I‘m really having issues tracking down front wheels for a Streetfox

ADHD.Hour

ADHD.Hour

Hi all my name is Fred. I‘ve been a long time lurker here in the Forums. Last year I bought some plans, and have been working on gathering parts for the build. This in itself I‘ve found very difficult, I currently live in Germany (originally from the states) and I‘m used starting a project by just picking up from a box/hardware store and that‘s impossible here. It‘s super frustrating. ok. End of rant.

I need help finding the wheels, all I‘m finding on ebay don‘t look like they can accept disc brakes.
wheels I found here

Does anyone have any other Suggestions? I‘m open for ideas.
 
I would skip the 48 spoke nonsense. There is no commercial tadpole with 48 spokes.
What you want is a hub (preferably 36 hole, but could even be 32) with disc brake (if that's what you want) that can accept a 12mm or better axle.
All Sturmey Archer single sided hubs as found on many velomobiles and trikes are running on 36 hole hubs with 12mm axles.
The 48spoke 14mm axle thing is really overdoing it.
Go look at the front wheels on all the commercial trikes for examples.
 
Fred

Sadly wheels are the most expensive part of a tadpole build , it will be cheaper and easier to build a delta ;)(y)

So you STILL want to build a tadpole trike ....

The plans are old and the wheel advice in them has not been update , stuff mentioned in the plans was rare to start with and even rarer [ book I have is copyright 2008 !!!] now
So originally the call was for BMX wheels with M14 axles and due to lack of wheels with disc rotor mounts [ they are very very rare ] V brakes were used
Afterwards the move was towards downhill wheels with M20 axles and disc rotor mounts

Today you actually have plenty of choice , however the caveat is you have to build your own wheels or assemble the parts and get a bike shop to build them.
I bought 6 of these for a project 406 front disc wheels - barrel type however they are 32 spoke which then proved a problem and my rims have come from Spain.
Then you need to go to a online spoke length calculator put in the rim and hub details and in my case buy 200 spokes for 6 wheels - deep joy.

Those hubs usually come in M15 through axle or M20 through axle M15 is plenty for a Streetfox assuming you are not supersized yourself or expecting a heavy trike moving heavy loads of towing said heavy loads.
There is a bodge on here somewhere showing you how to convert rear wheels to disc rotor wheels [ must have at least M14 axles ] however whilst one side is easy the other wants to unscrew unless you take precautions.

Good hunting , I am sure someone will be along shortly to help who actually knows what he is talking about [ never built a tadpole ] , or do you live near the Netherlands or contact a German trike maker they may help DIY'ers I believe ICE trikes in the UK do.[ warning the prices may make both your eyes water :D ]

Paul
 
Not advocating or advising in any way, but I was poking around on-line and found this, which I thought was interesting, but pricey :


It "looks" like they're selling a pair of front "clips" (as they'd say in auto body lingo), from a tadpole trike.
Complete with 20" wheels, tires, the innards of the front steerers (threadless type), and complete disc brake set up.
I guess you'd have to supply your own head tubes, to match.
I saw the same thing for sale, from a custom trike builder, for the same price.
 
Almost all 14mm axled 20" wheels will not have a disc mount. They do exist and are just slightly more common than unicorns. Three options:-
Use 14mm axled BMX wheels and bodge the disc mount by getting wheels with a thread for screw on disc adapter. You need to bolt the disc adapter through the hub as the left wheel will simply unscrew the adapter on braking. I also epoxied the adapter on as well as bolting it. You'll need wheels with enough hub flange to allow you to do this. This bodge worked just fine even under stoppie inducing braking. The epoxy is the main fix with the bolts being the back-up.

N2qrCJY.jpeg


The 2nd option is to do it properly and build your own wheels. 20mm is overkill and only needed if being exceptionally aggressive off-road. Be aware 20mm bolts cost a lot more than 12mm and weigh a LOT more too. 12mm hubs will be fine with ht bolts as axles. Shimano do some cheap centrelock ones and a 6 bolt adapter works out cheaper than centrelock discs.

You could also look for a 15mm thru axle hub and get a 15mm to 12mm sleeve to enable you to use a 12mm bolt. 15mm bolts don't exist or if they do are rocking horse poo. The 15mm alloy "bolt" that normally goes in them is only going to work if held at both ends and that isn't up to single sided mounting.

The 3rd option is to use sturmey single sided hubs with built in drum brakes. Nice but very expensive.

Do make sure that if you make your own wheels you buy rims with the same number of holes as the hubs. There are spoke length calculators on the net to enable you to buy the right size and lacing wheels is a doddle. It looks complex but it's not.

Do NOT use 3/8 axles which form the majority of 20" wheels. They won't take single sided mounting stresses.

There is a left field option which is a couple of front wheels and hubs from a mobike. They are single sided alloys on drum hubs but 24" and solid tyres. No idea on availability outside the UK.
 
Popshot said:
You could also look for a 15mm thru axle hub and get a 15mm to 12mm sleeve to enable you to use a 12mm bolt. 15mm bolts don't exist or if they do are rocking horse poo. The 15mm alloy "bolt" that normally goes in them is only going to work if held at both ends and that isn't up to single sided mounting.
Click to expand...
The pedal car guys use M15 axled wheels on a lot of their cars ?
They take some M17 rod and turn it down to M15 enough for the wheel to mount up against the M17 shoulder and a bit more to thread M10 on the ends , a single M10 lock nut holds the wheel on.
The M17 is then cut down short for a stub axle on a kingpin , or longer for a half shaft on the rear of a delta or quad.
Paul
 
undertoad said:
Not advocating or advising in any way, but I was poking around on-line and found this, which I thought was interesting, but pricey :


It "looks" like they're selling a pair of front "clips" (as they'd say in auto body lingo), from a tadpole trike.
Complete with 20" wheels, tires, the innards of the front steerers (threadless type), and complete disc brake set up.
I guess you'd have to supply your own head tubes, to match.
I saw the same thing for sale, from a custom trike builder, for the same price.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info! Ideally, I wanna DIY this trike, but good to know this is a backup plan. It's all tip money, for this project – just buying parts as I get the cash. Appreciate it!
 
stormbird said:
The pedal car guys use M15 axled wheels on a lot of their cars ?
They take some M17 rod and turn it down to M15 enough for the wheel to mount up against the M17 shoulder and a bit more to thread M10 on the ends , a single M10 lock nut holds the wheel on.
The M17 is then cut down short for a stub axle on a kingpin , or longer for a half shaft on the rear of a delta or quad.
Paul
Click to expand...
If I had a metal lathe so many things would be both easier and harder. Easier because I could turn that. Harder because, why would I buy that when I could make it attitude. Thanks for the reply!
 
Popshot said:
Almost all 14mm axled 20" wheels will not have a disc mount. They do exist and are just slightly more common than unicorns. Three options:-
Use 14mm axled BMX wheels and bodge the disc mount by getting wheels with a thread for screw on disc adapter. You need to bolt the disc adapter through the hub as the left wheel will simply unscrew the adapter on braking. I also epoxied the adapter on as well as bolting it. You'll need wheels with enough hub flange to allow you to do this. This bodge worked just fine even under stoppie inducing braking. The epoxy is the main fix with the bolts being the back-up.

N2qrCJY.jpeg


The 2nd option is to do it properly and build your own wheels. 20mm is overkill and only needed if being exceptionally aggressive off-road. Be aware 20mm bolts cost a lot more than 12mm and weigh a LOT more too. 12mm hubs will be fine with ht bolts as axles. Shimano do some cheap centrelock ones and a 6 bolt adapter works out cheaper than centrelock discs.

You could also look for a 15mm thru axle hub and get a 15mm to 12mm sleeve to enable you to use a 12mm bolt. 15mm bolts don't exist or if they do are rocking horse poo. The 15mm alloy "bolt" that normally goes in them is only going to work if held at both ends and that isn't up to single sided mounting.

The 3rd option is to use sturmey single sided hubs with built in drum brakes. Nice but very expensive.

Do make sure that if you make your own wheels you buy rims with the same number of holes as the hubs. There are spoke length calculators on the net to enable you to buy the right size and lacing wheels is a doddle. It looks complex but it's not.

Do NOT use 3/8 axles which form the majority of 20" wheels. They won't take single sided mounting stresses.

There is a left field option which is a couple of front wheels and hubs from a mobike. They are single sided alloys on drum hubs but 24" and solid tyres. No idea on availability outside the UK.
Click to expand...
Found this while looking on Aliexpress. I think this is the way no! 20mm hub. Thanks for the info! It was very helpful and ultimately led to the link there. 👍🏽
 
Last edited:
No working link there. Usually 20mm disc hubs are about £20 on AliExpress. Do as Danny did and lighten the axle. It's simple to build a machine that is too heavy.
 
Link now working. They are a little odd in appearing to have a disc mount either side of the wheel.

You could also do similar to Brad and use an m14 bolt and weld a small section of 20mm x 3mm wall precision tube at the bearing support points.
 
I have a set of used Azub 20" front wheels with rather new Schwalbe Marathon + and 160mm disks available. 15mm shaft.
 
Popshot said:
Link now working. They are a little odd in appearing to have a disc mount either side of the wheel.

You could also do similar to Brad and use an m14 bolt and weld a small section of 20mm x 3mm wall precision tube at the bearing support points.
Click to expand...
I will most likely do that or something similar. They do look a bit odd but I‘d rather trade a bit of looks for ease of use.
 
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