griffon restoration

[Sprocket]

High Tensile Rim

You can tell if you have them by the weld , it goes across the rim in a perfectly dead straight line, visible on both inner and outer sides. I beleive they were made from one strip of steel then welded,very strong/light and never appear to rust ,or very little , and yes painted Silver.

I have them on a TJS with Greeves Conical Hubs, the bike is so light.

This will sound Nerdish, but just put a H/T Rim, WM3 X18 (powder coated)
on the wives kitchen scales, 4lb 12oz. Wonder what a chrome/Steel one would be ?

[brokabolt]

griffon wheel rims

Could someone give me some advise on what rims i should fit please. Bike came with 19in chrome front,18in chrome rear. As i am having both rebuilt i am not sure what to replace them with. There's not as much choice with 19in motox tyres which makes me favour 21in. Also what rims should i fit?,alloy,stainless or chrome. I would like to get the bike as much as possible to original but would also like the option of racing when completed. Was thinking of stainless spokes so what gauge should i use. Once again advise would be greatly appreciated. Mick.

[riflegreen]

Mick ,

You need a WM1 x21" chrome rim on the front , WM3 x 18" chrome rim on the rear & the spokes are 9 ( nine ) gauge .

Chris

[brokabolt]

griffon wheel rims

Thanks Chris. The rims i took off were WM2 front. When i took the wheels to our local wheel builder he measured the spoke size and said they were 8 gauge, as he isn't a greeves buff i thought i would check. Why do you say chrome?. Cheers. Mick

[riflegreen]

Mick ,

Chrome rims are correct for home market bike but you could have high tensile rims as an option if you asked .

The front rim on your bike may have been changed in the US & different spokes fitted , nine gauge was used on all comp bikes by Greeves .

If the rear rim is good I would use it again & just replace the front rim , the USA favoured the wide smaller diameter front wheel for riding in the desert , reckoned it was better in sand & did not dig in .

I'm no great lover of stainless , the spokes have two weak points , where the thread ends & where spoke is bent to go through the hub .

Also stainless rims & spokes were not about when the bike was made , if they were , Greeves would have gone for the cheaper option .

Chris

[riflegreen]

Sprocket ,

Just weighed a standard rear rim and it is 5.75 pounds .

Chris

[brokabolt]

griffon wheel rims

Thanks again Chris. I will get ht rims and 9 gauge galvanised spokes. Rear rim was buckled like the front so will have to get that replaced also. Would you know what the offsets are by any chance. I put a metal ruler across the brake drums but because of the buckles in the rims i couldn't get an accurate reading around the rims. Many thanks for your help. Mick

[riflegreen]

Mick ,

Don't know the off set on the Griffon but I'm sure someone will know .

You'll have trouble finding HT rims , haven't been made for years .

Chris

[brokabolt]

griffon wheel rims

Thanks Chris. Will be patient and wait for somebody to feed me with that info. Must say i'm having buckets of fun with this project, spent all last weekend on it when normally i'm out riding. Cheers Mick