Need strong 26in rear wheel

[Eteck]

I have a sturdy steel frame bike without a rear shock absorber.
I have an Ebike hub motor mounted as the front wheel.
On the back of the bike there is a steel rack with saddle bags, the Ebike batteries, and other miscellaneous.
When everything is loaded up this places a lot of weight on the rear wheel.
Right now I am using this:

http://www.niagaracycle.com/categories/sta-tru-26x2-125-rear-12g-fw-steel-36h-heavy-duty-wheel

a heavy duty steel rim.

It has held up reasonably well, except for a time I it a divit in the road and the axle was
bent and had to be replaced.

My question is, does anyone have recommendations for a super tough 26in rear wheel (7sp freewheel)
that will handle a huge amount of weight ?

I know that some of the double walled aluminum rims are strong, but since they all have 3/8in
axles I am not sure anything will be gained.

Looking to spend preferably less than $85 total for something that will be at least
30%-40% stronger than my existing wheel setup. Am willing to "build the wheel" from available
components.

Thanks

 

[Chalo]

The reason your axle bent is because it's a freewheel hub and not a cassette hub. The axle of a freewheel hub extends past the bearings by about 35mm; the axle of a cassette hub about a third as much. That's the lever that bike weight and chain tension use to bend your axle with. You want it as short as possible.

Get a normal cassette hub with a 10mm axle and loose ball bearings, lace it to a sturdy rim like Alex DM24 with 14-15ga butted spokes, and you'll have no more trouble.

The wheel in your link has only one thing going for it: it's very cheap. But it's got a steel rim, which is much weaker and much heavier than a double walled aluminum rim of the same size. And it has fat 12ga spokes, which reduce the weight that a wheel can reliably carry (just take my word for it because I'm tired of explaining it). And it has a weak overhung multi-speed freewheel type axle. That's three strikes.

I'm guessing the job you have for your wheel isn't even that hard really; you just got a crap wheel believing that it was good. For $85 or less, it's very unlikely you'll find a good strong wheel.

Edit: Danscomp.com has 14-15ga spokes for $0.40 each. Niagara Cycle has DM24 rims for $22 and 36 hole cassette hubs for $25. That's about as good as you're going to do.

 

[Eteck]

The reason your axle bent is because it's a freewheel hub and not a cassette hub. The axle of a freewheel hub extends past the bearings by about 35mm; the axle of a cassette hub about a third as much. That's the lever that bike weight and chain tension use to bend your axle with. You want it as short as possible.

Get a normal cassette hub with a 10mm axle and loose ball bearings, lace it to a sturdy rim like Alex DM24 with 14-15ga butted spokes, and you'll have no more trouble.

The wheel in your link has only one thing going for it: it's very cheap. But it's got a steel rim, which is much weaker and much heavier than a double walled aluminum rim of the same size. And it has fat 12ga spokes, which reduce the weight that a wheel can reliably carry (just take my word for it because I'm tired of explaining it). And it has a weak overhung multi-speed freewheel type axle. That's three strikes.

I'm guessing the job you have for your wheel isn't even that hard really; you just got a crap wheel believing that it was good.

Thanks for the reply.
Here are my thoughts:

The steel rim has a top width of 39mm, the Alex
http://www.niagaracycle.com/categories/alex-dm24-26-36h-silver
32.2 mm. Even so the Alex is probably stronger. If I'm going to go to all this trouble
maybe an even better aluminum rim with a 39mm width ?

Regarding the spokes. I never had any trouble with these spokes breaking. And the thickness gave me confidence. I guess I'll have to research this
more.

About the hub. I was thinking some of the hubs available are made for like trick mountain bike use and might have a different
design with a thicker inner portion. The steel wheel axle is just 3/8in across the whole length. So I'm not sure
whether to get a hub made for like impact tricks jumping or the actual type of hub is more important, or both.
If you or anyone knows of a specific lower cost "near indestructable" hub please mention.

 

[Eteck]

So I'm looking at 36H motorcycle rims now.

Trying to sift through this thread:
19" Motorcycle Wheels vs 26" Bicycle Wheels (rim and tires)
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=55458
60 pages of information some of it a few years old.

I'm wondering about a 36H rim that is almost sure to fit within a standard 26 in
bicycle frame/ brakes, that can be laced to the common Ehubs, and not too expensive.
Any recommendations ?

I'm also wandering if there are any rear hubs available similar to an Ebike hub motor but without the motor,
that is, just a strong 36H hub with a freewheel mount and the flattened 14mm axle ?

 

[Eskimo]

You can use 21-inch aluminium moped rim if you want to keep the size. 21-inch moped tire is about the same size as 26-inch bicycle tire.
21-inch road tires are bit rare but can be found. It will be heavy but you said "super tough" :wink: That"s what it is.

 

[Eteck]

21-inch road tires are bit rare

I found a few used on Ebay, most are > 20 years old. I'd rather start with something currently available.
Thanks for the idea though.

Here is the closest I've got so far, 1.85x19 36H.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorcycle-Rim-1-85x19-36H-KX125-250F-SX125-250F-RMZ250-YZ125-250F-Black-/280886412585?hash=item4166228529:m:mi1dG_vAGqjCENlWQcz1f5g&vxp=mtr
They look a little shorter and a little fatter than a typical 26in wheel.So maybe the standard bike brakes won't fit.

My rear frame has about 2.75in (70mm) width at the narrowest point.

 

[Eskimo]

21-inch road tires are bit rare

I found a few used on Ebay, most are > 20 years old. I'd rather start with something currently available.
Thanks for the idea though.

Oh. This is what i am using:

http://www.moposport.fi/rengas-80-90-21-katu-duro

It"s Duro HF296A, i believe.

But yeah, 19-inch tires are much more common, that"s true.
21-inch has to be ordered usually from abroad.

http://www.bikebandit.com/tires-tubes/motorcycle-tires/duro-hf296a-motorcycle-tire

 

[Chalo]

Motorcycle rims won't work with your brakes unless they're disc brakes. If you do have disc brakes, you'll still wind up having to reconcile the size difference between bicycle spokes for your hub and motorcycle spokes for your rim.

Motorcycle stuff is just so heavy and slow it's really disappointing; it'll put you on a path to using more and more power when you could get the same performance with efficiency instead. And if you want to use bicycle facilities, use a bicycle, not a motorcycle with pedals.

The problem with fatty spokes isn't that they break. The problem is they make wheels that unscrew themselves and fall apart from normal use.

 

[Eteck]

Chalo
Motorcycle stuff is just so heavy and slow it's really disappointing
if you want to use bicycle facilities, use a bicycle
The problem is they make wheels that unscrew themselves and fall apart from normal use

Not sure what you mean by slow. If you check out the thread I referenced, they show lots of bikes that don't look any slower than bikes with other funky wheels/tires available today.
As far as heavy - GOOD exactly. Seems like with the right tire the overall penalty is maybe 3 or 4 lbs of extra weight. Disappointing ?
By "bicycle facilities" do you mean parts ? Because I've looked at a lot of rims and hubs recently and the quality bike stuff can get expensive. The rims I referenced are actually
cheaper than a lot of bicycle rims.
The spokes can only be 1/8in to fit the hub, which should be compatible with at least some cycle rims.
I have know idea what you mean by the wheels falling apart.

 

[Chalo]

Spokes that are too stiff don't stay tight. The nipples unscrew from normal riding loads, the wheel needs lots of extra maintenance, and the rim gets extra damage from having larger segments unsupported by spoke tension. A thin spoke is more elastic and stays tight under much larger wheel loads, so it doesn't unscrew.

Regarding motorcycle wheels used on bicycles: if you put motorcycle wheels on a pedal only bike, you'd cut your speed by approximately half for a given amount of effort. Adding a motor can disguise such inefficiency, but it does nothing to make the bike more efficient. The real pay dirt in e-bikes is to add electric power to a bike that's light enough and efficient enough to be fast with only pedal power. Then you're making the most performance out of whatever amount of power you add, even if it's not all that much. And then the bike is light and pleasant to live with, the way a bike should be.