Replacing spokes + bending them

Jules said:

I'm trying my first DIY spoke replacement, and it seems entirely
impossible to lace the spoke correctly without bending it at least 20-30
degrees on the way in.

A little bit of bending is common. There should be no permanent
deformation. You're about to pull any little bends out of it anyway.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
There's no point in being grown up if you can't be
childish sometimes.-- Dr. Who

Dave Hughes said:

Jules said:

I'm trying my first DIY spoke replacement, and it seems entirely
impossible to lace the spoke correctly without bending it at least 20-30
degrees on the way in.

A little bit of bending is common. There should be no permanent
deformation. You're about to pull any little bends out of it anyway.

Agree 100%. With my first broken spoke I agonised over how to get it in
without any bending. Now I just brutally deform the replacement spoke to
make it easier to get in. Quite likely it is not the 'done' way in theory
because of adding stresses, but as Dave said, by the time you've tensioned
it, the spoke comes out fine. I've never had a replacement spoke break,
either. {said as he touches the nearest lump of wood}

Cheers,

Vince

'Off soon, so I Wish you all a Merry Xmas and lots of shiny bike gear in the
stocking!'

Vincent Patrick said:

Quoted message said:

A little bit of bending is common. There should be no permanent
deformation. You're about to pull any little bends out of it anyway.Agree 100%. With my first broken spoke I agonised over how to get it in

without any bending. Now I just brutally deform the replacement spoke to
make it easier to get in. Quite likely it is not the 'done' way in theory
because of adding stresses, but as Dave said, by the time you've tensioned
it, the spoke comes out fine. I've never had a replacement spoke break,
either. {said as he touches the nearest lump of wood}

A bit of cold working usually makes metal stronger and harder, but more
brittle and therefore less resistant to metal fatigue.

However, spokes nearly always fail at the elbow, which has had much
more brutal cold working than the bending you give the rest of it
during replacement, so I doubt bending it during installation would
make much practical difference to spoke life.

Travis

Dave Hughes said:

A little bit of bending is common. There should be no
permanent deformation. You're about to pull any little bends
out of it anyway.

I'll add my agreement too. I often bend a spoke through 90º or
so in order to fit it easily, but I try to make the bend
gradual - no sharp kinks.

John

Jules said:

I'm trying my first DIY spoke replacement, and it seems entirely
impossible to lace the spoke correctly without bending it at least 20-30
degrees on the way in.

I'm assuming it's a spoke you're inserting in towards the center of the hub?

If so, just undo (but don't remove completely) one of the spokes opposite, so that you can get it past.

It's one of those things that's difficult to describe, but incredibly easy to do.

Regards,

Suzy

Jules said:

Any tips appreciated ;-)

You have to work out how the spokes weave together. then weave it in by
curving from the other end. The curve is over the length of the spoke so
no problems.

suzyj said:

I'm assuming it's a spoke you're inserting in towards the center of the hub?

If so, just undo (but don't remove completely) one of the spokes opposite, so that you can get it past.

It's one of those things that's difficult to describe, but incredibly easy to do.

Regards,

Suzy

Never had to do loosen or remove other spokes, just bend the spoke over its length as others have suggested. One mistake I've made is to scratch the rim with the end of the spoke while pushing it through before putting it into the nipple. A bit more bending prevents that.

Edit: actually I do remember having to loosen another spoke on a wheel which must have been 4 cross as the 2 spokes overlayed each other near their heads.

On 2006-12-19, Dave Hughes (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Jules said:

I'm trying my first DIY spoke replacement, and it seems entirely
impossible to lace the spoke correctly without bending it at least 20-30
degrees on the way in.

A little bit of bending is common. There should be no permanent
deformation. You're about to pull any little bends out of it anyway.

Why, having read a few sources on wheel truing, and even possibly the
occasional spoke replacing page, have I never read the bit about
having to bend spokes to get them in?

I came to my first spoke replacement and sat there for 20 minutes
trying to work out how it was possible to get a spoke in once the
wheel was nearly fully laced. I came to the conclusion it must be
impossible (unless it's like those silly topological puzzle toys which
I could never get either), and that the tensioning at the final moment
would get most of the bends out anyway (I had to do it relatively
severely because of an obstacle in the form of a crossed spoke on the
opposite side of the hub). But I have never come across that
explanation until now.

Mind you, my boss didn't explain to me that you had to open the mirror
cover on the 4th mirror when you use a coudé based instrument on the
telescope either (I didn't know there was a cover down there!),
costing us an hour on my first night of a new instrument.

--
TimC
"The application failed to fail"

TimC said:

Why, having read a few sources on wheel truing, and even possibly the
occasional spoke replacing page, have I never read the bit about
having to bend spokes to get them in?

<old fart>
That's the difference between book learnin' and real learnin' sonny!
</old fart>

I guess it's one of those things that's reasonably obvious if you've done
a fair bit of mechanical type stuff. A gentle bend across the spoke will
let it slide past everything else and won't do it any harm. It's also one
of those things you just do, without thinking about it, so it doesn't get
recorded in the Dummies' guide.

On the other hand I don't think I've seen too many books record the quick
way to get [censored] spokes out to reclaim a decent hub and/or rim - wire
cutters.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
"I've found that nurturing one's Zen nature is vital to dealing with
technology. Violence is pretty damn useful too" - Lionel Lauer