Disc & Drum Brake Front Rim Difference

Can you lace a disc brake front hub up to a drum brake rim ?

The part numbers are different, but I cannot seem to see a difference
when I look at the wheels.

I have been told that there may be less "meat" between the hole & rim on the disc rim because of the different lace up angle.

I do have both types or so I thought, they all look the same to me.

Has anyone had experience in this area ?

Thanks in advance for the answer.

Because of the offset of the disc brake hub, the nipple holes in the rim are drilled at a different angle. If you try to lace up the disc hub to a drum rim, you will see that the spoke will want to bow.

Physically you could probably lace the wheel, but the stress put on the nipple would make it weak. I would stick to the proper rim/hub combination.

rim lacing

yes it can be done....I have always been amazed at the things I have seen people do.

However, if you look closely at the_angle_of the spokes as they come out of the rim on the two different rim styles you will see there is a significant difference. The way to do this on an unidentified rim is to take a spoke and nipple and insert it in the rim, so it protrudes and is centered in the hole and lays in a natural unstressed position. If you do this and continue for four consecutative holes you can document the angles and compare to the hub you will see how compatable they are.

Another quick clue is to take two spokes that cross and see how far from the rim they cross. You will see spokes from a drum hub cross each other significantly closer to the rim than spokes from a disc rim.

and IIRC disc spoke/nipples are bigger and smaller drum spoke/nipples would seem large in the hole.

I would say a commando disc rim should not be used on a drum hub.

norton drum hub with nonstandard cross 2 pattern on 19" rim, cross 3 is std.
http://www.gis.net/~dynodave/images/darwx2.JPG

Thanks for the quick replies.

You have given me good news.........

I can now justify buying new alloy rims I have always wanted to put on a commando