sjanzeir

So, yeah, I screwed up. I ordered this pair of double-wall, 36-spoke Taylor wheels for my Vybe as an intended upgrade from the single-wall stock rims:



True to form, I neglected to pay attention to the width (or OLD, whatever that stands for) of the front axle, so I ended up getting a wheel with a 100mm axle that won't fit the Vybe's 74mm fork. I contacted Taylor Wheels, and they said they neither carried 74mm hub-equipped wheels nor 74mm hubs. So, what I need from the community is recommendations on possible courses of action here:

1. Return the front wheel (at additional cost, which is going to approach the cost of getting delivered to my door in Jeddah) and look elsewhere for a similar wheels that fits out of the box.
2. Try and find a 74mm, 36-hole hub and rebuild the wheel with that (so far, my search for a hub with these particular specifications has turned up nothing.)
3. Retrofit the bike with a replacement fork that would accommodate a 100mm hub and the OEM V-brakes out of the box.
4. Just live with the existing OE wheels and their bending-prone rims; sell the new wheels locally and take a haircut on the cost; learn my lesson on the perilous outcomes of failing to pay attention; and call it a day.

I still haven't lost hope on #2, so I'm asking for suggestions/recommendations. That said, correct me if I'm wrong, but option #3 seems a little more achievable - fitting a new fork (albeit possibly more costly than a new hub, shipping and handling included) might be easier than rebuilding a wheel.

What do you think?

CliffordK

Here's a hub.
It isn't particularly cheap.
Other Hubs

Bike Friday has used 36h hubs on some of their bikes. You might send them a note and ask if they have any hubs in stock.

Do you currently have a 36h hub in your bike? You might be able to swap rims to the old hub.

cobba

A fork that takes a 100mm hub would give you more options for hubs in the future.

https://www.loopwheels.com/product/1...n-front-forks/

dabac

OLD stands for Over-Locknut-Distance.
Tearing down a fully functional wheel in a common configuration in the hope of being able to reuse the spokes in a build with a yet to find rare spec hub seems like a waste of time. You may well end up needing new spokes anyhow.
What material is the fork? If steel, it might be possible to spread.

sjanzeir

I just dropped them a message, and got a response from a robot named Rene, who promised to hook me up with a technician.

125 isn't cheap at all! If they don't ship directly to Saudi Arabia, and force me to use Shop and Ship, the total cost might approach what the bike is worth new! But you know what? I really like this bike! So I'm going to need to make a decision here.

The OE hub is a 28-hole, so trying to marry that to the new rim probably will be a challenge in exotic lacing patterns that I haven't even begun to try to figure out!

sjanzeir

Good point. As I've grown to learn over the past few days, 100mm axles seem to be the norm - far more common than 74mms. And the cups in the OE hub have already developed some pitting in the few short months that I've owned it! So there's that.

I've seen the fork you posted before I made the post, but that's not a V-brake fork!

sjanzeir

I hear you. Still looking for alternatives.

I believe the fork is steel. I already did try spreading the thing, but I only got to spread it to around 90mm or so before the angles of the dropouts got so skewed, the axle I was using flew out and almost hit me in the face. That's when I called it quits.

dabac

For rear dropouts it's quite common to do a thing called cold-setting. It's when you spread or pinch a frame so far that when released it'll stay at its new dimension. Frequently but not always followed by aligning the dropouts.

AlexCyclistRoch

OK, having been working on bikes for the last 40 years, my personal experience has shown me that about 99.5% of all road bikes have a 100mm spacing on the fork. If you are in that OTHER 0.5% 'oddball fork' size group, that would be the first thing to look for.

sjanzeir

I could've used that kind of advice three weeks ago!

Okay, check this out! If I can retrofit this to my existing OE hub, that would be swell. The only question left would be what length spokes to use. Then I can just sell the new front wheel and recoup some of the cost, and call it a day. What do you think?

Abu Mahendra

74mm is the common standard front OLD for folding bikes.

To the OP: sell the wheels

fietsbob

OK folding bike part of what reduces the width folded is that narrow hub Brompton and Dahon have a wheel spec on their bikes,
that have spawned aftermarket and OEM suppliers to make hubs.. I have 3 28 hole 74mm hub wheels and 1 24 spoke 74mm hub wheel ..



[prior post]

If the hub is cup and cone on a threaded Axle, it is possible to change the axle, to suit..

74 >> 100.. wider.. probably not the reverse wider to narrower..


A company like Phil Wood can supply a different axle assembly ,
their current 'FSA' (field serviceable axle) design makes that straightforward. [Now, they make a high end folding bike hub,update..]

Again narrower to wider, but not wider to narrower ... getting out my caliper

my Brompton hub itself is 5cm across the hub flanges, 74 OLD axle,

the Campy on my road bike the hub shell at a similar measure, is about 2cm wider.

So, getting a new hub that is narrower will alter the spoke length needed, to rebiold it

as to how much the width loss is about a Cm per side , it may or may not be significant

Double wall rim the spoke sticking above the nip head, may still stay below the inner rim wall.

"May" is the guess factor.





...

dedhed

26mm is a LOT to spread a fork for a 20" wheel bike. Spreading an old 90mm schwinn to 100mm on a 26" wheel fork is doable.

He'd be doing approx. 1" in 10+". rear setting is usually max spreading 120 to 130mm on a 410mm length so .39" in 16+" or so.

dedhed

If you wanted to keep the wheels a different fork is probably your best solution.

1" Threaded? 1 1/8" Threadless? steerer tube length, crown to axle length, rake/trail, obviously 100mm spacing and V brake mounts. All things you need to know before you order something.

mtb fork 20 black diameter 21mm BRN Bernardi Forks Rigid , City Fork Bike

3alarmer 

...I googled up a picture of one of these, just to see where the impediments to alteration might be. I can't really find one that shows me enough of the fork and steerer array to see how much of a PIA it is to change out the fork, but it looks pretty specific to your folding arrangement. Without one to look at more closely, I'd say sell the wheels and ride your originals until something goes wrong with one, then pay someone to build you a better set on either your original hubs or some correctly spaced replacements. If there's some cone pitting already, you can usually still ride it, or often it's possible to find replacements. If the pitting is in the hub races, Dahon is just not using particularly good quality parts. So even if you fix this, some of the other stuff like the BB is suspect.

I saw someone selling these for around 400 bucks, (the C7 model, the D7's are like $550), so I'm not 100% sure how much it's worth to you to continue to repair it. This might be a disposable bike.........many of them are these days.

AnkleWork

How are you bending the OE rims? Maybe you need a bike with larger wheels.

3alarmer 

...there's also an issue of where the brake attachment bosses are going to end up. It sounds a little dicey, but I've never actually seen one in person.

Cyclist0108

There is one other solution: Buy a new bike frame that fits the new wheels, and start building up N+1.

This has the additional merit of allowing you to save face and pretend that it was really your original intention.

Then you can order the exact wheels you need for the original bike.

You really didn't need to make that mortgage payment this month, anyway.

Andrew R Stewart 

The smaller the rim diameter the stronger/more resistant to bending/denting the rim is compared to the same rim but in a larger diameter. So I wonder how the OP's rims are becoming bent.


Too bad that DaHon choose a non standard hub for this bike. Could be for reduction of folded dimension?


I wonder if the hub was well adjusted prior to it's use. Bearings do wear/pit quickly if the bearing preload is to great, they grind themselves to death right from the start. Any replacement hub needs to have the bearing adjustment made right after the spokes are tensioned up and before the wheel is used. Andy

fietsbob

It is common amongst several folding bike companies to use 74 wide front wheels,

the relative bracing angle in a small wheel is fine, the overall width of the fold is reduced.

Bike friday's Tikit, used 74 wide hubs, they liked 24 spoke , brompto and some da hons,

20" wheel Bike Friday travel bikes use 100mm wide hubs.. FWIW,

Some Schmidt dyno hubs use a 10 axle on a narrow hub as an option rather than 74,

hub shell the same. .


...

70sSanO

I found these on the Dahon site. Rims might not be exactly what you want, but they are 36 hole, and they do allow you to lace up the new rims down the road if necessary.

Dahon Wheels

John

Edit added: I don't know if they are 20" and can't find the specs on the site, but the hubs are 74mm.

Here are some specs on the Weinmann 519 rim...

Weinmann Metal Products Co., LTD

AlexCyclistRoch

OK, Abu, but it wasn't mentioned that this was a folding bike. My experience with folding bikes pretty much started and ended with one that an older lady used to bring in, that she used to take with her when she took it down to Florida during the winter (I believe it was a Schwinn). Other than that......who really rides these things? I think there was a guy I knew almost 20 years ago who owned 1 Bike Friday (out of 10+ bikes he had), but other than that, folding bikes are so unusual as to be considered "well outside of the norm" in the cycling world. It may be different where you are, but where I live you almost never see one.

I would assume that a bike that eschews 'ordinary' rims diameters would do likewise with just about everything else. Even the better kids bikes that use these smaller diameter rims still stick with the 'normal' dropout/fork spacings..

Andrew R Stewart 

While the OP didn't spell out the bike style he did mention the model. A simple paste then search pulled up many hits and images. Although I do agree with not providing a straight forward description is a waste of the reader's time.


As to are folding hikes rare, uncommon or little used... Only to those who don't see a loot of riders and their bikes. We have a couple handfuls of customers who ride Bike Fridays, a number of others with Bromptons (some sold by us) and a bunch of other folders (DaHons being the most common). I expect this category to grow as more and more people discover riding as transportation and learn that the vast majority of bikes in stores are not well set up for practical urban use. Andy. (who's own folder stolen in 1979 is back in his stable after 30+ years)

sjanzeir

To those who asked - perhaps "Bent" was a little too extreme of a description on my part. "Gone out of round/true" is probably a more precise - and far less dramatic - one. This is my most used - and most abused - bike. Potholes, ruts, bumps, sharp grooves, sand, sand mixed with rocks/gravel - you name it, I rode this bike over it.

Now, admittedly, I do not abuse my other Dahon - a Speed D8, with double-wall rims - nearly as much as this Vybe D7, but I do ride it over the same paved roads, with all their potholes and other imperfections (but no rough or unpaved places.) So when the Speed D8 hits anything with its narrower, lower-profile 20x1.60 Marathons , it hits it harder than the Vybe D7 with its BMX-sized 20x2.10 Primo Comets (previously Kenda Kraniums, which are in almost-new condition and I intend to run on the new rims.) And yet, it's the Speed's double-walls that held up pretty well, and are still perfectly round and true, while the Vybe's single-wall rims need frequent - almost weekly - readjustment (but then again, the Speed was more than twice as expensive, so there's that.)

CliffordK

It isn't uncommon to see one or two Bike Friday bicycles being ridden around here on a sunny day.

Of course, this is Eugene, home of the Bike Friday.

On the other hand, the only time I've seen a Colnago being ridden around here was when I loaned it to a friend.