Do I need 36 spokes?

Jack said:

I'm finding that many rims today have only 32 spokes, for example Ritchey doesn't show any 36
spoke road rims on their website. So I wonder if I really need 36.

I weigh 150, and do light touring with about 25 pounds of gear and water, so about 200 lbs me,
bike and gear.

Would a 32 spoke wheel be adequate for me?

Is it for a unicycle? ;-)

You need all the help you can get with modern dished wheels so 36 spokes make sense there for most
cyclists, IMO. However, 32 is often easily adequate for the front. Most rims and hubs good for
touring still have 36h options.

~PB

Jack-<< I'm finding that many rims today have only 32 spokes, for example Ritchey doesn't show any
36 spoke road rims on their website. So I wonder if I really need 36. >><BR><BR>

Depends on you. Ritchey does make 36 hole 'trekking' rims, BTW.

There is no real disadvantage to 36 vs 32 hole. 4 spokes weigh about 28 grams but make for a
stronger wheel.

Question is why not 36?? Particularly on a touring rig.

jack<< Would a 32 spoke wheel be adequate for me? >><BR><BR>

For a 200 pound package, i would never recommend it for you.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Jack said:

I'm finding that many rims today have only 32 spokes, for example Ritchey doesn't show any 36 spoke
road rims on their website. So I wonder if I really need 36.

I weigh 150, and do light touring with about 25 pounds of gear and water, so about 200 lbs me, bike
and gear.

Would a 32 spoke wheel be adequate for me?

Thanks.

Jack

My 10 year old road bike uses the 36H and was still breaking spokes. Although my weight is only 175
I frequently carry a backpack for shopping (two gallons of milk weigh 16 pounds). The sidewalk duty
can be pretty tough in Florida as well because of drainage gutters.

After respoking the rear wheel with butted spokes and not over tightening the new spokes things have
improved. Spoke stress also depends on rim strength since individual spokes can be put under more
stress when the rim is not stiff enough to spread out the shock. As a rule are 32 spoke rims stiffer
and heavier than 36?

On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 13:34:32 GMT, "Jack" <[email hidden]> may have

Quoted message said:

I'm finding that many rims today have only 32 spokes, for example Ritchey doesn't show any 36 spoke
road rims on their website. So I wonder if I really need 36.

I weigh 150, and do light touring with about 25 pounds of gear and water, so about 200 lbs me, bike
and gear.

Would a 32 spoke wheel be adequate for me?

Maybe, but a little shopping around can produce 36-spoke rims for touring bikes with no problem. I
see no good reason to go with fewer, and plenty of reason to stay with 36.

Are your old rims beyond usefulness? In my opinion, on a touring bike, there's seldom any reason to
scrap a seviceable old wheel since new tech seldom has a lot of added real value to offer in that
application. (Unless, of course, the old wheel has a steel rim and you've been experiencing problems
with brake ineffectiveness, in which case the change to an aluminum rim, particularly on the front,
is well worth the work and expense.)

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Yes, I have a killfile. If I don't respond to something,
it's also possible that I'm busy.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Jack said:

I'm finding that many rims today have only 32 spokes, for example Ritchey doesn't show any 36 spoke
road rims on their website. So I wonder if I really need 36.

While many rims today indeed have only 32 spoke holes, the Mavic T520 is a good touring rim and
comes in 36, 40, and 48 spoke variations.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net home.earthlink.net~jeverett3Open ↗

i weigh 210 and have 32's on road and mtb, including disk. have never broken a spoke. hand built.
fully tensioned to factory spec. ~5k road, ~2.5k mtb annually.

have had some issues with factory wheels, but not decent handbuilt ones.

Jack said:

I'm finding that many rims today have only 32 spokes, for example Ritchey doesn't show any 36
spoke road rims on their website. So I wonder if I really need 36.

I weigh 150, and do light touring with about 25 pounds of gear and water, so about 200 lbs me,
bike and gear.

Would a 32 spoke wheel be adequate for me?

Thanks.

Jack

Werehatrack <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Maybe, but a little shopping around can produce 36-spoke rims for touring bikes with no problem. I
: see no good reason to go with fewer, and plenty of reason to stay with 36.

the velocity deep-v rim is available in 36h. got 'em on my cyclocross/touring bike. the guy i bought
'em from (online) assumed i was, umm, chunky, tho.
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

"Jack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm finding that many rims today have only 32 spokes, for example Ritchey doesn't show any 36
spoke road rims on their website. So I wonder if I really need 36.

I weigh 150, and do light touring with about 25 pounds of gear and water, so about 200 lbs me,
bike and gear.

Would a 32 spoke wheel be adequate for me?

A good 32 spoke wheel would be adequate for you. It was adequate for me, and I weigh more than you
and your load combined. With that said, however, I prefer 36 spoke wheels for a number of reasons
and believe they are more durable. You have to decide whether you want a more durable 36 spoke wheel
or a more available 32 spoke wheel. It is sad that Ritchey does not offer the offset spoke hole rims
in 36 spokes. Offset spokes would be great on an 8/9/10sp dish touring wheel. -- Jay Beattie.

David Reuteler said:

Werehatrack <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Maybe, but a little shopping around can produce 36-spoke rims for touring bikes with no problem.
: I see no good reason to go with fewer, and plenty of reason to stay with 36.

the velocity deep-v rim is available in 36h. got 'em on my cyclocross/touring bike. the guy i
bought 'em from (online) assumed i was, umm, chunky, tho.

My spokes always broke on the freewheel side of the rear wheel during and shortly after hard
pedaling. This made me wonder if maybe hard pedaling increased spoke tension?

Certainly if someone in good shape is touring and pulling a trailer the tension on the spokes
increases even though rider weight may be low.

Quoted message said:

My spokes always broke on the freewheel side of the rear wheel during and shortly after hard
pedaling. This made me wonder if maybe hard pedaling increased spoke tension?

Certainly if someone in good shape is touring and pulling a trailer the tension on the spokes
increases even though rider weight may be low.

Spoke tension does increase with harder pedaling, but it isn't the tension that breaks spokes, it's
fatigue of the spoke metal. With good quality spokes and a proper building technique, spoke breakage
is very rare.

--
Ted Bennett Portland OR

Jack said:

I'm finding that many rims today have only 32 spokes, for example Ritchey doesn't show any 36
spoke road rims on their website. So I wonder if I really need 36.

I weigh 150, and do light touring with about 25 pounds of gear and water, so about 200 lbs me,
bike and gear.

Would a 32 spoke wheel be adequate for me?

Maybe.

But there are plenty of 36 which most assuredly would be adequate, given a good build.

If you like the Ritchey offset design, take a look at the Velocity Aerohead OC. We build a lot of
those in 36h.

tinyurl.com225zlOpen ↗

gee, tinyurl.com is too cool.
--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971

With a well built wheel, and tires appropriate for your use, 32 spokes is more than enough for the
rear wheel.

Bruce

"Jack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm finding that many rims today have only 32 spokes, for example Ritchey doesn't show any 36
spoke road rims on their website. So I wonder if I really need 36.

I weigh 150, and do light touring with about 25 pounds of gear and water, so about 200 lbs me,
bike and gear.

Would a 32 spoke wheel be adequate for me?

Thanks.

Jack

Jay-<< It is sad that Ritchey does not offer the offset spoke hole rims in 36 spokes >><BR><BR>

They do, my rep has them on order.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Andy-<< gee, tinyurl.com is too cool. >><BR><BR>

Please tell this computer idiot how this works.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

Andy-<< gee, tinyurl.com is too cool. >><BR><BR>

Please tell this computer idiot how this works.

1. Copy your long URL to the clipboard (easy way: highlight it* then press Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Insert).
* With MS Internet Explorer, press Ctrl+D. Alternatively, find appropraite menu options, etc.

2. Go to tinyurl.comtinyurl.comOpen ↗ and paste URL in box (press Ctrl+V or Shift+Insert)

3. Press Enter or click box. Tinurl then makes a new link that points to your URL and stores it in
its database.

4. The new URL will be automatically copied to the clipboard which you can then paste
where you like.

www.makeashorterlink.com provide a similar service.

~PB

On 08 Jan 2004 14:26:40 GMT, [email hidden] (Qui si parla

Campagnolo) said:

Andy-<< gee, tinyurl.com is too cool. >><BR><BR>

Please tell this computer idiot how this works.

Peter Chisholm

It is as simple as visiting <tinyurl.comtinyurl.comOpen ↗

Pete Biggs said:

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

Andy-<< gee, tinyurl.com is too cool. >><BR><BR>

Please tell this computer idiot how this works.

1. Copy your long URL to the clipboard (easy way: highlight it* then press Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Insert).
* With MS Internet Explorer, press Ctrl+D. Alternatively, find appropraite menu options, etc.

2. Go to tinyurl.comtinyurl.comOpen ↗ and paste URL in box (press Ctrl+V or Shift+Insert)

3. Press Enter or click box. Tinurl then makes a new link that points to your URL and stores it in
its database.

4. The new URL will be automatically copied to the clipboard which you can then paste where you
like.

www.makeashorterlink.com provide a similar service.

Install the TinyURL toolbar button and it's even easier. Just click on it from the page you're on
and the new TinyURL is already in your clipboard.

--
Scott Johnson "There is nothing, I think, more unfortunate than to have soft, chubby, fat-looking
children who go to watch their school play basketball every Saturday and regard that as their week's
exercise."
- John F. Kennedy, 1962

Quoted message said:

www.makeashorterlink.com provide a similar service.

also: snipurl.comindex.phpOpen ↗

Pete Biggs said:

1. Copy your long URL to the clipboard (easy way: highlight it* then press Ctrl+C or
Ctrl+Insert).
* With MS Internet Explorer, press Ctrl+D. Alternatively, find appropraite menu options,
etc....

On most browsers, copy and paste commands may be accessed with a right click of the mouse.

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities