It does take skill to get a wheel with correct spoke tension perfectly dished, perfectly round and running perfectly true. The reaction to a radial load of a welltensioned wire spoked wheel, such as by a rider sitting on a bicycle, is that the wheel flattens slightly near the ground contact area. All of your other advice is spoton so please excuse me for focusing on the details. The defaults are limits suggestion in the book the art of wheelbuilding by gerd schraner. Dt swiss world blog why is the proper spoke tension so. The chances are if you need to re tension the wheel, you need to tighten the whole wheel up slightly. In todays post, well look at the most common spoke patterns out there, whats right for your ride, and why we build our wheels the way we do.
Spoke freeze will make this more challenging and we recommend against it. It provides us chance to focus on something that should be simple, something that bends to our will, so to speak. Hubs now insert the remaining spokes from the inside into hub flange b and, turning the wheel over, complete the building by inserting these spokes into the vacant holes in the rim. A good wheel builder will be able to build a wheel with even tension on every spoke.
The hidden force that makes your wheel durable, provides precise steering, and gives you the ability to accelerate. Wheelbuilding is the process of assembling wire wheels generally a bicycle wheel, but including wheelchairs, and some cars. I start by picking an average tension and adjusting all of the spokes towards that tension. Therefore proper spoke tension should be measured on both sides, but set to the right side spokes of rear wheels. On a wheel it is not uncommon for an adjustment to one point to knock another point off. I learned this process out of necessity during a few of my projects, between books, a few videos and some help from a seasoned motorcycle mechanic this is the process i use in the shop when building spoked wheels. A wheel with spokes that are within plus or minus 20% of the wheel s average spoke tension is generally considered to have acceptable relative tension. Learn how to tension a bicycle wheel in this free video on bicycle wheel building. If the tension on the wheel is well balanced there wont be any need for spoke freeze etc. The thing im not so sure about is the spoke tension.
The book removes a lot of the mystery surrounding stuff like why certain spoke patterns are goodbad under certain applications, the. The idea is that the static spoke tension is sufficiently high that even when loaded the spokes dont actually go slack. Also, the nipples may corrode if not lubed, making future truing impossible. Theres a certain mystique surrounding the art of building a bicycle wheel. The process of fitting spokes when building a bicycle wheel is known as lacing, presumably because theyre passed through holes and then tightened, like shoelaces.
You will then be listening to the sound of two spokes at once. This spoke must be in the right place or the valve hole will be in the wrong place, and the drilling of the rim may not match the angles of the spokes. If the tension of two laced spokes is very different, you will hear a dull thud. When tightening every spoke on an already tightened wheel, never do more than 14 turn each without thoroughly retesting the tension. All our custom wheels are hand built in the usa by experts with over 50 years of experience using the very best parts at the best price. Its a skill all bike tourists should probably should learn, but few of us do. The driveside is consistently tensioned at 394 ftlb 179kg.
Wire wheels, wirespoked wheels, tension spoked wheels, or suspension wheels are wheels whose rims connect to their hubs by wire spokes. There are very few things we use every day that can handle so much stress yet weigh so little. The rest of the wheel remains approximately circular. Rogers method is the best out there from all the various methods that can be found on the web and books and the book is a charm to read and understand.
On rear wheels the tension will be higher on the right side, or drive side of the wheel. If a spoke does break, the wheel generally becomes instantly unridable. I am going to build my first set of wheels for my 29er, and am torn on whether i need to buy a tensionmeter. When a tire is mounted roundness is impossible to see and therefore its easy to disregard it. A rear wheel is dished to make room for the cassette. The one thing i did notice during the process is that the spokes become tensioned very quickly. This instructable describes the basic concept of how to build a 36 spoke bike wheel. Asymmetric wheelbuild question results 1 to 34 of 34 thread. In most cases, if we are going to do a service that is more than just a basic oil change and filter cleaning it. I bought a copy of jobst brandts the bicycle wheel when it was first published in 81 and got roger mussons professional guide to wheel building e book a couple of years ago. No mention of using washers at the spoke head when needed, one important item covered in schraners book.
The art of wheel building is to set the spoke tension as close as possible to the given maximum while keeping the deviation of the tensions between them as low as possible. How to rebuild and true spoke wheels purpose built moto. This is by design in an effort to simplify the process for the first time bu. Instead, we take our bikes to the shop when the wheels wear out and watch the mechanics spin rims and twist spokes. The second half of the book deals with of course, the wheel building. Super awesome builders will measure spoke tension precisely and can even analyse the tension data. If you can get your hands on a trueing stand, this guide will give you the info you need to relace and true your old wheels. This is especially handy when lacing hubs into smaller wheel sizes where crossing would result in an excessive spoke angle. As soon as the lateral truing gets reasonably good within a couple of millimeters start checking the dishing. On a standard front wheel all spokes both left and right should in theory make the same musical note when plucked. This type of wheel requires unusually high spoke tension, since the load is carried by fewer spokes. Park tool nd1 spoke nipple driver bicycle wheel building tool save time new usa 4. A few core principles of wheel building inbound and outbound spokes.
To build a bicycle wheel with traditional spokes and nipples. Of course on any conventional wheel, the spokes on a load bearing bicycle wheel are all in tension but differ in the amount of tension around the wheel. Fine truing tightening and gross truing is a wheel building activity. As long as a spoke has some tension the wheel will be as stiff as if it were in high tension.
Most riders will judge the quality of a wheel by how round and true it is, however, a wheelbuilder s primary concern is spoke tension. Relative tension is the tension of a spoke in comparison to the tension of one or more other spokes. It converts spoke tension measurements from a park spoke tension meter into kilograms force kgf and checks for tensions that are outside specified limits in absolute tension and variance in tension between spokes. Feb 10, 2007 i bought the art of wheelbuilding on a whim to complete my wheel building library. Experienced wheel builders will see certain steps omitted.
Note that i could not get a rear wheel drive side spoke tension as high without using the double internal washers. The book is written by brandt a ferrari engineer in his day in a wonderfully unassuming manner as a person who has clearly built a few bicycles in his day and is. Tension meters arent superexpensive, and last forever. When the wheel deviates radially less than 116 inch and side to side less than 14 inch, youre ready for fine truing. As the spokes cross over each other, it could just as easily be called weaving. Wheelbuildingthe art of a bench reference for neophytes, pros and wheelaholics. The professional guide to wheel building by roger musson. The key spoke will be a trailing spoke, freewheel side. On a radiallyspoked wheel or one whose spokes are not laced, you can pluck one spoke at a time. We offer wheelbuilding lore, tools, advice, news, and encouragement for novices and experts alike. Bicycle bike repair building wheels wheelbuilding truing. Get a cup of good coffee, sit yourself in front of a truing stand, and meditate on making a perfect wheel figure 1. It takes a larger adjustment to affect the vertical truing than the horizontal truing.
The importance of even spoke tension to a wheel cannot be overestimated however there is no way to judge it without a reliable tension. The rear wheel drive side goes up to 165 17 for cx ray and 22 for laser. Ive had many years experience building wheels without a tensiometer and i also have lots of experience of using tensiometers. Im using the spokes as a tuning fork to try to get them all similar but im not absolutely sure what amount of tension is necessary having never done a wheel rebuild before. The loadcarrying capacity of the wheel is strictly limited by the tension of the leasttensioned spoke in this way, because the stability of the wheel may be lost when a spoke goes fully slack, as the rim is then left on its own to bear whatever residual a quantity of the applied force having been consumed by slacking the spoke s static.
Wheel building, a closer look at spoke tension from bikeraceinfo. For many riders, wheel building is likely the last thing they think of when a bike related project comes to mind. While its easy to believe a bicycle spoke would simply collapse under the weight of bike and rider, he goes on to explain that the tension created in a spoke during the wheel building process. Most riders will judge the quality of a wheel by how round and true it is, however, a wheelbuilders primary concern is spoke tension. As a wheel turns, the spokes are loaded and unloaded and it.
Its difficult to properly tension wheels built dry because the spoke nipples feel tight before they actually are. This stand could be the crown jewel of your wheelbuilding business. Its possible to build a perfect wheel by feelear, but a tension meter takes the guesswork out. The tension in the spokes varies as the wheel rotates and as it rolls over things. I bought the art of wheelbuilding on a whim to complete my wheel building library. Spoke tension is way off but wheel is true, how do i fix. The way i approach this is to equalize the tension by sound my ear is terrible so i use an app for the iphone called spoke tension meter. A wheel with spokes that are within plus or minus 20% of the wheels average spoke tension is generally considered to have acceptable relative tension.
Apr 21, 2016 and it turns out there are a lot of ways to arrange those spokes when building a wheel to cash in on different benefits. Great book with good explanations of the forces that make the bicycle wheel such a marvel of engineering. The hidden force that makes your wheel durable, provides precise steering, and gives you the ability to accelerate the art of wheel building is to set the spoke tension as close as possible to the given maximum while keeping the. Note that the nipples have allen heads at their ends, accessible only with the tire and tube removed, but some will have slots for conventional screwdrivers instead. If you want highest performance, it is generally best to have more spokes in the rear wheel than the front. The term suspension wheel should not be confused with vehicle suspension. Although these wires are generally stiffer than a typical wire rope, they function mechanically the same as tensioned flexible wires, keeping the rim true while supporting applied loads. Wheel building, a closer look at spoke tension from. The rounder the wheel the more equal the spoke tension and the more equal the spoke tension the less likely the wheel will come out of true. Next on the list of essentials is a spoke tension meter. Build your first bike wheel its easier than you think. The idea of building wheels popped in my head 2 years back and i started to acquire tools and all sort of information on how to build wheels.
Nov 11, 2015 i talk about how to properly tension the wheel that you just laced up and how to get it round, true, and dished while tensioning it. Instructions for building radial spoked wheels are not included in this book. That convoluted threedimensional puzzle with an alloy hub at the center of a spider web of steel, wrapped in a rubber donut, is not as intimidating as some think. Spoke tension is way off but wheel is true, how do i fix this. Building a wheel is not like setting up gears, whereby you know when it is wrong and with sufficient tinkering it will be perfect. I bought roger mussons book, and he advocates that you dont need one, but he recommends that you reference a good wheel build to determine proper tension. Rebuilding spoke wheels is one of the rights of passage in the custovation of an old bike. To increase the tension, turn all of the spokes around the entire wheel 14 counter clockwise and then measure again. One test i suggest you do is just to write down the tension of each spoke on your wheel. Therefore the goal in a wheel build is to prevent a spoke from loosening, in particular the nondrive spokes of the rear wheel. Nowhere else have i seen this explanation about the difference in spoke tension between the drive and nondrive side of a rear wheel.
I havent tried building a wheel yet but the process seems less intimidating after reading this book. Motorcycle wheel building john h glimmerveen licensed to although cast aluminum wheels on motorcycles have been around since the 1920s see sidecar history 1929 bohmerland, the wire spoke wheel was the primary source of wheel construction until the 80s, and can still be seen on many different types of motorcycles. I trued and dished a 700c road wheel nonaero it was 0. Illustrated with over 90 photographs and cad drawings. My new touring wheels are 120kgf driveside and 80kgf nondriveside.
The more even the tension, the stronger your wheel will be and the longer it will last. Wheels are prestressed structures they rely on tension in the spokes to keep them in shape. As a wheel turns, the spokes are loaded and unloaded and it is the repetition of this strain that takes its toll, especially at the head of the spoke. The wheelwright must ensure that the wheel is true in two ways. Wheel building philosophy and other info nox composites. Notice how the holes point only partway toward the spokes target on the rim. I use this spreadsheet in the last step of a wheel build. The components of a wire wheel are the rim, spokes, nipples, and hub.
Building to maximize stiffness do carbon wheels lack vertical compliance. The tension of all the spokes does not increase significantly. Tensioning a bicycle wheel to a working tension is done using a spoke driver. If you are only performing a tuneup on your wheels, rather than building them, you should be removing all existing tension by loosening the nipples on your spokes. A lot of factorybuilt wheels use some sort of spoke lock to cover up a poor build and keep the nipples from falling off. In this article i take a close look at spoke tension and the tensiometers from dtswiss, park tools and fsa. What tolerances should i use for spoke tension when building. If you can find a bike with the same spokes and lacing pattern use that as a guide. The back of the book is full of easy to follow equations explaining the various forces on a wheel as well as how to calculate spoke length.
Before using this book and for the correct crossing of spokes for both hub flanges of each individual wheel, please refer to the latest spoke length chart. We could see using spoke freeze on a problematic wheel that has been retensioned so many times that the spoke prepprolock compound has lost all of its effectiveness. Wheel fanatyk wheelbuilding lore, remarkable tools, and. The more you learn about wheel building, the more you learn that building a good wheel is a difficult series of compromises between the rim, the number of spokes, the type of spokes, the spoke lacing cross pattern, the spoke orientation and the spoke tension. When i started building wheels the subject of tensiometers never entered my thought. I build front wheels to kgf on a park tensiometer thats 15 for cx ray spokes and 20 for laser spokes. If i didnt own the other two books, i would probably regard this as a good wheel building guide, but in my opinion, the others are considerably better. Spoke tension for the amature and pro wheel builders.
With all your experience from building wired wheels. The single most important thing about tensioning a wheel is to get it as round as possible. Check spoke tension on a wheel which is reasonably true. Vertical truing should usually be done by tightening spokes, gradually building up the tension in the wheel as you go along. The nondrive side spokes will be at a lower tension and pitch than the cassette side. Ive been blessed with the ability to build wheels which stand. A look at the tools pro wheel builders use cyclingtips. Here we explain our logic for why we build wheels the way we do. Yes, i too am looking at the new kore rims, very enticing. What tolerances should i use for spoke tension when building a wheel.
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