"Dieter Britz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:I have an old Torpedo back hub, probably about 30-40 years old,
the good kind that are indestructable (well, almost). It works
well but it has one problem: it eats spokes. I crack one about
once a fortnight. I have had such a hub before, and I wonder what
does this? With the last spoke, the head broke off, leaving the
elbow intact, whereas the one before it broke off at the elbow.
What does this, and is there anything I can do about it?
--
Dieter Britz, Kemisk Institut, Aarhus Universitet, Danmark.
Steel hubs (I assume this is steel; I've never seen a Torpedo aluminium hub)
can be hard on spokes.
The flanges is often thinner that aluminium hubs, and so the usual length of
the spoke's elbowed section is not right; and the edge of the spoke hole
where the spoke bears is harder, and not always chamfered - these two lead
to nicks (and subsequent breakage) at the elbow.
Place a spoke through the flange so that the head is flush, and check how
much of the elbowed portion is exposed. If it's more than a millimeter, the
flange is to thin. If you cannot get the right spokes, an expedient
solution is to put small washers under the spoke heads. Brass would be a
good choice for these.
If the spokes have the correct length of elbowed section, check that the
spoke holes are chamfered; if they are not, careful use of a dremel tool
with a pointed grinding stone is the answer. You could use a proper
countersink or centre-drill, but it may well not last for 36 holes.
