Wheel rims

modelman · Post by **modelman** » Sun Oct 29, 2017 8:29 am

Anyone here used the Thailand manufactured wheels & spoke sets?

The reason I ask is that on my latest, the front has a dent & the rear is too rusty, but the Thai ones are around half the cost of the UK made variants so I'm wondering as to the quality, I imagine them not to ba as good, but will they suffice?
Its only a 'rescue' resto, not a show job!

Geoff Hastings · Post by **Geoff Hastings** » Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:49 pm

I used a set of stainless spokes from Thailand, I've seen a few people saying the angle of bend on the spokes is not right but even the stainless spokes from a quality British supplier are not perfect as the stainless is a harder material to bend. The ones I bought were perfectly usable and I built the wheels myself. I did however also buy a pair of rims from India, extremely cheap, we are talking £36 for the pair including postage. Well, like you, my bike was going to be as good as I could make it but, within what I deemed an acceptable price. They were terrible, apart from the really rough finish, half the spoke hole were drilled wrong. I initially put it down to experience but after a couple of days I contacted the supplier in India and to my surprise they gave me a complete refund. Anyway I eventually bit the bullet and bought a set of stainless rims from Central wheel components and they are superb. Other bits from Thailand I bought are tank badges, excellent, handlebar levers ,fine, brake, clutch and throttle cables good quality but the nipples were a shade too long for the levers, might be the levers or the cables but a bit of fettling and they work fine.

modelman · Post by **modelman** » Sun Oct 29, 2017 3:22 pm

Yeh, thanks for that, maybe I'll not risk it & buy from central again, I bought polished alloys & stainless spokes from them last year & laced the Bonnie wheels, & with new hubs myself, they cost over £750.00 but very good quality!!

This time I 'only' need rims & spokes!

LOUD MOUSE · Post by **LOUD MOUSE** » Sun Oct 29, 2017 4:59 pm

I'm a bit confused.
Did you say the new spokes yo u installed are bent a little?. ..................lm

Geoff Hastings wrote:I used a set of stainless spokes from Tailand, I've seen a few people saying the angle of bend on the spokes is not right but even the stainless spokes from a quality British supplier are not perfect as the stainless is a harder material to bend. The ones I bought were perfectly usable and I built the wheels myself. I did however also buy a pair of rims from India, extremely cheap, we are talking £36 for the pair including postage. Well, like you, my bike was going to be as good as I could make it but, within what I deemed an acceptable price. They were terrible, apart from the really rough finish, half the spoke hole were drilled wrong. I initially put it down to experience but after a couple of days I contacted the supplier in India and to my surprise they gave me a complete refund. Anyway I eventually bit the bullet and bought a set of stainless rims from Central wheel components and they are superb. Other bits from Tailand I bought are tank badges, excellent, handlebar levers ,fine, brake, clutch and throttle cables good quality but the nipples were a shade too long for the levers, might be the levers or the cables but a bit of fettling and they work fine.

Geoff Hastings · Post by **Geoff Hastings** » Sun Oct 29, 2017 6:13 pm

No Lm, I didn't say the spokes are bent a little. What I actually said was that the stainless spokes are not able to be formed to as tight an angle as the standard spokes. This is something the manufacturers state, not just my opinion. This results in the nipple not sitting perfectly flush in the hub.

LOUD MOUSE · Post by **LOUD MOUSE** » Sun Oct 29, 2017 6:26 pm

My mistake.
Same thing?
GOOD LUCK. ..................lm

Geoff Hastings wrote:No Lm, I didn't say the spokes are bent a little. What I actually said was that the stainless spokes are not able to be formed to as tight an angle as the standard spokes. This is something the manufacturers state, not just my opinion. This results in the nipple not sitting perfectly flush in the hub.

cadman · Post by **cadman** » Sun Oct 29, 2017 8:47 pm

I just laced up a front and rear rim with spokes from Thailand. These were not perfect but better than the last ones I did. The chrome is very bright on the rims but they don't spend enough time buffing before plating so you get these very fine scratches. From a foot or two away you can't see then. You can probably see them in the close photos. On the other hand the spokes were far better that the last ones I received. The chrome was great. Once tires are mounted and they are mounted on the bike they look very bright and the fine scratches are not noticed unless you get real close.

Hope these pics help. Note I put the paint brush in the pic so you could see the reflection.

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