18" wheel conversion questions

Greetings,

I bought a rear hub and plan to install an 18" rim.

Would a standard British 18" rim work?

What spokes will I need?

Where might I find all that is needed?

Thanks for all replies.

10drum said:

Greetings,

I bought a rear hub and plan to install an 18" rim.

Would a standard British 18" rim work?

What spokes will I need?

Where might I find all that is needed?

Thanks for all replies.

Click to expand...

Assuming a Norton rear hub.

Speak to Buchanans and they will sort out the rim, spokes and if you send them the hub fit it all together.


The Norton Atlas used an 18" rim with that hub so the spokes exist although the offset may differ which is where Buchanan come in.

There is a tool you can buy which will thread the spokes down further. If you buy a new undrilled 18n inch aluminium rim, you can tape it to the old 19 inch rim, then drill the holes on the same angle. There is not much which is difficult about it. It just takes a bit of patience.

You cannot go wrong with Buchanans.They can build your wheel or supply you with exactly what you need.They have been doing Norton and other wheels for over 50 years.
Mike

Acotrel i would love to know where the spoke rolling tool can be purchased

Ditto on Buchanan’s. They have data on a big variety of options including this one and can easily supply you a properly drilled rim and spoke set. Believe me, that’s what you want if you aren’t highly experienced with this.

I have 18s front and rear on my Commando. I bought a set of used 18s w/ Akron’s ridged aluminum rims someone hacked together. The front on a Commando has a very unusual offset. The rear is pretty standard. The original front never fit right and the spokes on the back were mis matched. At some point I quit trying to make all this work and bought spoke sets and front rim drilled for this. They supplied what I needed sight unseen for me to build. It all went together perfectly. And they’ll build it for you if you need that help.

Frankie17 said:

Acotrel i would love to know where the spoke rolling tool can be purchased

Click to expand...

I don't know where my mate bought his thread roller. He has probably had it since the 1970s. But the push bike people must have them. I borrowed his when I fitted 18 inch rims to my Triton and completely stuffed it's handling. Where it used to be nimble and easy to flick around, it became heavy and exhausting to ride in a race. It gained more lean, but got better tyres. With a road bike the handling would probably feel better. A nimble bike on public roads feels horrible. When I first came to Benalla, I had an RD250 LC Yam. When I rode it up the main drag out of town, I could feel the dip where the truck tyres had been, - steering it. I became used to it and simply ignored it after a while. But at first, it was a bit disconcerting. I don't think any Commando would be that unstable.
Steering geometry is a very funny thing. I never appreciated it's importance until I started racing the Seeley. If you get it right, you can ride the bike extremely quickly through corners.
A featherbed frame cannot be changed to give you more trail, and with the steep rake, the slightest change can alter the handling a lot. Your Commando frame has a lot more rake, so changes in wheel size probably won't matter as much.

Changing the rear tire profile on my Atlas makes a noticeable difference. I have run the standard 18" wheel with various tires and also a 4:10 X19 K-81. The bike is easiest to flick around with the 19" rear.

I changed my Commando to an 18" to get a better selection of tires but it was so long ago I don't recall what it did to the handling by comparison to the original wheel/tire setup; but compared to my Featherbed Atlas it is slow at changing directions with it's big tires, which is what I want in that bike anyway. Comfy on a long ride but still a bit sporting. Now my /7 BMW is like a comfortable old shoe and doesn't entice me to push it into corners at all.

Most old road bikes seem to have either neutral steering or slight understeer, so riders do not neck themselves. Even Japanese two-strokes steer neutral. But for racing, oversteering has to be experienced to be believed. I never knew why the guys back then loved the Manx so much, until I rode one. I was faster than on that than I ever was on my Triton, and my Triton was much faster down the straights. When I got offline with the Manx, I just gassed it harder and it came back on line.

10drum said:

Greetings,

I bought a rear hub and plan to install an 18" rim.

Would a standard British 18" rim work?

What spokes will I need?

Where might I find all that is needed?

Thanks for all replies.

Click to expand...

I purchased my commando 850's 18' rear rim, shouldered alloy, with spoke set from Don Pender (aka madass140 on this forum). Did lacing and truing myself, first time ever. Used a dial gauge and rigged up a stand from a bicycle frame rack, bench vise and just used the hub axle on its bearings. Works out really well.

Tornado said:

I purchased my commando 850's 18' rear rim, shouldered alloy, with spoke set from Don Pender (aka madass140 on this forum). Did lacing and truing myself, first time ever. Used a dial gauge and rigged up a stand from a bicycle frame rack, bench vise and just used the hub axle on its bearings. Works out really well.

Click to expand...

Yes, can be made to work well. I've even used a bicycle wheel truing stand to good effect. But for a novice even getting the order of spoke installation and getting them in the correct rim hole can be a big challenge. On some of them (maybe most) there are four unique spokes. I once did a 16" Sunbeam wheel for which we had no documentation and it took me a full day and it wasn't my first wheel. Even then the owner was unhappy because the two spokes that run parallel wern't flanking the tire valve (it was a concourse restoration).

Thomasa said:

Yes, can be made to work well. I've even used a bicycle wheel truing stand to good effect. But for a novice even getting the order of spoke installation and getting them in the correct rim hole can be a big challenge. On some of them (maybe most) there are four unique spokes. I once did a 16" Sunbeam wheel for which we had no documentation and it took me a full day and it wasn't my first wheel. Even then the owner was unhappy because the two spokes that run parallel wern't flanking the tire valve (it was a concourse restoration).

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True of many wheels but the rear 850 hub only has two spoke types and easy enough to figure out which goes where. I watch a few YouTube viddy's on wheel lacing which were really helpful. I'm not sure I got the offset correct but bike rides fine. Will do a re-check at next tire removal.

Tornado said:

I purchased my commando 850's 18' rear rim, shouldered alloy, with spoke set from Don Pender (aka madass140 on this forum). Did lacing and truing myself, first time ever. Used a dial gauge and rigged up a stand from a bicycle frame rack, bench vise and just used the hub axle on its bearings. Works out really well.

Click to expand...

Must be a heck of a swingarm for that 18ft rim...