wheel lacing question....

[elvis51]

i hope this makes sense. if i take hubs from 20inch wheels that are 36 spoke, and hoops from 26 inch wheels that are 36 spoke, could i lace them up and have it work properly? the only problem i can see is that the spokes might not be long enough? anyone else forsee a problem by doing this. i suck at lacing wheels and usually haev a friend do it for me.

or better yet, is it difficult to find 26inch wheels that are single speed but a freewheel rear hub without spending an arm and a leg?

Easy E

 

[socal_jack]

26-inch freehub wheels come up fairly regularly on the local Craigslist, although usually they're flip-flop type hubs

 

[elvis51]

whats flip flop mean so cal? you guys on the west coast have a WAY better craigslist then us midwest guys!!!

Easy E

 

[FaceOFFbikes]

whats flip flop mean so cal? you guys on the west coast have a WAY better craigslist then us midwest guys!!!

Easy E

I believe it when the rear wheel has a fixed hub on one side and a single speed on the other, so you can "flip" the wheel around and change from one to the other.

 

[CCR]

whats flip flop mean so cal? you guys on the west coast have a WAY better craigslist then us midwest guys!!!

Easy E

flip flop hubs are basically for "fixie" bikes. its a two sided hub, it allows you to put a freewheel on one side and a track cog on the other so you have the option of running a single speed or a direct drive cog (fixie) just by flipping your wheel around. overkill for your normal bike but they will do the job.

as far as your first question, almost any rim and hub with the same number of holes can be laced together, you will need longer spokes to lace your hub to a 26" rim though. old 10 speeds have a freewheel hub on them, so if you found a 26" wheel off a 10 speed all you have to do is get the gear cluster off (which usually requires a special socket). even if you had a bike shop remove the cluster it would problablybe cheaper than buying new spokes.

 

[shecky]

Inexpensive one speed 26" wheels are indeed difficult to find. 5/6/7 speed freewheel are not difficult to find. The bad thing about using a wheel intended for a 5/6/7 speed freewheel, however, is that they are laced asymmetrically (called "dished"), and the hubs are spaced unevenly and wide. This is an issue if the frame is a typical single speed. All this means that the chain won't line up between the freewheel and front sprocket, and the frame may need to be spread apart to accommodate the wider axle.

There are workarounds. Not really beginner work, but it involves re-dishing the wheel and removing the spacers from the axle. The latter part is easy enough. Re-dishing can be a real headache for someone who's never done it before. It involves loosening all the spokes on the freewheel side of the hub, and tightening all the spokes on the left side. Sometimes, it's not really practical, as the spokes may be significantly different lengths on either side. And of course, you'll have to tighten and true the wheel.

Sometimes some weird juju hits and it works out OK. And single speed 26" wheels do exist in a variety of spacings. Some are intended for narrower dropouts like typical coaster brake cruisers, some are intended to retrofit multi speed bikes, so some homework must be done before putting down the money.

 

[icyuod2]

if you get the correct length spoke, you should have no problem putting your 20" hub into a 36 spoke 26" rim

spokes are usually $.25-$1 each depending on quality and increase in size 2mm at a time. if you search online theres a few spoke length calculators.

if your hub is a one piece hub ( 3 piece will blow apart) you can lace the wheels in a twist pattern. twist patterns allow you alittle more freedom with spoke length (with limits)
increase the twist if the spokes too long, decrease the twist if there too short.

a twist pattern wont be as strong as a regular laced wheel (not for off roading or jumping) but they should be plenty strong for a cruiser/rat rod.

do not try this with a 3 piece hub, it will fail eventually.

 

[No Talent Clown]

Not to add too much to this, but with a flip-flop hub and an adapter you could run disc brakes on whatever. Chaingang sells a couple of adapters as well as a few other places. Usually I have seen Flips on BMX bikes. So, there are some 20" rims out there like that.