Anyone versed in wheel theory know what's up with this? All I know is that dans comp used to offer it as an option way back in the day, but also touted it as strengthening the wheel. Another similar theory is the whole tied spoke thing, and it looks a bit less whack.
I only did that back in the day when I had used spokes that were too long for a wheel I was building + I was bored. The result was a very stiff wheel, and I always wondered how much it would take before one blew up.
A good friend and great wheelbuilder-turned-barman who goes by twistyactionusa who swears by this, and built me and many others wheels in this fashion bitd. I have no data about wheel stiffness, but they look cool, and the durability concern was never a concern. I put thousands of miles on twisty mtb and fixey wheels (disclaimer: i was an early adopter) on spokes as thin as 17g low spoke count twisties and **** was good. its definitely harder to build correct wheels though, tensiometers don't work, nor does your normal "finger squeeze" feelometer, so its easy to build them poorly, and i've heard plenty of stories that didn't turn out as well as mine.
there are issues with spoke angles on 26" wheels if anyone is still riding that wheel size, with nipple seats being made for not that kind of thing, so you are out on your own to figure if your combo is appropriate.
For those in future centuries using this thread for academic research, add 2mm to a conventional spoke length a calculation, do a double twist so all spokes go to their "natural hole" (heh heh), and do a 2X for less than 700c.
Allow 4-6 hours for the build, with twice as many beers.
Or you could just get high flange hubs like chub and e13 offerings (disclaimer: associated with both brands, and the reason they were developed were to make wheels stiffer without having to resort to twistyaction). my last year of ME was spent on it, if anyone cares i'll bore you to fcuking tears with the analysis and experiments.
is ridemonkey christian? why are all ***** censored, while my mom can see my curses on facebook?
. . . for those in future centuries using this thread for academic research, they will look at their one-piece unimaginablefiber mags and chuckle at how quaint we were still running spokes.
I have wired and epoxied spokes on my powered velodrome race bike. Means the spoke nipples dont come loose with the vibration of the engine.
Makes for a sweet stiff wheel too.
I tried them all (methods) back in my world cup tech days, never found twisting or soldering to be any more durable than a standard build. The method of lacing, building, truing, tensioning is far more important. 29 World Championships, World Cup championships, National Championships were won on my wheels, I think 2 were on a twisted or soldered wheel, that took 3x as long.
Back when I was doing runs in NYC in the late 80's, tied spokes was 'neato'; same feedback then as now -- more trouble than its worth for pretty much zero benefit.
Aiming for style? Hop to it! Looking for performance? dont bother.
Local guy and fellow wheelbuilder Merlyn does this quite frequently. While I havent sent anything to the lab, he claims that it helps equalize the tension.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.