Hi team! I want to find a factory to make some wheels for me, but have no clue where to start. How easy is it to find a factory manufacture a wheel? Thanks team
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Perhaps @trampa can put you on the right track or at least give you some advice - he makes his own wheels for the store.
I’m sure there will be a minimum quantity order to make it worthwhile for them, they need to make custom molds etc and that’s expensive 
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Im ready to pay the price! I wouldnt mind making a huge order, I feel like there would be some nice demand to at least have an order of 500 or 1000 wheels, possibly a lot more if its neccesary! Im completely new to ordering from a factory and what to know what sort of beast Im dealing with. I’ll order 1,000 wheels and sell them at cost over a couple years if it means I can have at least 4 for myself lol
alibaba is what I’ve been told to look…
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just messaged a supplier. It seems so misleading and daunting to say its contacting a factory lol
So you’re on "business " trip in Europe 
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@MontPierre dangit this was supposed to be vacation and here I havent left my rental flat in Barcelona in 2 days! I need help hah
At least this is how hummie has kept finding factories for his hub motors. At the end of the day though, you need no less than a few thousand to get anything made in china at a factory, preferably 10k+. They want you to buy a lot or they will give you high prices.
Depending where you go, you will likely get your designs ripped off also. There’s little you can do if this happens (or I should say when), since the copyright laws in china are shit.
You’ll also deal with long wait times. They will tell you 3 weeks or a month, but they mean 4-6 months often. They lie and lie and lie about the times, and when the deadline misses, they will say their main cnc machine is down and being debugged or xyz. That’s not what they will tell you 3 days before they are suppose to ship, when they say all is going well.
I’m telling you this from first hand experience of working with hummie and his motors. It’s a pain in the ass. We are hoping our next big order is the last for a while (hopefully, we can stock motors for at least a year, but we’ll see how fast they fly off the selfs), because prices get better in bulk, and it’s best to just have that part done and delt with.
It’s an industry standard for the eboard industry to be behind schedule, and this is the main reason why… Best of luck though,
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I wouldn’t say these problems are exclusive to China, since delays happen no matter where you manufacture. The thing with China, for better or worse, is that no one will admit they can’t do something. They’ll take the order and then try to figure it out. The problem arises when you just randomly find a supplier on Alibaba and ask them to make something. They’ll agree, then change the design to meet their manufacturing capabilities, and you’ll end up with crap.
The reason e-sk8 is perpetually late is more to do with the fact that there isn’t a huge amount of money, and companies are often headed by hobbyists who are used to doing everything and having full control over everything. They don’t understand the nuances of bringing a product to market, and what that entails from a vendor/CM management perspective.
This is what I do for a living, so I’ve seen the good and bad of China. The important thing is to leave very little open to interpretation, and work extremely closely with the manufacturer. This often means being on the ground in China working through iterations, and busting their balls a little bit.
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If you want to have some more trust in a supplier, get a gold rated supplier on Alibaba with at least two years of manufacturing plant checks. This helps to guarantee a level of quality. Another way to guarantee your order arrives is with Trade Assurance. A few people on here have already done some wheel group buys from China, try searching it and you might find some sources. @fedestanco is also very skilled at finding manufacturers with good prices. I’m sure he could help if you asked him nicely 
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I haven’t used these guys personally but I know a few people who have without issue http://www.mouldingfactory.com
hey this is great advice! I’ll search for gold rated suppliers and keep everything in mind. Im stoked to try this adventure out. Its nothing majorly revolutionary that Im thinking up, just something that I dont think currently exists, at least I havent been able to find it in 2 years of searching. I’ll reveal the idea as soon as I get a little further along in the journey of getting it made!
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good news! first supplier I asked a few hours ago is actually 9years gold rated supplier. 94% response rate, fingers are crossed!
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I thought the parent company that makes kegels (amd now enertions new wheels) does make custom wheels in the US. Don’t remember the name but there was a link in the hub motor urethane thread.
Edit: labeda was the name
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You know what we really need…?
4" / 100mm pneumatics!
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we’re gonna be good friends haha im literally asking for a quote for 83mm pneumatics
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You wanna ask more than one supplier. That way you can see who’s quote is better. It also give you options that one manufacturer may not have. Also be prepared for shipping costs.
yes sir! Im digging around, no responses yet but will update as soon as I get some feedback from suppliers. As revealed above this is a pursuit for 83mm - 100mm pneumatics.
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Awesome! Although, maybe a little too small?
I’ve been thinking about modding some aluminium 1/8th RC hubs and sticking an inner tube in them to see how it fares!
I’ve bought thousands of tons of product from China, Google dude. Look up suppliers, contact them with your specs, be specific, ask for samples and in my experience do not jump straight to a huge order be progressive and always promise them that a even bigger order is coming if they get this one right… the big pay day is coming if they deliver on spec… other wise you could get screwed with less than diligent product