Front trike wheels?

[DaveW]

I have no idea where to even begin to look - so.....

What do people normally use for front hubs on trikes?

Is there some way of modding regular hubs for "single fork" use, or are they are specialised part (not the brand! ).

Or are "wheelchair hubs" tough enough?


Thanks,

Dave.

[Storm]

Go to Fleettrikes (dot) com - Tips tools - Brakes and you will find a heap of info on hubs to get you started.

[John Lewis]

I have no idea where to even begin to look - so.....

What do people normally use for front hubs on trikes?

Is there some way of modding regular hubs for "single fork" use, or are they are specialised part (not the brand! ).

Or are "wheelchair hubs" tough enough?


Thanks,

Dave.

G'day Dave,

On a trike nearly finished. I used the 48 spoke BMX wheels with the fat 14mm? axles. I wound them through as far as they would go and screwed on the lock nut using green permanent locktite. After that I cut the excess axle off flush and cleaned it up with a flap disk.

I'll take a shot tomorrow and upload it.

They look ok with a bit of paint on the cut end. 48 spokes is at least strong.

Google Timothy Smith recumbents. He has some suggestions on his site.

John Lewis

[John Lewis]

Here are the photos of the BMX wheel mods






John Lewis

[DaveW]

Cool - thanks for that I had no idea whether or not that would be strong enough, or if it would wear the bearings or whatever.

And I will check that site too.

Thanks guys.

Dave.

[geoffw]

hey Dave im bit slow and dunno if this will be any help now

on two of my trainign trikes i have wheel chair wheels teh hubs seem to be working fine, on my race trike how ever i use Sturmey Archer drum brake hubs. i find them heaps good althought maybe a lil pricey, generally 120 for the hub alone from greenspeed or a complete 16inch wheel is bout 190. i find the sturney archers to be great and really strong and have awesome brakign ablilities,

hope its of some help

Geoff

[DaveW]

I actually hadn't got as far as thinking about brakes yet - I know I have to have them , and I read somewhere that caliper style blocks just don't seem to cut it.
I was probably going to use disks - but the drums would be another option.

[geoffw]

yer brakes might be a good idea,

ive ridden trikes wif calipers, theyre ok just worries me when you have a buckled wheel or anything

Disks vs Hubs, having ridden with disks, id go the disks althought i hav heard that setting up disks is very hard on a trike and slightly more expensive than hubs (see trisled for disks www.trisled.com.au). Also with disks when sitting in teh frame the steering assemblies and kingpins can flex and the disks dont run true due to the force. i find the hub brakes still have more than adequate stopping power, and they are very easy to package and dont suffer at all from steering bolt flex or buckled wheels. (see greenspeed for hub brakes www.greenspeed.com.au)

[Storm]

I used 20mm MTB disc hubs on my trike and don't feel any flex/interferenece from the axle, they are also easier to incorporate as they are a through axle on sealled bearings.

[Freddyflatfoot]

Ok, I have built three trikes, all with different axle assemblies.
My first trike I used the 14mm BMX wheels/axles. Plenty strong enough, and after 3200 k's , still working well. I used V brakes on this one, and they are ok, if not the best.
The trike I made for my daughter uses the wheelchair hubs. Looks like they will work well, just wish my daughter would ride it more!
My third trike uses the Sturmey Archer hub brakes, with 12mm axles. These work really well, are easy to setup, and are virtually maintenance free.
Whichever way you choose to go, you will need 12mm axles as a minimum.
Best of luck in your project!

[DaveW]

all good info - thanks folks.

[just4tehhalibut]

Another option is (if you have access to a lathe or a friend with one) to make the hubs up.
You'll need to find some hubs with a bit of meat on them as you'll be scooping out metal from the bearing cups to insert races. The bearings can be rollerskate-sized, whatever as long as it fits tightly into the hub, doesn't take too much metal out to install, can take the load and takes a 12mm shaft. You will also need to machine up the axles, probably from 16mm round bar, and then reducing each length of it into at least 2 sections of different diameter, 16 mm, then 12mm.
Work out how much of the shaft will be used as the mount, leave this as 16mm then have a section after this reduced down to 12mm for the length of the hub (so this leaves a shoulder, 16 mm butted to 12mm, on the trike-side for the hub to seat up to). And then the bit protruding from the road-side of the hub you may want to have reduced down further, to whatever size thread you want for the nut that holds everything on the axle. I think Greenspeed used 10mm and 12mm. I use a nyloc nut. Your mate with the lathe might also consider further reducing the axle a tad for the area between the 12mm shoulders where the bearing races will be, this creates a little drainage area.

One more thing: I've done all this then found that I was making someone hubs to suit 28 hole rims. The hubs were 36 hole. It is do-able but loathsome. Match hubs and rims before you start.

Years ago Greenspeed made me a set of 'trailer hubs' to the same style, cost $60 but took months to arrive as not an item they normally kept in stock.

P.S you can often buy packets of rollerskate-style bearing races off Ebay cheaply. The leftovers bearings you might consider using to make chain idlers, or at least ask you mate with the lathe to do this for you in all his spare time.