Ok, the title of this message might be a little over the top, but...
I built my first ebike wheel recently from a little geared Bafang and a quality double wall rim that has spoke eyelets (Alex DM18). Since I'm I big guy (200+ lbs) I thought it would be smart to use 12 gauge spokes. I did a ton of reading about lacing it up and it turned out great. Now, I see I didn't do enough reading since there are a lot of threads with people talking about how 12 gauge spokes are a bad idea since it's impossible to tension them correctly.
I've put around 100 miles on it so far without any issues. I'm keeping an eye on spoke tension and nothing seems to be changing yet. This is a light use bike mainly for our local paved bike trails when I want to be very stealthy. Nothing off road, just cruising at speeds less than 20 mph on a smooth path.
Question is, am I just asking for problems with the larger spokes? Will I eventually have a cracked rim because of them?
Sorry if these are stupid questions. I'm very much a newbie when it comes to hub motors.
I built my first ebike wheel recently from a little geared Bafang and a quality double wall rim that has spoke eyelets (Alex DM18). Since I'm I big guy (200+ lbs) I thought it would be smart to use 12 gauge spokes. I did a ton of reading about lacing it up and it turned out great. Now, I see I didn't do enough reading since there are a lot of threads with people talking about how 12 gauge spokes are a bad idea since it's impossible to tension them correctly.
I've put around 100 miles on it so far without any issues. I'm keeping an eye on spoke tension and nothing seems to be changing yet. This is a light use bike mainly for our local paved bike trails when I want to be very stealthy. Nothing off road, just cruising at speeds less than 20 mph on a smooth path.
Question is, am I just asking for problems with the larger spokes? Will I eventually have a cracked rim because of them?
Sorry if these are stupid questions. I'm very much a newbie when it comes to hub motors.