corkscrew

Hi all,

I've recently placed an order @ ebike.ca for one of their 9C motor kits. However, the fellow there informed me that I'll probably want a more robust setup for the long haul.

With that, I plan on joining the local bike co-op hoping that someone there can assist me in building up my (first!) wheel.

The electric hub has 36 holes. There is no rear brake on my trike, so I don't care if it's a disc rim.

BCRider

You'll be wanting a rim that is speced as a touring or 29'er rim. These rims tend to be a little wider than a road racing rim. They generally use extrusion sections that are more commonly found in mountain bike rims. The minimum tire width for such rims is going to be 28mm with perhaps 25mm being useable in some cases. Going bigger these rims will easly handle up to around 38 to 42mm tires.

somedood

So this is going on a trike? I assume your front wheel is the drive wheel on the trike, and you're putting the motor on one of the back wheels? If so I didn't know that trikes have 700C wheels.

Anyway, I'm sure any 700C touring rim will work fine. From what I understand the electric hub motors go on a non-drive wheel, so you'd want to make sure you lace the wheel the same as a drive wheel (not in a radial pattern like most front wheels are). Getting the spoke size right might be tricky since the electric hubs have a pretty gigantic radius.

motobecane69

Mavic A719 or Velocity Chukker would probably be 2 pretty good choices.

BCRider

A lot of the electric hub motor setups I've seen are rear wheel drives with a freewheel for pedal assist. So this could well be the drive wheel for both power modes.

fietsbob

Sun RHYNO, is a beefy extrusion, this is a different die used, from the Rhyno light.

Delta upright trike? Jack shaft for the motor and
one of those 6 bolt fixie cog disc conversion hubs
linked to yesterday makes an option..

Another cog, fitted to a disc mount on the motor can drive the wheel

ratdog

+1 on the Mavic A719 or a rim specifically for a Tandem. Spokes will also be important. Go with a Wheelsmith DH13 if the hub can take 13Ga. and consider using brass washers. Are you looking to build these yourself?

corkscrew

I've never built a wheel, so my options are: Take it to the LBS (Not my preferred option) or join the local bike coop ($100 membership to get access to the wheel truing/building bench, but as a side gig, it gets me a discount on parts and the ability to order wholesale from QBP) and hope someone there is willing to teach me and check my work.

My trike is a recumbent Tadpole trike - so this would replace the singular 700C rear wheel. (It is a rear hub I ordered with an 8 speed freewheel). I have two 20" wheels on the front.

I'll take a closer look at the Mavic, Rhyno options, as well as I've heard good things about Velocity's Dyad?

mrrabbit 

Mavic A719
Velocity Chukker
Alex G6000

=8-)

ratdog

No harm in learning new skills by trying to build it yourself. If it becomes too difficult, you can always bring it into the shop. Stick with quality parts though that's what the wheel builders that guarantee their work do.

davidad

Mavic 319. More aluminum.

reptilezs

can sun rhynos even be sourced? if the inner profile is close to a rhyno lite i would reconsider for ease of tire mounting.

powitte

The real skill/art of wheel building is the final phases. The earlier stuff is just assembly, which anyone can do if they can follow the directions (there are many good online tutorials for lacing and tensioning a wheel). Another option is to do this, and then leave the truing and final tensioning and stress relieving to the pros. Especially because this is a complex build, I would recommend against doing this all yourself on your first try.

A last option is, if you join the co-op, snag an old front hub they have laying around (co-ops have tons and I suspect you could have it for almost free), and build up a practice wheel around that. If it goes well, they try the electric hub.

PS $100 sounds terribly steep as a joining fee. What happens to the cash and what other opportunities does it open up for you?

DannoXYZ 

i vote for the Sun Rhyno Lite rims. Their box-section profile makes them strongest for the weight. I've used them for years on my MTB and now my tandem. They can withstand the harshest downhills, 8-ft drop-offs, endo'ing cars at speed, etc. The pro trials and DH guys swear by them. Some good reviews here:
https://www.mtbr.com/cat/tires-and-wh...84_139crx.aspx

You can get them online from numerous sources. Like Tree Fort Bikes $25

Jeff Wills

Could be one of these: https://www.catrike.com/catrike_700.html

I'd also go for a Sun Rhyno or Velocity Chukker, but with a trike's heavy side loads I would get the widest rim I could. The Salsa Gordo looks about as fat as they get:
https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...&category=1707
and then mount a fat Schwalbe Big Apple tire on it.

FWIW: I helped manufacture recumbent trikes 30 years ago: https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/aerocoupe/index.htm . The large rear wheel was definitely a weak spot- skinny rims would collapse under hard cornering. That's why many recumbent trikes use 20" wheels all around.

Batavus

Rigida Andra 30. Beefy as hell. Specifically designed for wheels with large hubs i.e. electric motor, rohloff hub. The spoke holes are drilled to accomodate spokes coming in at a shallower angle which is what happens when lacing big hubs two cross (rohloff)

corkscrew

Thanks guys. The trike is an Actionbent T1 - 700C wheel in back (currently has a 700x35 Vittoria Randonneur Cross tire), and two 20" Marthons up front.

I'll look into what a local shop would charge.

Also on the fee - it's only $35 to become a base member, but that doesn't get you access to the advanced tool bench. You also get higher discounts with the advanced membership, as well as being allowed to order parts through their QBP account.

I already have the tools on their "normal" tool benches @ home.