Messing around lacing two rims together...

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You've got to be able to squeeze it onto a bike... you get too crazy and next thing you know you're welding up a monster bike. (Just in time for Halloween too!)

Carl.
 
You've got to be able to squeeze it onto a bike... you get too crazy and next thing you know you're welding up a monster bike.
You have a good point, I am not into making crazy bikes...

Oh, wait, is today opposite day?

Luke.
 
I just tried 4 tires on the stingray rim,don't think it would work and still have room for tubes.

Also just saw on page 2 of the show me your wheels thread that someone welded 2 rims together similar to what got this thread started.
 
Also just saw on page 2 of the show me your wheels thread that someone welded 2 rims together similar to what got this thread started.
I think @OneHorsePower has done a few in the past...

Luke.
 
I think @OneHorsePower has done a few in the past...

Luke.
yep :nod:

1st one i did was 2 rims that i cut the flanges on one side and rivitted them on a plate bent into a loop using half of the spoke holes ... this method allow to use a single inner tube .. the rim end up heavy but strong.

2nd one was 2 rims welded and using 2 inner tubes , you need 2 cause of the flanges in the middle. Only one tube would stretch to much over that bump and probably fall one side or the other , also i doubt it would give proper pressure to hold the tire on the rim bed.
2 inner tube works fine , you have to inflate them progressively one and other at first , then you can feel the pressure of each sides and adjust it time to time + it give the tire a more square'ish profile :thumbsup:
and no it does not cause flats , rolled one year no prob.

welding or any method of joining them together strongly is mandatory cause cross lacing will tend to deform the rim if its not strong by itself ... also very tricky to lace ... but oh so nice when done!:cool:

yours looking great Luke !
 
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This is my take on the subject:

IMG_3423.JPG

IMG_3426.JPG

three rims, bonded together with hi-strenght epoxy. Hub drilled for 64 spokes, two tier parallel cross-lacing ( 4 rows of spokes, two leftmost rows go to the right flange of hub et viceversa)

Still building ( after two years) the bike to put this thing on....
 
This is my take on the subject:

View attachment 17422

View attachment 17423

three rims, bonded together with hi-strenght epoxy. Hub drilled for 64 spokes, two tier parallel cross-lacing ( 4 rows of spokes, two leftmost rows go to the right flange of hub et viceversa)

Still building ( after two years) the bike to put this thing on....
That is awesome! I hope you post up a build thread when you get things moving along!

Luke.
 
Well, LukeTJ, thanks a lot. I'm not so sure that I will be able to pursue the building soon: last time I worked on the bike ( dubbed so far "Monarchia Meccanica" - Mech Monarchy) was a year or so ago. then I postponed everything until my shed would have reached a comfortable temperature for learning to weld, but never got back to it.. maybe this summer!
Anyway, to get back on topic, this wheel has got a story to be told by itself: it all started with the tire. I built the wheel 'inside' the tire, so to say: first realizing that there were no rim wide enough for that tire without being overly heavy. Then, suddenly getting to know that no bike rim had the correct diameter for the tire. So I resolved to open three pinned 24" Robs'Son rims, shortening them, forging them to the correct curvature and diameter, and repinning them. You may imagine that calculating spoke lenghts has been quite.... interesting, to say the least.
Then machined away the ridges between the rims, to have a flat tire mounting bed. Mounted the tire with two motorcycle inner tubes, and voila! Extra-wide spoked wheel.. all for 18 Kilos ( The tire alone accounts for 14!) Runout is not so bad, either: about 5mm radial, and 2 mm lateral!
Creating the wheel has taken me five months, from January to end of May, when I finally succedeed into mounting the tire.

BTW, all with hand tools: I built wooden machines to coax the rims into their new shape, to mount the tire......
 
Well, LukeTJ, thanks a lot. I'm not so sure that I will be able to pursue the building soon: last time I worked on the bike ( dubbed so far "Monarchia Meccanica" - Mech Monarchy) was a year or so ago. then I postponed everything until my shed would have reached a comfortable temperature for learning to weld, but never got back to it.. maybe this summer!
Anyway, to get back on topic, this wheel has got a story to be told by itself: it all started with the tire. I built the wheel 'inside' the tire, so to say: first realizing that there were no rim wide enough for that tire without being overly heavy. Then, suddenly getting to know that no bike rim had the correct diameter for the tire. So I resolved to open three pinned 24" Robs'Son rims, shortening them, forging them to the correct curvature and diameter, and repinning them. You may imagine that calculating spoke lenghts has been quite.... interesting, to say the least.
Then machined away the ridges between the rims, to have a flat tire mounting bed. Mounted the tire with two motorcycle inner tubes, and voila! Extra-wide spoked wheel.. all for 18 Kilos ( The tire alone accounts for 14!) Runout is not so bad, either: about 5mm radial, and 2 mm lateral!
Creating the wheel has taken me five months, from January to end of May, when I finally succedeed into mounting the tire.

BTW, all with hand tools: I built wooden machines to coax the rims into their new shape, to mount the tire......
Good work!

Luke.
 
A short piece of air hose with a tire inflation fitting works well to equalize the pressure. I still have one from my dragster that has a lock on fitting on one side and a press-on on the other.
 
A short piece of air hose with a tire inflation fitting works well to equalize the pressure. I still have one from my dragster that has a lock on fitting on one side and a press-on on the other.
Good thinking! :)

Luke.
 
A short piece of air hose with a tire inflation fitting works well to equalize the pressure. I still have one from my dragster that has a lock on fitting on one side and a press-on on the other.
I think I have one, bought it at a Thrift Shop and didn't know what it was have to post a pic.
 
Big trucks and even dually pickup trucks often use a device called a Cats Eye that connects both tires.
They are pretty cool, they have check valves that save the good tire if one is going too flat.
I don't use them because they are ugly, and they're certainly too big and ugly for a bike. But it might be possible to build your own scaled-down version complete with some sit of small check valves that prevent a double flat.

On the othe hand, that might be ridiculous overkill, if you have even one side flat you're gonna be stopping and fixing it, so what if you have to reinflate the other side too.
 
You guys have some good ideas, but you're also overthinking it. Take two rims, one laced, one not, line them up side by side, making sure that the valve stem holes line up, give them a couple of tiny, reversible tacks, then loosen up the spokes on the side of the hub facing the tacked on rim, and lace them to the new rim. Bam. Done. Two tubes, one tire, early custom.
 
You guys have some good ideas, but you're also overthinking it. Take two rims, one laced, one not, line them up side by side, making sure that the valve stem holes line up, give them a couple of tiny, reversible tacks, then loosen up the spokes on the side of the hub facing the tacked on rim, and lace them to the new rim. Bam. Done. Two tubes, one tire, early custom.
Wont you have spoke length issues then Deven? I would think the spokes would be too long as they are on less of an angle.

Luke.
 
Wont you have spoke length issues then Deven? I would think the spokes would be too long as they are on less of an angle.

Luke.

Possibly, but it's never come up as an issue yet. Spokes aren't usually flush, so you have a little bit of room there.
 
I think I have one, bought it at a Thrift Shop and didn't know what it was have to post a pic.
They have also been called "pirates". Not that I would ever do such a thing but if I ever needed emergency air and just happen to roll into a parking lot with some cars I could "borrow" some air from a car tire to keep a bike rolling.
 
I just found this old thread as I was researching using 2 rims to get more width for my 3" tire. It's exactly what I was looking for but I have a couple questions.
I've epoxied the 2 rims together with the valve stem holes opposite each other, and am planning to use 2 regular tubes in a 26 x 3" tire. I am going to lace the original 36 hole front hub back in. The width of both rims together is only 44mm, about 1 3/4 inches. If this works, I'll do a rear wheel the same way.
rim epoxy.JPG

My questions are about the lacing. Normally the left side spokes line up along the left side of the hub and rim, and the right side follows suit. I'll be using 3 cross like it came with. The rim holes are identical to each rim, no offset. I noticed the two rims Luke laced up crosses the spokes to the opposite side of the rim from the hub, if I'm seeing it right.
Is that how I should do it? Or will the usual pattern be good as long as the epoxy holds?
Will using just one rim for spokes and dishing it slightly as mentioned above be a more workable way to do it?
I can't get any rims over here that are wide enough for my 3" tires. Everything available is these narrow rims.
 

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