Swapping wheel rims

[Bobbo1260]

I have aquired a decentish bike for £20 thats in need of a paint job that i was told had 26" wheels but when i got it home i realised it had 27.5" wheels. (Yes i should have checked the tyre sizes before handing over the cash... der).
How much could i expect to pay to have the electric hub taken off my current 26" electric wheel and laced onto the 27.5" wheel rim. Not a job i fancy tackling myself.

Thanks.

 

[soundwave]

50 quid to f off just find a lbs that can build wheels tbh a hard job these days or diy cos it will only go again

 

[AntonyC]

If the new bike has disc brakes you could probably use your 26" wheel. If not have you checked the spoke counts are the same?

 

[saneagle]

I have aquired a decentish bike for £20 thats in need of a paint job that i was told had 26" wheels but when i got it home i realised it had 27.5" wheels. (Yes i should have checked the tyre sizes before handing over the cash... der).
How much could i expect to pay to have the electric hub taken off my current 26" electric wheel and laced onto the 27.5" wheel rim. Not a job i fancy tackling myself.

Thanks.

If you could find someone to do it, about for the wheel-building. Spokes would be about £25 and a rim would be about the same, so about £100 altogether.

 

[thelarkbox]

Once you have the spokes sized correctly its actually a very easy and relaxing task, and something that can be dropped and picked up again very easily if needed. Youtube has many excellent vids on the topic, i watched half a dozen at least running up to taking the plunge and if followed its really all very simple and easy.

I 'misused' or took full advantage of amazon returns adjusting the size accordingly, and the errors i made in oredering the wrong sized spokes just gave me all the practice i needed to get the simple 1x cross sopke pattern down to pat, so when the correct size was finally ordered i had the wheel built in 15-20 minutes and ready for true-ing.. (1st few attempts where significantly longer..)

The front forks of an upturned bike and cable ties snipped to size make a very serviceable balancing frame, and the #1 tip i can provide is if using a multi size spoke spanner use tape to block off all sizes your not using.

And remember if needed you can backstep all the way back to the start for a totally fresh re-do..

 

[georgehenry]

I had a rear wheel built up for me in 2020, and the actual wheel build was £75. The parts I specified though added quite a lot to that! If you have the time and temperament have a go yourself.

 

[Cisco-man]

Do the build yourself and get your local bike shop to true it for you (much cheaper). There are websites with spoke length calculators on them, and (as previously said) youtube gives you all the instruction you need.

 

[Sturmey]

The difference between a nominal 27.5 inch wheel rim (584mm) and a nominal 26 inch wheel rim (559 mm) is only an inch (25mm) in diameter or a half inch on the radius. So I think you will get away with fitting the 26 inch wheel, particularly on the rear with disc brakes.
Here is what I would do (and have done ).
I would go ahead and fit the 26 inch wheel and see how it works. If you are happy, I would leave it so or perhaps consider fitting a bigger 26 inch tyre to make up some of the difference. But You can always at a later date consider replacing the rim if you really feel you have to but I dont think you do.
I have a Carrera Vengence myself with a 27.5 front wheel and a 26 rear. I think it looks and works well. I think it is traditional on trial motorcycles to fit a larger narrower front wheel/ smaller fatter rear wheel.

 

[harrys]

Building wheels is not hard. What is hard is ordering the right size spokes. I know what the larkbox went thru, but I ate the cost. With doublewall rims, it's OK to have them a mm too long, as you can use washers.

 

[Bobbo1260]

Might give the re-lacing part a go myself as I have the rim and just need the spokes and get it trued up at a shop As suggested, thanks.
My late grandad was a dab hand at truing me and my cousins buckled wheels when we were kids up and down kerbs all the time..