Mithrandir

So I'm considering replacing the rear wheel of my bike. It's got a 7-speed hub and it's 16 years old now, and I would love to replace it with a 9-speed, as 7 speeds are just too limiting to me (I have a 12-21 cassette; I love the tightness of the gears, but hate the fact that 21 is my lowest. If I got a 9 speed I could get a 11-21+23+26, which would make the hills much less painful).

Anyway so I've been looking for a good 26" rear wheel with 36 spokes... and I simply cannot find any. Most are 28 or 32 spokes. This is ridiculous.

Are there any good 26" 36h wheels out there? Or should I just buy a 36h hub and re-spoke the wheel? I'd probably get my LBS to do it because I have no freakin clue how to go about doing that... heh.

Mr. Beanz

Why not get a 7 speed cassette 13-26 ?

Is the current hub 36 spoke? You could just buy a new rim and spokes, replace the current hub. Old hubs can be overhauled with new bearings and grease so that they roll smoothly again.

If you go 9 speed, you'll need new shifters too.

10 Wheels

Might work.

https://www.everybicycletire.com/Shop...elset-559.aspx

Mr. Beanz

[QUOTE=10 Wheels;12920022]Might work.

https://www.everybicycletire.com/Shop...elset-559.aspx

10 Wheels

Might be the wrong link**********

Mr. Beanz

Correct link now.

socalrider

Salsa Gordo Rim, they come in 36h, they are a triple boxed rim so they are built to take some abuse.. Not the lightest but solid rim. My favorite MTB wheelset is the Mavic F519, which I have been using for 8+ years, some minor truing but still solid.. They were replaced by the XM719 Mavic rim..

https://www.speedgoat.com/Catalog.asp...152&Prod=11092

Mithrandir

That is another option I considered. Since I don't max out my 44/12 on flats at the moment, going to 13 probably won't hurt.

I suppose that makes more sense than the other route for the time being.

What I suppose I'll do is keep the 12/13/14/15/17/19/21 cassette for my daily exercise (I am in love with the 1-tooth differences!), and buy a 13/15/17/19/21/23/26 for my long range biking adventures where I'm likely to hit some hills.

In the long long run I may just buy a 9-speed bike and go 12/13/14/15/17/19/21/23/26 and get the best of both worlds.

Yes, currently 36. Which is why I was surprised that 36 is so rare now; pretty much everything was 36 when I bought it!

Will only need to replace the rear shifter, so about $20. No big deal.

bradtx

Mithrandir, 36H wheels aren't rare, but seem to have migrated to commuting/touring niche duties. The 13-26T cassette is still reasonably close ratio'd for your long haul hilly rides and you'll gain about 6 GI in low-low (if I remember your earlier post correctly).

Brad

jethro56 

I really like the 12-26 on my 8 speed Trek 7300

mikehattan

I just converted my Shimano hub from 7sp to 9sp this year. I followed Sheldon's Advice. I first added a 9sp cassette minus the large cog (effectively 8sp, grind off the rivets) and a 9 sp shifter. Then a few months later put on a new freehub body (found on eBay for ~$20) and the whole 9sp cassette. The only issue is with my old "7sp" crank/rings. The narrow 9sp chain can get stuck between the rings in certain shift situations. Just have to be careful with rear chain position with shifts from large to small rings.

You can still find 36h wheels. If you really want new wheels, consider buying machine-built wheels then have a good shop retension them. If you find what you want pre-built, it's often cheaper to buy that way than it is to buy the hub/spokes/rim individually. Good luck!

Mithrandir

I wouldn't have an issue with the crank, I just got a new Shimano Deore LX crank and it's 9-speed.

digibud

I just built a set for the first time. I had to get help in ordering the right length spokes but that was the hardest part. Plenty of video's and books on the topic to guide you.

gyozadude

I did just that by rebuilding wheels for this workhorse bike - an '89 1/2 Bridgestone CB-2. Although the rider is a lightweight kid, I wanted to see how strong the rim would turn out. And so I rode his wheels on my Bridgestone MB6 w/ drop bars for a couple of weeks to work. Wow. Just great and held their true. And I'm -really- heavy. So I've got another 2 pairs of rims on order.



To do the build, I cut the old spokes off with a big set of diagonal cutters, and overhauled the rear hub and cleaned, regreased, and put new 1/4 inch balls . Front hub was gone. I got a new Deore FHub online in satin/silver 36H for around $15 and bought new stainless Wheelsmith 14g stainless spokes and nipples. I used Sheldon Brown's reference spreadsheets for hubs and rims to dimensions, and this spoke length calculator online: https://www.bikeschool.com/tools/spoke-length-calculator

Rims were cheap too. Alex X202s with 36H - see Amazon. Single wall rims, but only just $12 each. But the build turned out to be excellent and quite strong. I played around with axle washers to center the back wheel and push the freewheel outside more so there's minimal chain clearance. But that shortens the outbound axle length for freewheels and prevents bending for heavy folks, and it reduces the amount of dish on the drive-side spokes.

The bike is my son's new school bike. He's amazed at the smoothness and great looks on his new wheels. BTW, I bought the bike off Craigslist for just $50. I added around $100 total to turn it into the ride in the picture.

cyccommute 

Don't do that! ...At least on a fully tensioned wheel. Two problems. Maybe 3. First, cutting a spoke that is under tension releases a lot of energy and the end of the spoke can fly off with incredible speed and power. Before I was enlightened, I embedded a spoke in the celling.

Second, cutting a tensioned spoke releases the energy that can make the end of the spoke fly off into space back into hub flange. You could end up cracking the hub flange and ruining the hub.

Third, cutting spokes with a pair of diagonal cutters is very hard on the cutters.

Detension the wheel then cut the spokes with a small pair of bolt cutters. No flying spokes, broken hubs or ruined tools.

gyozadude

I should have added, for Cyccommute that I cut them while radially the spokes were inside a garbage bin. It's good advice not to cut them without some shield. The problem with many cheap rims is seized spoke nipples. You can loosen them any longer. Then you -must- cut them off.

ArchEtech

When velocity deep v first came out, I built a set with XtR hubs and 14g double butted spokes and they have never needed adjustment. That was 10 years ago. I weigh 210-220 and did a lot if jumping. I am thinking of making a set for my road bike but the stockers are holding up. You can't go light weight on the run or the spokes.

socalrider

Here is a good set of F519's - 36 hole on ebay.. disc and rim compatible..

https://cgi.ebay.com/Mavic-F519-XT-hu...item415b662a33