom, Peter Reich - never heard of him until I found the Swift website - doesn't seem to indicate that they build wheels, Peter White does not do small wheelsets according to his price list.

Not sure what rim size you are looking for, but I think Peter Reich only builds 20" wheels as those are the ones used for the Swift. You can try emailing him to verify, but do take into consideration that sometimes he takes a while to reply. What wheel are you trying to have built?

Wait, you're right, Peter White does do 20" wheels, you just have to look under the heading "Velocity Rims".

I'm thinking of eventually switching out the Alexrims DMI8s that my BF NWT came with. The issue is that I have a SON20R dynohub and a Rohloff.

Ben's Cycles in Milwaukee also has a decent selection of 20" rims available on their ebay shop.

if you can get the necessary parts, any competent wheel builder will be able to build it for you.

since you're in Toronto, you can check out Urbane Cyclist, they work with folding and recumbent so they have a spoke cutter and a selection of 20" rims.

actually, the only difficult thing about building 20" wheels is getting spokes in the proper lengths. They need to be cut down and rethreaded. And for that you need a spoke cutter, which I don't have.

Me and 2 of the LBS's that I buy my parts from. They will build anything you want, they may not have the parts in stock for the small wheels but they will be glad to order them for you. FWIW they are Hawley's Bicycle World (http://www.hawleysbicycleworld.com/) and Longleaf Bicycles (http://www.longleafbicycles.com/), both in NC.

Aaron :)