FAIL - 24" folder + USPD

[yoyoman]

I was excited when I found a folding bike with 36 spokes in the rear wheel. I even drove out 30 miles each way to get it. Yeah, it was a cheap chinese bike, but for $100 I was willing to give it a try.

Last night, I took the USPD spoke adapter off my Schwinn mtb, and today I put it on the folding bike. The adapter fit on the rear wheel perfectly, but sadly I can't say the same for the wheel and adapter when I tried to put it back on the bike. The first sign of trouble was when I noticed that the axle nut that sits on the inside of the dropout was recessed from the surface level of the spoke adapter. Then, I tried to see if it would even fit into place. Unfortunately, the bike frame is narrow, and the adapter plate makes too much contact with the frame.

How easy is it to spread a frame, and how safe is it to add an extra nut for the dropout to make contact? Or should I just cut my losses at this time and try to resell the bike?

Oh, another thing ... the wheel has threads on the side opposite the 6 speed cluster. Can that benefit me in anyway with a different electric bike system?

 

[Zoot Katz]

It's simple to spread the rear triangle and add a few washers to the axle.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

I'm guessing the other threaded portion of the hub is for fixing some kind of drum brake.

 

[jerryt]

I have successfully spread the front STEEL forks and rear triangle using a small car jack.

 

[Zoot Katz]

I have successfully spread the front STEEL forks and rear triangle using a small car jack.

I was wishing for one of those when it came time to spread the dropouts on the Xtracycle.
With the bike on its center stand, I ended up using two 2X4s forming a vee and driving a block between them.
Good thing they were solid fir #1 grade. Those finger jointed ones would have exploded.

 

[ElectricEd]

... the wheel has threads on the side opposite the 6 speed cluster. Can that benefit me in anyway with a different electric bike system?

In the bad ol' days the threads on the opposite side were for mounting a fixed wheel cog. You'd just spin the wheel around, shorten the chain and voila! you could try out at a track event.
If the thread is right-hand, that's what it's for. It can also be used for a disk brake as long as a lock ring is used and done up so tight so that it won't come undone when holding on a hill. I wouldn't trust it though.
If it is a left hand thread, you could use it for driving the wheel from any type of motor. As it is a Chinese made wheel, that's probably what it is for. There are many variations in drive types for ebikes in China.

 

[yoyoman]

So, theoretically, if it's lefthand threaded, I could buy the ENO 22t freewheel I've read about and bolt a larger sprocket on to it. I have a 36W 350W MY1018 motor and 36V controller that I salvaged from a scooter. With some mounting hardware I could try to mount the motor on the bike rack.

How salvageable are the scooter bits for use on a bike? The scooter had a #25 chain which is smaller than a normal bike chain. I'm not sure how many teeth are on the two sprockets, but are these worth using? The scooter had a 12" wheel, and the bike has a 24" wheel. Will the chain/sprockets make a difference there? If it's neglible, then I have everything but the appropriate mounting hardware and a chain, so maybe that's worth trying.