So, as soon as I double check my rim dimensions, and the hub dimensions, and calculate spoke lengths then I’ll order them and build a wheel for my 27.5" QX-series QU-AX muni. No more cotterless cranks and hubs for this unicycle.
Dawson
So, as soon as I double check my rim dimensions, and the hub dimensions, and calculate spoke lengths then I’ll order them and build a wheel for my 27.5" QX-series QU-AX muni. No more cotterless cranks and hubs for this unicycle.
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Are you building up your existing rim or did you buy a new one? If your rebuilding will your existing spokes work?
@WeaponizedBacon so I have an existing rim, but from a bicycle. The thing is I don’t have any spokes around that are quite the right length. By the way, I found that the dimensions on the hub are different than were advertised. But, recalculating spoke lengths ends up with pretty much the same length. I am actually re-thinking using the old 26" rim, and seeing if I can find a used 27.5 inch rim locally to salvage (from a wheel). Because I haven’t ordered the spokes yet for that 26" wheel, and my unicycle is designed to take a wheel size of 27.5". (I’m just trying to save $, but at the same time itching to try out the new hub)
I’ll think about it.
Dawson
Gotcha. Let me know befor you order new and i will check my spoke stash. I would prefer to see them used rather then take up space in my parts bin and The chances are very slim i will ever use them
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@WeaponizedBacon Thanks. I’ll be thinking it over. If I end up building a 26" wheel based on the rim I have, I calculate that I need 36 - 271mm (10.67 inches) long spokes.
If it is a 27.5", I don’t know yet because I don’t have it, and don’t know what the ERD is, so I can’t calculate a spoke length for that.
Thanks for being willing to help,
Dawson
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So last night I went into the garage and began measuring spokes on wheels I am not really using right now, including the unicycle wheel I built around another 26" rim (but the hub on this one is cotterless, which is all I had until yesterday). And the length is just about 270mm I believe which is long enough to build the wheel I want to, with a strong, albeit steel rim. So, guess what wheel I am going to canabilize so I can get on with building another wheel? I think it should work. I have made lots of mistakes with calculating spoke lengths, but I double, triple checked my numbers over a few days, so I think I should be ok.
Dawson
I’d wait just that little bit of time and buy the spokes new.
It appears most of what i have is for 29” wheels but i do have 260mm for a 26”
@WeaponizedBacon, no problem, thanks for looking. It is too short. But I think I can canabilize another wheel I made which funnily enough I rode on today on my “Frankenuni”, the one I welded together from an old 20" and bike forks. Well, the crankarm came off halfway through a ride.
Cheers,
D
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Yeah, I wondered about that. But you know what, if I cannot fix a cotterless wheelset, then I’m gonna raid the old “Frankenuni” for some spokes (if they are long enough, which I think they are) because I really want to ride again sooooooon.
Dawson
Udate I got my wheel assembled finally. I think I found about four or five other ways not to build a wheel. Long story there. After getting everything put together I gave it a quick spin. In a word, smooth. I don’t hear creaking, I don’t have to worry about crankarms falling off in the middle of a ride. The bearings fit the unicycle. Sigh bliss.
Oh, in case anyone finds themselves in trouble building a wheel, or if you’ve never built one before, this is a comprehensive guide as to how to do that. I even did the “professional wheelbuilders” thing of making the label on the axle face the valve stem openig on the rim. I’ve never bothered with that before, but because I had already put so much time into this wheel already, I thought, I’d try to buid it that way. Website here: [https://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#lacing] (https://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#lacing)
Dawson
Congrats! Yep, not easy and lots of ways to lace a wheel wrong. Gets easier with practice 
If you run smoothly, sounds like you did well with truing. That’s awesome. I guess, after a bit, check your spokes again, and if any are loose, tighten those (but be gentle and don’t overdo it).
Thank you. I’ve actually made a number of wheels, but I wasn’t really concentrating on what I was doing. I was trying to multitask. But one of the wheel building attempts ended in a very strange positioning of the hub at a very odd angle with respect to the wheel plane. I have no idea what went wrong there. I ended up using a 4 cross pattern as I think for a 36 hole hub, that is the strongest.
Thanks for your encouragement
Dawson
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