26" Tandem Wheels

[Bike Camano]

I'm building a set of Wheels for our new Tandem. The only thing I've absolutely decided on is that
the rear hub will be a Phil Wood hub. I'm leaning toward going with 36 spokes front and back. Our
first 26" wheeled tandem had 36 spoked wheels (Sun Chinook rims) and we didn't have any problems
with rims or spokes even with a few off road treks. I like that most bike shops will have a 36 hole
rim in stock should I need one when I'm out of town.

My next question is about spokes. I see that Wheelsmith has a 13g double butted spoke. Will those
work with a Phil hub and would it make sense to use them?

Rims I'm leaning toward Sun Rhyno Lites for there wide spread availability and good reputation. I
don't like the way they look ... and I'm concerned about using a tire as narrow as 1.25 on them.

I like the looks of the Velocity and noticed they are spec'd on a lot of tandems. The LBS I ordered
my Tandem frame from has them on their own personal tandem but has had a failure with them and was
less than enthusiastic about them. Other than that, I've heard good things.

The Bontrager "Clyde" Rim claims to be a Tandem rim. It's eyeleted and 2.5mm narrower than the Sun
RL rim. It's slightly nicer and more expensive too.

I have a never been built XTR 36h front hub. Would that be a good candidate for the front wheel? I
can't imagine it would be worse or less durable than our old Suzue tandem hubs.

Thanks for your insights! Maurice "Mo" Miller Camano Island, WA

 

[David Ornee]

"Bike Camano" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm building a set of Wheels for our new Tandem. The only thing I've absolutely decided on is that
> the rear hub will be a Phil Wood hub. I'm leaning toward going with 36 spokes front and back. Our
> first 26" wheeled tandem had 36 spoked wheels (Sun Chinook rims) and we didn't have any
problems
> with rims or spokes even with a few off road treks. I like that most bike shops will have a 36
> hole rim in stock should I need one when I'm out of
town.
>
> My next question is about spokes. I see that Wheelsmith has a 13g double butted spoke. Will those
> work with a Phil hub and would it make sense to
use
> them?
>
> Rims I'm leaning toward Sun Rhyno Lites for there wide spread availability
and
> good reputation. I don't like the way they look ... and I'm concerned
about
> using a tire as narrow as 1.25 on them.
>
> I like the looks of the Velocity and noticed they are spec'd on a lot of tandems. The LBS I
> ordered my Tandem frame from has them on their own
personal
> tandem but has had a failure with them and was less than enthusiastic
about
> them. Other than that, I've heard good things.
>
> The Bontrager "Clyde" Rim claims to be a Tandem rim. It's eyeleted and
2.5mm
> narrower than the Sun RL rim. It's slightly nicer and more expensive too.
>
> I have a never been built XTR 36h front hub. Would that be a good
candidate
> for the front wheel? I can't imagine it would be worse or less durable
than
> our old Suzue tandem hubs.
>
> Thanks for your insights! Maurice "Mo" Miller Camano Island, WA

I used the Wheelsmith 13g double butted with Phil Wood hubs on our 26" wheeled tandem. They work
well. I use 40 hole Velocity Deep V rims. They are working well. However, spoke alignment took extra
time and effort during the build process, due to the lack of eyelets. The wheels stayed true and no
maintenance has been required for 3,000 miles. I would go for a Phil Wood or other tandem duty hub
(Shimano) for the front as well. I have had very good results with Bontrager Fairlane rims in 36
hole for touring and 48 hole for tandeming. They are 700C. I have also used DT Alpine III spokes for
heavy duty applications with great success. They are 13 g at the hub end, 15 g mid span, and 14 g at
the nipple. I would use them over the Wheelsmith, except they don't come in the shorter size range
that I required in the Velocity Deep V 26" build on Phil Wood hubs. Those are my insights. David
Ornee, Western Springs, IL

 

[Nick Payne]

We've been using the same set of 36 spoke 26" wheels on our touring tandem since 1988. The rims have
been replaced once due to sidewall wear from brakes, but they've remained perfectly true and no
spokes have broken (the new rims were laced to the original spokes). The hubs are Bullseye and the
spokes 14g stainless. The original rims were Mavic Rando M5 and the current rims Araya RM-20. Rear
spacing 140mm.

We also have a newer S&S touring tandem that uses 32 spoke 26" wheels (forced by the choice of a
Rohloff rear hub), and those wheels have been completely reliable as well. Front and rear rims are
Velocity Mtn Goat, 14g spokes, rear hub is Rohloff, front hub is Hugi.

Nick

"Bike Camano" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm building a set of Wheels for our new Tandem. The only thing I've absolutely decided on is that
> the rear hub will be a Phil Wood hub. I'm leaning toward going with 36 spokes front and back. Our
> first 26" wheeled tandem had 36 spoked wheels (Sun Chinook rims) and we didn't have any
problems
> with rims or spokes even with a few off road treks. I like that most bike shops will have a 36
> hole rim in stock should I need one when I'm out of
town.