Im building a single speed mini velo with 20inch bmx wheels.

Right now Im at the process on building its wheels and I was thinking on getting bmx hubs instead of ‘normal size bike wheel hubs’ because they are cheaper.

Are there any downsides on doing that? Is there a substantial difference between these two types or it is just a marketing thing?

  • @Paragone@lemmy.world
    -1•5 months ago

    I’ve built only a few wheels, but am autistic, so geek out on getting it right.

    You want several requirements met:

    • IF it is a drive-wheel, OR it is a hub/disc brake, THEN you want a big-enough hub spoke-circle, for the angular transmission-of-forces, and you cannot use radial-spoking on that wheel.

    • you want the bearings & races to be robust enough for YOUR purposes

    • you want enough distance between the hub’s spoke-circles for any tilting-the-bike-while-upright-riding, or side-applied force from the hub’s perspective, so the force has enough trigonometric geometry to not stretch/crack/bend/deform your spokes, or mangle your wheel.

    I wish the thru-axles were normal in all sizes, and all standardized to a few diff diameters, front & back, with different axle-widths available, too.

    Weight isn’t a factor for any of the geometrics I identified, nor is cost.

    Those are independent dimensions of consideration.

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