Originally Posted by
adlai
I'm curious: do internal hubs typically require different spoke lengths than normal rear hubs? Is their diameter larger or not?
I would think that the case would be no...that they are the same diameter as normal rear hubs.
I ask this b/c I'm seriously contemplating picking up a mercier tt track bike from bikesdirect and installing an internal hub, using the existing wheel assembly.
As others have said- the chances are nearly zero that you will be able to reuse the spokes. Internal gear hubs tend to have much larger flanges than fixed or freewheel hubs and thus use shorter spokes. There's a very slight chance that it could work with a different number of crosses... for instance, switching to an internal gear hub and changing from 3X to 4X spokes. The spoke length could work out.
Old Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hubs are close to the same diameter as high-flange hubs- it could work in this case. However, if the existing wheels are 32-spoke it's a no-go. If they're 36-spoke, then this just might work.