restlessswind

HI all,
I would like some advise on replacing the cheap spokes (and rim?) on my budget ebike with something more reliable. The bike is fine, but the spokes are not up to the task. I don't abuse the bike, but the roads can be bumpy here and there on my commute.
It's a Bafang 500W and 700C (28x1.75) wheel (36 hole).

Some know who I am from prior posts. I have learned a great deal, and wished I didn't jump on this particular bike, but I'm stuck with it for the time being. The company rep is willing to send me some replacement spokes, but I know they will continue to break. I can see the stress in them.

car knocker

Bruce Teakle's Pages: Hub motor wheelbuilding for ebikes I used a Sun Rhyno Lite rim and Sapim Strong single butted spokes to improve mine.Laced it one cross using the video in the above link.So far it's worked great.

Doc_Wui

Yes, a lot of inexpensive ebikes have 12G spokes. Hard to maintain tension. They sell double butted spokes which are 13G at the elbow and 14G at the nipple. They will give good tension. If the motor holes are too big for 13G, washers are available.

The nearest bike shops always seemed ebike unfriendly to me, so I didn't even inquire about wheel building. I just jumped in and learned how. It's not that hard if one is methodical. I just used a spare fat bike fork (135mm axle width) clamped to my desk as a stand. I watched a youtube video where a young lady aptly demonstrated the single cross pattern used for ebikes and had another ebike wheel to stare at for a model, when I got lost.

My biggest problem was getting the spoke lengths correct. I used the Grin spoke calculator on the ebikes.ca website.

If only one wheel (I've done six now) then having a shop do it is a good idea if you can get someone who is not afraid of a hub motor.,

restlessswind

Thanks for the wealth of information! I also came across a wheel building video that reiterated these ideals.
I really would like to find a reasonable, but adept wheel builder in the area. Seems too involved, especially this time of year

2old

As a last resort if you decide not to build the wheel yourself and can't locate anyone locally (although you should be able to in your metropolitan area), Dave's wheels in AZ has an excellent reputation for both "regular" and e-wheels. PITA, but may be your only solution.

MikeyMK

Yeah i used motorbike spokes, think they're 2.8mm. And supermoto rims.

When drilling out the holes in the rim for the bigger nipples, you want to drill at an angle, so the spoke pulls straight. You start at the valve because the spoke aims away from the valve. You drill 2 angled that way, then 2 angled back, and so fourth around the rim.
The larger diameter your hub motor, the steeper the angle required to maintain a straight spoke. This will help prevent snapping either the spokes, nipples, or splitting the rim.