LewieBike
Well-Known Member
I just wanted to follow this up with some observations since I've built a lot of wheels in my time as a bike tech.
Where Jayraye drilled the spoke "j" ends isn't going to appreciably strengthen or stiffen the wheel. This is a fact based on what makes most bike and motorcycle wheels strong in the first place is lacing and the triangulation of the width across the hub flanges. Going with heavier gauge spokes in this case will not help much.
Have any of you who have played around with bike wheels noted where the spoke's J ends anchor?, Well it's close to the outside of the hub width at the Hub/spoke flange, which is true for most wheels, (Derailleur rear wheel hubs are a slight exception here...) and generally they work in two pairs from opposing directions side to side and also axially. The more spokes and the heavier gauge does help with strength But in Jay's wheel the spokes are anchored quite close to the middle of the hub and they are also radially spoked, both of which don't really help the strength of the wheel except for forces pulling away from the hub center outwards. I'm finding that these mag wheels flexing is probably due more to the fact that they were made more as decorative bike bling and less about their actual strength. I would not want to be using these on anything more powerful than a 350 watt E-bike and I would not trust them at any speeds over 20 mph. especially on a heavy unsuspended bicycle.
If Jay is fine with this amount of danger in his life then who am I to judge. I'm just making some observations based on his claims for this wheel.
Where Jayraye drilled the spoke "j" ends isn't going to appreciably strengthen or stiffen the wheel. This is a fact based on what makes most bike and motorcycle wheels strong in the first place is lacing and the triangulation of the width across the hub flanges. Going with heavier gauge spokes in this case will not help much.
Have any of you who have played around with bike wheels noted where the spoke's J ends anchor?, Well it's close to the outside of the hub width at the Hub/spoke flange, which is true for most wheels, (Derailleur rear wheel hubs are a slight exception here...) and generally they work in two pairs from opposing directions side to side and also axially. The more spokes and the heavier gauge does help with strength But in Jay's wheel the spokes are anchored quite close to the middle of the hub and they are also radially spoked, both of which don't really help the strength of the wheel except for forces pulling away from the hub center outwards. I'm finding that these mag wheels flexing is probably due more to the fact that they were made more as decorative bike bling and less about their actual strength. I would not want to be using these on anything more powerful than a 350 watt E-bike and I would not trust them at any speeds over 20 mph. especially on a heavy unsuspended bicycle.
If Jay is fine with this amount of danger in his life then who am I to judge. I'm just making some observations based on his claims for this wheel.