Hub motor wheelbuilding

I am sorely tempted to build my own wheel. planning on doing a wheel building workshop being offered, to learn the process.
First, is building a hub motor similar to a normal wheel build?
Second, any recommendations for 26in rims?
The cost savings seems to be worth it, and I like challenges. the plan is to do a rear wheel hub motor
Any other suggestions? I'm in no hurry, I may start this in November, if I decide to go ahead with it.

Sounds like a great plan. The best wheels are all hand built. I could generically tell you that a SunRingle MTX is a great rim, but it really depends on what you plan to do with the bike. MTX are usually overkill for absolutely everything.

Hub motor cause an issue with spoke nipple angles, so you're generally limited to Single cross or radial lacing. The good news is those are the easiest patterns to lace. A normal pedal bike will be laced triple cross, and likely a class on wheel building will teach you that. If you can build a triple cross, a single cross will be a cake walk.

The best advice I can give is read Shelden Brown's website on wheel building and truing. Then grab an old wheel, even a dumpster found wheel, and practice truing it. Getting used to how one spoke will affect the shape of the whole wheel just takes hands on practice. True it, screw it up, true it again. Rinse/repeat. And by the time you have the parts in hand to build your own wheel, this will seem easy.

Similar yes, but still different.

I like Mammoth Fat 26" rims but many folks also like wide Alex rim - they'll be along to give you the exact model.

You need practice as much, if not more, than a course. Class probably won't hurt but you can find plenty old junk wheels to take apart, reassemble, true, practice tension, dishing, etc.

Check Youtube for lacing videos, get a good wrench, don't use too thick spokes. I used 13/14ga butted and happy with results but in future I will probably deal with washers and try 14/15ga butted spokes.

Any of us running hub motors any length of time will be at severe disadvantage if you fail to learn this important skill. Go for it, practice makes perfect. There's plenty of spoked wheels ready to be trued and tensioned - start there and then move on to lacing...

thanks for the advice! i have plenty of opportunity to learn, as i am starting to volunteer with a community bike shop. they have truing stands, and a ton of old wheels. the class is simply because i dont know anything about wheels/rims/spokes/nipples. from there, i plan to practice, then build a few for my pedal bikes, then, MAYBE build a hub motor wheel.
is front any easier than rear? just wondering.

It's actually really easy to build a wheel once you get the swing of things, it's the trueing that seems hard to me. Getting the thing perfect so it doesn't wobble when you roll down the road seems to be where the art is.

i forgot to mention, my use is 95% commuting 5% light off road.

I had never built a wheel until I tried it with a hub motor. First one must have taken me 4 hours. But once you get the hang of it and get a system down it's not too bad. I usually clear a spot out in front of the couch and build the wheel while watching football / movie / whatever. It's less frustrating if you've got something else to focus on...

Ykick said:

... many folks also like wide Alex rim - they'll be along to give you the exact model.

Click to expand...

I'm happy with Alex DM24. Nice wide rim. Seems well made.
http://www.alexrims.com/product_detail.asp?sc=0&cat=25&pid=115

Building wheels is surprisingly easy and surprisingly fun.
First one is confusing. After that, they almost seem to "build themselves".
And like most things... if you've built it, then you really understand it, and can maintain or fix on your own.

You really only need one tool (in my experience)... a basic spoke wrench... and they are cheap.
Building stand? Probably nice, but I just flip over the bike in question and use it as stand.
Dishing stick? Again, probably nice, but I've had good results without one.

Sheldon Brown's great basic guide: http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html
And terrific free tool for calculating spoke lengths: http://sheldonbrown.com/rinard/spocalc.htm

Building a wheel with a hub motor is different of course. The weight and diameter of the hub alone should ring a bell, and screaming if you plan any performance. A good DH rim is the best to start with. As previously said, single cross pattern only, and all spokes inside the flange makes a neat job. You need to lace it tight, much tighter than a normal bicycle wheel. If you are using 12 ga spokes, best is to use rim washers to spread the load since you will need much higher tension with bigger spokes. Big nipples are doing great if you can find some, and drilling the rim holes at an angle to align nipples and spokes.

Good luck with your first. Building good wheels requires some practice.

Lacing a hub motor is easier than lacing a standard hub imo. First and only one I did took about an hour to lace. Took lots more time to adjust properly, although I did it between rides.
Most hub motors come with 24mm rims. Way too narrow imo, unless you're going to run 1.95" or narrower tires. That's why I laced my own using a 32mm rim for 2.4" tires. Weinmann DH39's is what I used. Alex DX 32's are the same size and easier to find. Both are 32/39mm width. I think the DH39 is a little stronger, but either will be a lot stronger than a 24mm rim.