The Worksman Wheels are mounted.

[RdKryton]

Well with working out of town for the last 6 and a half weeks I have not had the time to put the finishing touches on the wheel changeover until a few minutes ago. I did put a few miles on the wheels and I am very pleased with the results. I must first state how difficult it is the mount the sheave on a rear drum Worksman Wheel. I had to purchase the sheave mounting clips for a vintage Whizzer with the 5" rear drum brake. They are not cheap and do not fit exactly the way they should. I did finally get the sheave mounted but I will be checking it frequently to make sure I don't have a catastrophic failure. The other issue was the brake cable adjusting fixture. The stock adjusting fixture is not usable because it puts the brake cable at a very sharp angle and is at a very tight spot in the frame. The brake arm itself is another problem. I was able to clamp it with the brake arm clamp from a Whizzer coaster brake setup.
It will be much easier to mount the sheave on a Worksman coaster brake wheel. The only modification needed for that is to enlarge the spoke groves on the mounting clips for the larger spokes and use the Whizzer brake arm. The front was much easier but you still have to be creative with the brake arm mounting. Be very careful to make sure you keep the distance correct between the forks. If you pinch them in or splay them out you could have a catastrophic fork failure.
The Worksman Wheels are a big improvement over the stock wheels as far a strength goes but installing them on a Whizzer is not an easy task to say the least. If you are not comfortable with tools and modifying things you should probably not try this yourself.
I'm glad I did because it changed the whole feel of the bike.

Jim

 

[wavygravy]

hey jim can ya link us to your source for those worksman wheels , cant find diddlydo about wheels on there website & ive orderd seats from them in the past & they seem to be very lacking in customer service hard to get straight answers from lazy secratary! any help whould be very cool!

 

[RdKryton]

Hi wavy
Here is a link for the parts list with the ordering info you want.
http://worksmancycles.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page26.html
The file for - Price List - Industrial Bicycles is the one that lists my wheels. 77A front 77RA rear
Jim

 

[Hal the Elder]

HEY WAVY:

Call Worksman at 1-888-394-3353 and ask to talk to "AL".

Al told me that Whizzer owners are some of Worksman's biggest customers, and he'll help you with technical details, such as choosing between alloy or steel rims, chrome or black finish, standard or clincher rims, etc.

I ordered a 26" chromed steel wheel with the Shimano coaster brake, because I'm converting from auto to manual clutch.

My wheel is really heavy-duty with those 11-gauge spokes...like a motorcycle wheel!

HAL

 

[KilroyCD]

With the information listed here, I'm going to add this thread to the "Common questions and links to the answers (Whizzer)" sticky. Thanks Jim and Hal!

 

[bill green]

Hi Wavy If your calling worksman for stuff the go to guy is WAYNE . He is A great guy and very helpful . hope this helps Bill

 

[Hal the Elder]

HEY JIM:

Did you mount the NE5 front brake to your new Worksman wheel, or did you order a wheel with the brake installed?

I'll be ordering a Worksman front wheel later to match my new coaster brake rear wheel.

Thanks...
HAL

 

[RdKryton]

The 77A wheel is a 26"front drum brake wheel. I did not use the front Whizzer brake hub.

Jim

 

[wavygravy]

thank you guys so much for your help on the worksman wheels ! thats my next upgrade!

 

[Hal the Elder]

I installed the sheave on my new Worksman Coaster Brake Wheel yesterday...easy as pie!

I have a full set of toolmaker's pattern files, so I selected a rat-tail file the same diameter as the spokes and opened up the pockets in the spoke clips until the spokes nested pefectly in them, with no "biting" or "pinching" of the spokes.

I used a #31 drill bit to simulate the spokes (0.120" diameter), and it took about a minute of filing per clip to get 'em all done. (I did stop about halfway through to mix me a Rum & Coke...it was afternoon, so that's OK...)

Centering the sheave was virtually automatic...the angle of the spokes and the angle and spacing of the grooves in the clip made the positioning correct without even measuring!

I installed the clips on opposite sides of the wheel, until all nine were in place, then mounted the wheel on Oscar's bones and gave it a spin test. If I had a dial indicator, it would probably have shown a few thousandths of radial runout, but I sure couldn't tell by eye!

Now I'm awaiting Quenton'e go-ahead to ship him my auto clutch!

HAL