Spoke Questions

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

Quoted message said:

Hello, I've built myself a set of tandem wheels (26" Bontrager Clyde Rims 36h,

14g DT

Quoted message said:

spokes and Phil Wood tandem hubs). I have two concerns.

1) The spoke tension seems quite high. There is a little flex left in the spokes but feels much
tighter than any wheel I've ever built before. Is

there

Quoted message said:

an easy way to test it?

The only way the spoke would be too tight would be if there was too much windup when trying to
tighten the spoke, you're rounding off the nipple or if the wheel tacos from over-tension. It
doesn't sound like you have any of these conditions so you're probably fine. You won't break spokes
from too much tension. Remember to properly stress-relieve the wheels and you should be good to go.

Quoted message said:

2) How short is too short when it comes to spoke length? I'm assuming

that

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perfect length the spoke would be long enough to reach the bottom of the screwdriver slot in
the nipple.

Actually, pefect for me is exactly flush with the high point of the nipple, or the top, not the
bottom, of the slot. However, bottom is pretty good as well. How short is too short?? Well, I've
built wheels with threads showing below DT nipples, but I haven't felt good about it. The wheels
didn't have any problems, but that doesn't mean you won't have any. Maybe the guy I built them for
was lighter, softer on his wheels, low mileage etc. In the immortal words of my mentor, if a job's
worth doing, it's worth doing right. So if you're not somewhere between the bottom and top of the
nipple slot, think about replacing them.

Quoted message said:

Thanks in advance! Maurice Miller

Good luck,

Scott..

S. Anderson said:

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

Quoted message said:

Hello, I've built myself a set of tandem wheels (26" Bontrager Clyde Rims 36h,

14g DT

Quoted message said:

spokes and Phil Wood tandem hubs). I have two concerns.

1) The spoke tension seems quite high. There is a little flex left in the spokes but feels much
tighter than any wheel I've ever built before. Is

there

Quoted message said:

an easy way to test it?

The only way the spoke would be too tight would be if there was too much windup when trying to
tighten the spoke, you're rounding off the nipple or if the wheel tacos from over-tension. It
doesn't sound like you have any of these conditions so you're probably fine. You won't break
spokes from too much tension. Remember to properly stress-relieve the wheels and you should be
good to go.

You can get them so tight that they pull out of the rim or the rim stress cracks around the holes
(the last is typically a Mavic problem). If you don't have access to a tensiometer I'd go to
Sheldon's page and in the wheel building section there's a link to a page that gives the musical
note that's approximately the pitch that the spoke should give when plucked -- it'll let you know if
you're in the ballpark. But, on the good side, if you're basing your concern on machine built wheels
-- they're almost always undertensioned. Another thing that you could do is if you LBS has someone
who builds a lot of wheels, they'll usually be happy to give you an opinion 🙂.

David

bikecameo-<< I've built myself a set of tandem wheels (26" Bontrager Clyde Rims 36h, 14g DT spokes
and Phil Wood tandem hubs). I have two concerns.

1) The spoke tension seems quite high. There is a little flex left in the spokes but feels much
tighter than any wheel I've ever built before. Is there an easy way to test it? >><BR><BR>

'Easiest' is to take it to a bike shop and have them check with a tensionometer...

<< 2) How short is too short when it comes to spoke length? I'm assuming that perfect length the
spoke would be long enough to reach the bottom of the screwdriver slot in the nipple. >><BR><BR>

All the threads of the spoke should be engeged by the threads of the nipple...

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(2)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

S. Anderson said:

The only way the spoke would be too tight would be if there was too much windup when trying to
tighten the spoke, you're rounding off the nipple or if the wheel tacos from over-tension.

Depending on your definition of "too much windup", you *can* get a spoke too tight. I ran into this
recently when I was trying to retrue a wheel after replacing a couple of spokes. At one point,
further tightening of the drive side spoke resulted in the rim moving the *opposite* direction.
This elicited the classic "huh?" response, then I realiized that I must have exceeded the spokes'
maximum tension and they were beginning to elongate. Probably not much further and they would have
popped. I backed off and since I'd bought a bag of spokes anyway, re-spoked the entire drive side
and started over. As stated in The Bicycle Wheel, the post stress-relief taco warning only applies
to rims up to a certain strength. Heavier/stronger rims can be tensioned past the spoke's limit. I
was working on a T-520.

(Bike Camano) said:

Hello, I've built myself a set of tandem wheels (26" Bontrager Clyde Rims 36h, 14g DT spokes and
Phil Wood tandem hubs). I have two concerns.

1) The spoke tension seems quite high. There is a little flex left in the spokes but feels much
tighter than any wheel I've ever built before. Is there an easy way to test it?

Yes, by sound. See Sheldon's wheelbuilding pages.

This method has a few drawbacks, mostly that a spoke, especially in a crossed pattern, does not
resonate very clearly. But the pitch is dependant only on tension.

An instrument known as a tensiometer is better, but spendy for the occasional wheelbuilder.

Quoted message said:

2) How short is too short when it comes to spoke length? I'm assuming that perfect length the
spoke would be long enough to reach the bottom of the screwdriver slot in the nipple.

You assume correctly.

--
Ted Bennett Portland OR

Thanks to all who replied!

I rebuilt the wheel with longer (now perfect length) spokes and the tension (unscientific feel
method) feels more in line with the other trouble free wheels I've built in the past.

Hopefully I didn't do any damage to the hub or rim with the original build. It was never ridden
Thanks again!

Maurice Miller