Rims and Spokes for a Roadster?

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T95

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Currently looking to replace my rims then re-lace my Roadster wheels. From what I have read Buchanan's routinely gets the popular vote, especially in drilling rims. Waldridge is currently having a decent sale that is vary appealing. Their regular price on a British Chrome rim is $159 vs $292 at Buchanan's and for a stainless rim the price is $150 ( no name)vs $334 for a Devon rim. Anyone familiar with the quality of the rims offered by Waldridge?
 
I just sent emails to both Buchanans and Waldridge asking if they can provide weights on some of the rims they carry. It might be an interesting comparision. If it is savings you are looking for, I am guessing that shipping wheels out of Canada as opposed to SoCal to your location will eat up most of the cost difference. However, I am wondering why the rims at Waldridge tend to be a lot less even when they are not on sale.

Anybody happen to know what the Dunlop rims weigh?

Russ
 
The WM2 rims I got from Walridge were just like my original Dunlops, only not rusty. I got stainless spokes from them too. Everything went together fine, I did have to adjust the angle of the spoke bends on the rear wheel for some reason. They are marked 'Made in England'. Now let me see if I can figure out a way to weigh my old rim, I put it on the bath scales and it said 56 lb. No way.

Dave
69S
 
I have bought several sets of chrome rims from Walridge for various restorations. I doubt if you will find a better price. The rims he is selling are CWC (Central Wheel Company) that are supposedly rolled in India and then chromed in the UK so the "Made in England" moniker is somewhat subject to interpretation. That said, I have found these rims to be of perfectly adequate quality and are pretty close to the original Dunlop or Jones rims. I have heard that Devon rims are much higher quality which can be detected upon careful inspection. I am guessing that the chrome will also look "deeper" but have never seen a set myself so can't comment. If you want the very best and want to spend the money, go for Devon from Buchanans with stainless spokes.
 
rvich said:
Re rim weights...did I just hijack your thread? :eek:
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Are you interested in the weights to compare quality or price of shipping? If the latter, I doubt weights will be significant in terms of shipping weight. It's been about two years since I bought wheels from Walridge but at the time they were significantly cheaper than anywhere else including shipping. The US dollar is worth a lot less against the CDN now though so you need to consider that and factor it in.
 
I am interested in weights for reasons completely unrelated to the original intent of this thread. I am just curious as to what different types weigh. I doubt there is a large range, despite different alloys and cross sections. There is a lot of good to be said about a well made steel rim. As for hijacking the thread...I guess it is an inside joke! It was a friendly payback.

Russ
 
tpeever said:
I have bought several sets of chrome rims from Walridge for various restorations. I doubt if you will find a better price. The rims he is selling are CWC (Central Wheel Company) that are supposedly rolled in India and then chromed in the UK so the "Made in England" moniker is somewhat subject to interpretation. That said, I have found these rims to be of perfectly adequate quality and are pretty close to the original Dunlop or Jones rims. I have heard that Devon rims are much higher quality which can be detected upon careful inspection. I am guessing that the chrome will also look "deeper" but have never seen a set myself so can't comment. If you want the very best and want to spend the money, go for Devon from Buchanans with stainless spokes.
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Like I mentioned the price is attractive. I really appreciate hearing your experience with Walridge and their rim. Did the chrome hold up over time? I think the consensus on this forum is to use caution when buying metal from India. I don't know how you can get away from it. The rims being an example as it carries the Made in England moniker. Buchanans also carries a Made in England steel rim and I wonder if they could be from the same source? The Devon was the aluminum offering.

The exchange rate is close and currently not an issue, 1 US dollar = .985 Canadian. The ultimate question is am I getting more for my money or just paying for higher cost due to vender location?

Russ, you can't hijack this post. All opinions are welcome!
Thanks

I also need to decide if I want SS spokes, or SS spokes with SS nipples or the Nickel nipples. So many decisions!
 
I've handling a number of Al rims and found the Morad the lightest. Excel is almost as heavy as steel rim but I ended up with that as hard to find others a few years ago and my off road impacts, it seemed wiser to get heavy duty wheels. You may be upset on how new rims and spokes can't match the angles of Norton front disc drilling angles and leave spokes under a good bend tension. Buchannan and other expertes told me not to sweat it as still works fine bend or perfect spoke aim. Some references detail bending spokes to get better alingment, ugh.
 
hobot said:
I've handling a number of Al rims and found the Morad the lightest. Excel is almost as heavy as steel rim but I ended up with that as hard to find others a few years ago and my off road impacts, it seemed wiser to get heavy duty wheels. You may be upset on how new rims and spokes can't match the angles of Norton front disc drilling angles and leave spokes under a good bend tension. Buchannan and other expertes told me not to sweat it as still works fine bend or perfect spoke aim. Some references detail bending spokes to get better alingment, ugh.
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I know accurately drilling of the rims is an area where Buchanans excels. I will be lacing them to stock hubs with drums front and rear, slightly less complicated than disc hubs. Both vendors offer spoke kits, so I can only assume they both offer the proper spoke length and bend, or should I not assume anything?
 
rvich said:
I thought Devon rims where chromed steel? I notice the Steadfast offers them at a better price than Buchanans, but you might have to lace them yourself or find somebody else to do it. I tend not to want to buy a rim at Steadfast and ask Buchanans to lace it for me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Devon-ch ... ccessories
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Right your are! That how little I know about rims. Buchanan advertised a Devon S/S rim and a British Chrome steel rim under their 19" Norton offerings.
 
Like I mentioned the price is attractive. I really appreciate hearing your experience with Walridge and their rim. Did the chrome hold up over time? I think the consensus on this forum is to use caution when buying metal from India. I don't know how you can get away from it. The rims being an example as it carries the Made in England moniker. Buchanans also carries a Made in England steel rim and I wonder if they could be from the same source? The Devon was the aluminum offering.
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I have used the basic CWC chrome rim on three restorations, a 1972 Triumph TR6C, a 1961 Matchless G12, and a 1961 Norton Dominator 88. The TR6C was completed about 6 years ago, the rest more recently. There look exactly as new so far and there is no rust on any of them. However, I live in a pretty dry climate and the bikes are only ridden in nice weather. Zero salt exposure.

I would venture to guess that the basic chromed rim carried by Buchanan's is the same CWC rim. There have been some complaints about the basic CWC rims not being perfectly round which is related to how they are produced. It is my understanding the Devon rims are rolled differently and are more consistently in true however, as I said before, I have never seen a Devon rim so can't say from personal experience. My take is that the basic CWC chromed steel rim is probably as good as the original Jones and Dunlop rims but the chrome may not be as durable. If you are thinking of riding your Commando at high speed and/or want the maximum performance, why not go with alloy?

The exchange rate is close and currently not an issue, 1 US dollar = .985 Canadian. The ultimate question is am I getting more for my money or just paying for higher cost due to vender location?
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What I meant was that the exchange rate used to be much more attractive if you were paying in US dollars. When the CDN dollar was 70 cents US, Walridge's stuff was a REALLY good deal and no US vendor could match Mike's prices in my experience. Now it's not so clear.
 
rvich said:
I thought Devon rims where chromed steel? I notice the Steadfast offers them at a better price than Buchanans, but you might have to lace them yourself or find somebody else to do it. I tend not to want to buy a rim at Steadfast and ask Buchanans to lace it for me.
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I agree. Buy the rims from Buchanan's unless you plan to lace them yourself. Buchanan's seems to be the only place in North America that really knows what they are doing with these kinds of wheels.
 
If you have the drum front and rear, as I remember all the spokes are the same except there are inside spokes and outside spokes, the bent ends are different lengths. At the time I got the single gauge spokes for $75 a set, the double gauge spokes (like the originals) were $150. I got the single being cheap. If you want just call or email Mike and he will set you up with what you want instead of guessing on the part numbers. The SS spokes come with SS nipples, just use a lot of nickel anti-seize. Once you do one, it doesn't take long, what takes the time is getting it centered on the spindle on the bike. I was pretty anal about it and it didn't take long. I got the run-out and wobble under 1/2mm and the rim centered on the spine within 1mm, you have to do that on the bike.

If your hubs are dusty and dirty, clean them up with one of those big metal brushes. You can polish the edges if you like.

Dave
69S
 
Here's the lineup of classic rims from CWC:

http://www.central-wheel.co.uk/rims/rims.html

The "basic" chromed steel rim I refer to above and imported by Walridge is called "CWC Chrome". CWC makes a higher quality chromed rim called "Elite Classic" which I believe is made entirely in the UK and this rim appears to be more of a direct competitor for Devon. Or maybe they are the same thing?

Ask Mike Partridge for a comparison of these different rims. The way he described it to me was that you could tell the difference in the chrome and general quality up close but not when you got a few feet away. The durability of the chrome may be an entirely different matter. Too soon for me to know!!
 
tpeever said:
rvich said:
I thought Devon rims where chromed steel? I notice the Steadfast offers them at a better price than Buchanans, but you might have to lace them yourself or find somebody else to do it. I tend not to want to buy a rim at Steadfast and ask Buchanans to lace it for me.
Click to expand...

I agree. Buy the rims from Buchanan's unless you plan to lace them yourself. Buchanan's seems to be the only place in North America that really knows what they are doing with these kinds of wheels.
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Now I am confused once again. Your the owner of several pairs of chromed rims supplied by Waldridge. You told me your happy with the quality and yet Buchanan's is your tout. Yikes!
You have given me allot of helpful information and I appreciate it. I think I'll give both vendors a call before I make a purchase. Did you build your own wheels and if so were there any issues with the rims being round?

What is the preference for spoke nipple combinations. When using stainless spokes is it better to stay with stainless nipples or nickel chrome?
 
Everything I've gotten from Walridge is from Lucan, Ont.

T95, re-lacing the wheels is about a 3 hour project if you have never done it before. Just take plenty of notes, pictures, measure the offsets hub to rim and have a go at it. If you like putting things together, it's actually kinda fun.

Dave
69S
 
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