***Supporta vårt arbete genom att swisha valfritt belopp på 123 347 78 66 eller via paypal. Tack så mycket!
Support our work by paypal. Thank U so much!***
Building a bike from scratch or even just modify one, the wheels can make a huge difference. Sizing is on, model another, what kind of spokes and the width are important. As a bike builder you always aim for the perfect proportions as well as the riding abilitys of your bike. We will go through some main ideas and also the issues that comes along with going from stock to custom. And the same ideas applies really on any bike, vintage, choppers and even race bikes. The goals are different but the road towards the perfect ride are the same.
Lets start with some common Good-to-know. When changing size on a wheel, based on that you already have a frame with certain measurments, you have to consider a couple of things. On the rear the new wheel has to fit in the frame or in the swingarm togheter with the kind of brake system you have as well as the chain sprockets. If you going bigger there can also be some issues fitting the wheel lengthways. Sometimes it fits but you might have a problem when fitting the chain. With some bad luck the perfect tension of the chain doesn’t match your new wheel set up and you have to consider another tyre, going back to the stock size or mount some kind of chain tensioner.
On the front you have same things to check, but also that your new wheel can move freely of any part of the frame engine etc both when turning as much as possible and also with the front suspension in the lowest compressed position. So far so good.
If this was easy anyone could do it, so what comes next can make a huge different. For thoose who has built a couple of bikes this is old news, but for you doing it for the first time this is really important. When changing size on the wheels even more in the front, your bike can start behaving strange on the road. One example is heavy stearing and bad road capasity over all. A wobbling rear or front is nothing you want so make sure not to overdo it.
But how do I know? If there was a clear answer it would be easy, but every build is different so looking at other rides, talking to the owners and with more facts try to get whats suitable for your ride. Building choppers with a long front end is particulary hard and to generalize a little bit the stretch should be in perfect relation with the rake to get proper road abilitys. When the bike gets to low in the front its heavy and the front wheel tips in when turning, with some stretch you shorten the wheelbase a little and also transfering the center of weight of the bike towards the rear which makes the bike much easier to ride.
Now you start to get? We will mess it up a little bit more though. On the other hand when building a flat track bike where the main purpose is gravel tracks, turning left and leave some spray on your fellow competitors, you want the opposite and its more common than rare that you instead in this case goes for a derake of the front end. To address issues that comes along you have to be careful when choosing triple trees as well as adjusting the fork lenght. Pushing a bike to the limits with a totally compressed suspension in both the rear and the front makes you very awake when your front wheel get stuck in the right exahaust in the front. Hopefully this will not happen if you do it the right way from the very beginning.
When decided on wheels and sizes, fitting your bike, next step is to choose the look of the rim, and tyre of course but we leave that to you. If you go for a casted rim there is not much to add, but if you choose a rim with spokes next stop will be lacing it with the wheel hub you have or choosed. Spokes and rims comes in so so many different ways and depending on what kind of look you want you can make it easier or harder. A rim with sharper edges in the center part is much easier to lace than the ones with a round smooth center. The reason for this is thet the sharpedged kinds doesn’t get as soft as the rounded kinds. When lacing a rim you need to get the spokes well tightened and on a sharp rim its obvious when you hit that point but the round ones follow the spokes and if you are not aware your wheel will look like a road in the Austrian mountains way beyound any weight saving. So if you are a very beginner, do get help if this is your choice of rim.
Lacing a rim require a few things except from the rim you need the right kind of spokes for the rim as well as the wheel hub. The varaity is huge so ask for help if not sure. I prefer SS spokes they are stronger but also harder since they can crack when lacing if you tighten it to hard. Chrome spokes are more soft and can stretch a little if needed. The angle fittings are really important to get the right way. Both the rim and the hub are made for a certain type and you need to make sure what kind you need and if you look closley on you rim you can see how your spoke shall be fitted thoug every whole points in a certain direction. This also matters on how many crossings your spoke will have. The amount of spokes are different on different brands and models so make sure your hub matches the rims amount of holes. 36 or 40 are common amounts but there are other amounts as well. The angles of the hub fittings are also of a huge varaity. In some hubs there are straight holes others on the side and a third one ment to have spookes in a certain angle. Even here there are more or less common types so most of the time you can get help from your local garage or shop choosing the right ones. The length of the spokes are more important than one might belive. They should fit perfect. Cutting off too long ones or don’t have enough threads are equally bad. Spokes are diffivult to make new threads on, cause the threads are always wider than the spoke so you really need to move the material on the spoke to make it work. When fitted propery the spoke should not point out of the inside of the rim if so you will have get flat tyres fairly quickly.
When getting your spokes you also have to decide the size of your nipples they should fit properly in the holes of your rim, not leaving any space in between or not being to tight using any kind of force get them in place.
Now the fun part begins, getting the spokes in place, from the hub to the rim in the corrcet direction and with the proper space in between. Lokk at other wheels and figure out the pattern. Make sure your hub and rim are centered unless you want it to be off set due to fit a brake. drum or else.
Best of luck and if this feels overwhelming, dont worry every one is a beginner the beginning and there is nothing wrong asking for help neither the first time or every time.
