New front 26" rim brake wheel recommendations?

[e-beach]

I would never let a friend ride an electric bike without at least a Front Disc Brake. There is no comparison in the stopping power of a well adjusted good disc brake and a well adjusted V-brake. Remember you are normally traveling about 50% faster than a regular bike---my estimate.

Sounds like a valuable suggestion. And you're right, since I'm getting a new wheel anyway it may as well be disc brake compatible. The rim brakes so far have seemed to be plenty effective, but maybe that's in large part because I've got a DD with regen braking that's doing a lot of the work.

And I never let a friend ride an e-bike with a well adjusted front brake. Why? Because if you lock up that front break you either skid in a straight line right into the object you are trying to avoid, or you washout an crash, or if you lock it up and the inertia of your bike rolls over the outside of the wheel, you fly over the handle bars.

How do I know? I've done all three.

I recommend having the front break just loose enough to be able to pull the lever hard and still have the wheel turn enough to steer away from trouble. The back break should always be able to lock up. I use v-breaks and keep my rear wheel trued so it can always lock up. If you have disk breaks, you don't need to true the rim so often.

 

[Chalo]

Honestly, I had the impression that bike shops would be inordinately expensive and also somewhat demeaning (based partly on prior experiences, though I've of course never shopped for a wheel before). I want to maximize bang-for-the-buck, as opposed to getting the fanciest of enthusiast-grade components. But maybe I should at least drop by a couple and see what they can do for me.

Find a good service oriented shop, and tell them what you want, including what budget you're trying to work with. If they want to do something very different from that for you, take your business elsewhere.

Not all bike shops are versatile or knowledgeable, buy many are. Do understand that they have to get parts and supplies from consistent sources, so their own cost may be higher than what you can find by browsing arbitrary items from online sellers, even before they apply a normal retail markup. In return for this higher cost, the implication is that you get expertise, advice, support, and a warranty. Some shops include installation as well.

 

[amberwolf]

Cool, cool. Sounds like quite the bounty. Thanks for going to the trouble -- and I replied to your PM.

I found some others too, but they're all steel rims and would suck for rim braking. :lol:

So I won't bring those over, just the ones I'm sure you can use, and you can pick whichever one you want from them.

 

[boytitan]

Did you fit the tire properly... 2.4 inch bike tires can fit a regular sized 26 inch rim :/.

 

[Jabotical]

Find a good service oriented shop, and tell them what you want, including what budget you're trying to work with. If they want to do something very different from that for you, take your business elsewhere.

Sounds like sound advice.

Not all bike shops are versatile or knowledgeable, buy many are. Do understand that they have to get parts and supplies from consistent sources, so their own cost may be higher than what you can find by browsing arbitrary items from online sellers, even before they apply a normal retail markup. In return for this higher cost, the implication is that you get expertise, advice, support, and a warranty. Some shops include installation as well.

Fair enough. I guess I normally have a DIY mentality because I like learning/doing things and also because of the significant cost savings in many cases (and this is of course often only possible because of generous people on the internet). On the other hand, there is a lot to be said for paying for expertise and convenience. And supporting well-run such businesses so they stick around for when you or someone else needs them.

 

[Jabotical]

I found some others too, but they're all steel rims and would suck for rim braking. :lol:

So I won't bring those over, just the ones I'm sure you can use, and you can pick whichever one you want from them.

I do appreciate your expert discretion
Yes, I've never had a steel rim, but I gather they're less than ideal in that department!

 

[Jabotical]

Did you fit the tire properly... 2.4 inch bike tires can fit a regular sized 26 inch rim :/.

Yeah, I had 2.4 inch tires on a regular (ie internally 17 mm) rim, and they worked surprisingly well. I've just gathered that it's even better to have them on a wider rim if possible (more surface area for steering, maybe less rolling resistance, etc.), so I wanted to give that a shot. It makes sense that it would be preferable not to pinch them in there quite so much.

But definitely, given the choice of "regular" tires on a "regular" rim, and something more balloony like the 2.4 inch Cyclops on the same "regular" rim, I'd go with the Cyclops every time. It was a significant improvement when I switched to it.

 

[amberwolf]

The steel rims work sort of ok for braking when dry, but get them wet and you might as well just have oiled them. :lol: I even tried roughing up the surfaces and all that did was wear the pads out faster. I'm sure *someone* makes a compound for a pad that works on steel, but I never tried anything other than the various ones I had off of different bikes.

The one good thing about a steel rim is that you can bend it back to shape without cracking it, unlike the aluminum ones--helpful if you hit a rock or whatever that bends the bead edge.

But I'd rather use the aluminum ones, especially for rim braking.


If I get the trike done enough by tomorrow, I can come by with the wheels. I'm still working on the weather-resistant compartments for batteries/etc, and then have to make a new seat (or arrangements that work as one). If I can't make it weather-resistant by then, it might have to wait for another day (probably a Sunday or Monday as those are usually my days off).

 

[DrkAngel]

"Plastic" tool box for batteries?
Durable and weather resistant
Tools in top tray.

Mounting new rim
Scotch tape, or twist ties at spoke intersections to transfer hub spokes to new rim, works OK.
Better, so far, is a small spool of insulated 22ga(?) wire.
Make a continuous circuit with a wrap at each spoke intersection.
Remove all nipples.
Transfer to new rim
Spoke pairs shift nicely into a flat plane.

Works best on non-disc front wheels
Tighten all spokes an equal number of turns
VSR drill with white dot on chuck - to count turns.
(Flat bit or flat security bit with center notched, if necessary, can Dremel own bit notch )
Begin by tightening till threads just covered
Tighten each spoke 1 turn
repeat till getting snug
Tighten each spoke 1/2 turn
etc
Begin truing after spokes are near optimal tightness - (nice tone when plucked)

 

[amberwolf]

"Plastic" tool box for batteries?
Durable and weather resistant
Tools in top tray.

my batteries are a bit large for the typical toolbox... The old version (at half the size/capacity) is in a 50-cal ammocan. Now there are up to at least two of the new version. I have a metal toolbox that would hold them, plus the various stuff I carry for work/etc., and cargo straps to tie things down if I run across cargo, but it is almost as big as the new cargo pod area on the trike. For the permanent solution, though, the new cargo area looks a lot better. (I normally prefer the garbage look because it tends to keep thieves away, but I would like this trike to actually look nice).

 

[Lurkin]

Fair enough. I guess I normally have a DIY mentality because I like learning/doing things and also because of the significant cost savings in many cases (and this is of course often only possible because of generous people on the internet). On the other hand, there is a lot to be said for paying for expertise and convenience. And supporting well-run such businesses so they stick around for when you or someone else needs them.

Each to their own, but I avoid bike shops like the plague. Too many times bikes have been returned to me with average to poor/totally unsafe work conducted... which they then charge for! Educate yourself and be independent. I've found most of the mystic around wheel building to be poorly understood carp...

Download Roger Musson's wheel building book. Its cheap, downloadable, very, very easy to read, covers many of the suggestions in this thread and will teach you how to do this going forward including how to build a wheel from scratch with easy to understand instructions. Best book on wheel building I've read yet to get started and yes, I've read a few :lol: Jobst Brandt's book would be the next book in line, but its a harder read as its written from an engineering perspective and is far, far more detailed. Honestly, between those two, you'd end up with a very functional knowledge of how to deal with these events. The rest comes when you actually start playing with building wheels!

I suspect more of your original wheel can be recycled than you think. I've found that usually one element will catastrophically fail to the benefit of others. I've had rims taco/split but the spokes and hub were fine.. you'll only learn this if you take it apart and inspect yourself.

 

[RootedSuperuser]

If you haven't bought yet ....

DT SWISS 535 700C E-BIKE RIM
The extra power of E-bikes asks for extra strong parts.
Tubeless compatible.
Rim and disk brake compatible.
The 535 are single eyeletted and feature a wide, reinforced profile.
This ensures they are long lasting and perfectly compatible with higher volume tires.

 

[Chalo]

If you haven't bought yet ....

DT SWISS 535 700C E-BIKE RIM
The extra power of E-bikes asks for extra strong parts.
E-bike rims like the 535 are single eyeletted and feature a wide, reinforced profile.
This ensures they are long lasting and perfectly compatible with higher volume tires.

That rim is lighter than the similarly sized Alex Adventurer, and both lighter and narrower than the time-proven Sun Rhyno Lite. And it probably costs three times as much as either one.

It seems like a nothing-special touring bike rim to me. Calling it an e-bike rim seems like a crass marketing ploy to me.

DT Swiss rims are nicely made, with good quality control, but are uniformly overpriced for what they are.

 

[RootedSuperuser]

DT Swiss rims are nicely made, with good quality control, but are uniformly overpriced for what they are.

https://www.dtswiss.com/Components/Rims-Road/535-700c

$26.36 - $31.63 USD http://www.canadabicycleparts.com/dt-swiss-535-e-bike-rim-7400.html
Rim and disk compatible, easy to resell if you want to change or upgrade, I just bought 2.

 

[Chalo]

Well now, I didn't know DT Swiss had branched off into low budget options. All their rims we ever brought into my shop cost $90 and up.

So it's not a bad choice for the cost-- but I'd still consider a wider, heavier, and/or stronger rim to be a better choice for an e-bike.

 

[MadRhino]

The best front rim brake rim that I have used, was the Sun Ringlé Mammoth. The proof is that I still have 2 that had been beaten in mountain trails for 7 years. They are on a shelf for I don't use rim brakes anymore, and new rims are much nicer along with collecting much less sh*t in a ride.

There are still some old new stock of the Mammoth rim to be found, and very cheap they are now. Yet they are likely to be 36h, that is the old School DH standard. Still, a 36h front hub is a good investment, and my later bikes all are on 36h wheels fr and rr.