Front wheel lacing

quawk said:

Although Buchanons has been mentioned in this thread and others as a source of rims and spokes, I haven't seen any posts that indicate that anyone has purchased and used their "house" brand, Sun rims. Their Sun brand rims are non-dimpled. They are priced in the middle of the 3 different rims they offer in the stock width and diameter for a commando. Has anyone used these rims, and if so how was the result?

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Quawk,
I bought a set of Sun rims for my BSA B50MX project. The quality seems ok. They are anodized in a grey color. The center part of the rim is fairly thick so that the rim's spoke holes can be countersunk. Because of this thickness, the rim's well isn't as deep as my steel rims. Because of this shallow well in the rims, installing the tires was very difficult. It was the hardest I've ever come across. I ended up damaging some of the anodizing on the rims. For that reason alone I think I'd go for the more conventional dimpled rim.


Peter Firkins

I bought some stainless steel rims here: https://www.feked.com/wheels/wheel-rims/norton-rims/ the fit was correct and the quality level was great and the price was a lot better than those generic looking Sun rims.

mikeinidaho said:

I bought some stainless steel rims here: https://www.feked.com/wheels/wheel-rims/norton-rims/ the fit was correct and the quality level was great and the price was a lot better than those generic looking Sun rims.

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I guess I should ask them, (feked) but what do they mean by cotton reel equal and cotton reel unequal in there rim listings, and they list two different 19" rims that both say are for full width alloy hub, one being their number whlrim209y and the other being their number whrim209z but I can't figure what the difference between them is. Which rim did you order, and does your bike have a front disc or drum brake?

You do not have cotton reel hubs - they are called that because they look like cotton reels ( spools) .
Here are cotton reel hubs -
rear with equal diameter flanges


and front with single sided brake with unequal diameter flanges -


I believe you stated your bike has a drum front brake - if so you have full width hubs and need to specify the make , year , model etc. when purchasing rims.
Hope this helps clarify.
RT

Richard Tool said:

You do not have cotton reel hubs - they are called that because they look like cotton reels ( spools) .
Here are cotton reel hubs -
rear with equal diameter flanges
View attachment 117667

and front with single sided brake with unequal diameter flanges -
View attachment 117668

I believe you stated your bike has a drum front brake - if so you have full width hubs and need to specify the make , year , model etc. when purchasing rims.
Hope this helps clarify.
RT

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Richard Tool, thanks for the clarification of what is meant by equal and unequal cotton reel hubs. I guess I'll have to get out to the shop to measure my brake drum, but I think feked also lists rims for both a 7" front drum brake and an 8" front drum brake wheel. I assume there was only one size front brake drum used in 1973.

quawk said:

Richard Tool, thanks for the clarification of what is meant by equal and unequal cotton reel hubs. I guess I'll have to get out to the shop to measure my brake drum, but I think feked also lists rims for both a 7" front drum brake and an 8" front drum brake wheel. I assume there was only one size front brake drum used in 1973.

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Yep only one size drum brakes used on a commando

quawk said:

I guess I should ask them, (feked) but what do they mean by cotton reel equal and cotton reel unequal in there rim listings, and they list two different 19" rims that both say are for full width alloy hub, one being their number whlrim209y and the other being their number whrim209z but I can't figure what the difference between them is. Which rim did you order, and does your bike have a front disc or drum brake?

Click to expand...

I am a novice with spokes and rims , but I found Devon rims website very good , it takes you through all the options and variations and you should be able to recognize your style of hub , even I ordered the correct rims and spokes and they were all sent from the UK ,my hubs and new rims and spokes were then sent to a wheel and spoke guy , and he said to me if he had supplied the spokes he would have increased the size of the spoke on one side of the front wheel , but I am not too worried it's all standard, looks beautiful. 49 Matchless G80 .

When I fitted 18 inch rims to my Triton, it did not take much brain power. I just taped the new rims to the old ones to drill the spoke holes, and rolled the threads on the spokes down with the gadget. Putting it together was dead easy.
Thinking about doing it, might make it become more difficult. The first wire-spoked wheels were made in the horse and cart era.