Spokes

Yep.

Radial drive side off road is dumb

the problem is that i need 3 different lengths of spokes

32 for the front wheel, 16 for drive side and 16 for the nondrive side

small furry, would you reckon i could get away with 3 cross both sides for the chris king iso rear hub? though this is a fully geared hub.

3 boxes of spokes would double my spoke costs, but give me spares for life!

Thanks n3lson, round my way lbs stands for loadabloodyshite.

That's a bit of a problem Dj.

small furry, would you reckon i could get away with 3 cross both sides for the chris king iso rear hub? though this is a fully geared hub.

This would be my first chioce TBH.

If you think about nailing it down a hill, slamming on the anchors, then stamping on the pedals to get up the otherside. You can imagine what is going to happen to the tension in those radial spokes.

I have nearly 40 super comps (black) in the workroom, 290's I think. I'd be happy to send you some if they're the right length.

that is a generous offer, the dt swiss spoke calc appears to suggest that is all i need spoke length wise if doing 3 cross on both wheels

Sounds like you might as well get a box. Let me know if you change your plans, and find yourself needing spokes for a side.

James, have you ordered the hubs and rims yet?

For you I would seriously consider going 36 on the rear.
You're a nightmare on a bike (All offence intended), due to your total lack of skill and finesse the 36 will just last longer.

Failing that buy a box of spokes for each side of the rear. You'll need them.

Hubs ordered - 32 hole Chris King as found them cheap on ebay last night.

I'll be going for the stans "flow" rim as its their biggest strongest rim

Luckily it looks like one box of spokes will do me fine, and will leave a few spares, am planning on the super comps as designed for disc brakes/mtb use.

Would anyone mind sanity checking my figures for my first wheel build? I'm a bit apprehensive about ordering spokes without a second opinion :)

So, I've got a 32h Planet-X Pista track hub (fixed/fixed) which I'm building onto a 32h Velocity B43 rim in a 3x lacing.

Measuring the hub gives me the following:

Flange diameter: 61.46mm
Spoke hole diameter: 2.6mm
Left Width: 30.77mm
Right Width: 30.77mm

Rim ERD is possibly confusing. I've seen two figures for this, but I'm going with the one off the Velocity website which is 555mm.

Using Wheelpro and Edd I get a spoke length of 267.6mm. So I guess 268mm spokes should do the trick? My worry is how much leeway you have with the length of the spokes. I'm guessing having them a few mm longer isn't too much of a problem (especially considering it's a deep section rim).

Also, what about spoke washers? Are they generally not needed?

If your spokes are too long they will pass out the other end of the threading. Leaving possibly too little engaged. Spoke washers are usually used with narrow flanges or spokes with long elbows. To stop the spokes elbows moving around in the hub drilling. You wont need them, unless you are using uber lightweight spokes.

As for length 2mm either way is usually OK. I like to round down.

ED: I get 267.7. So 268mm seems best. I would'nt hesitate to use 266mm spokes if thats what I had though.

0.4MM/268mm = 0.15% = probably way less than the manufacturers tolerance for cutting the spoke to length.

Spoke head washers only needed if the head of your spoke is rattling around with play against the hub flange. They should be a snug fit to each other.

I like this kind of thread, seemingly sensible questions and detailed answers.

Thanks to all for their contributions

I'm using some nipple washers on my next build. If I can get them back off my 4 year old, who reckons they're 'toy-sized' and therefore his.

My bling rims havent left china yet. Poo.

Thanks for the reassurances :) Going to order spokes today I think. Hopefully got next week off so will have a stab at this (I know, I don't need a whole week, I have other stuff planned as well ;)

Thanks for the reassurances :) Going to order spokes today I think. Hopefully got next week off so will have a stab at this (I know, I don't need a whole week, I have other stuff planned as well ;)

Just take your time, keep checking things, and you'll be fine. I dont like to build a wheel in one sitting. If I put it away till the next night, I'm more likely to notice issues, and tru more precisely.

spoke tensiometer ftw

Typically, Cyclebasket are on holiday till the 20th. They were the cheapest place I could find (after recommendation from another thread here) at £0.20 each.

So. Ehren's calculator gives me the following result for my rear wheel:

Hub
Halo Spin Doctor Pro Rear 36H
Right flange ø: 58
Left flange ø: 58
Centre to right flange: 19
Centre to left flange: 35
Spoke hole ø: 2.4
Rim
NoTubes ZTR Flow 29er
Effective rim ø: 600
Offset spoke bed: 0
Spoke length
for 36 spokes
Crosses Right Left Tension L/R
0 270.5 272.1 54%
1 272.4 274 54%
2 277.9 279.4 54%
3 286 287.5 54%
4 295.8 297.2 54%

And for the front:

Hub
Halo Spin Doctor Front 32H
Right flange ø: 58
Left flange ø: 58
Centre to right flange: 35
Centre to left flange: 22
Spoke hole ø: 2.4
Rim
NoTubes ZTR Flow 29er
Effective rim ø: 600
Offset spoke bed: 0
Spoke length
for 32 spokes
Crosses Right Left Tension L/R
0 272.1 270.7 160%
1 274.5 273.1 160%
2 281.2 279.9 160%
3 291 289.8 160%
4 302.2 301 160%

Four different but very close lengths or all 287mm on the rear and 290 on the front?

286mm rear

Forgot to mention I am using the 3-cross figures for both wheels.

Yeah? Roundable-down? They're all within the 2mm Smallfurry mentioned earlier.

spoke tensiometer ftw

+1

In hindsight I'd actually put this over a truing stand. On the last set I built I used Arups tip of getting the tensions roughly equal from the off and it made the whole process so much better.

Altho i'm sure I paid less than £40 (altho I prolly didn't after customs).

I have the same bad boy. The digital ones are silly money, but probably worth it. On rim brakes it makes a huge difference to braking as there is much less inconsistent rim deflection from the pads, so bikes brake much better. There are of course the obvious advantages in terms of more even spoke tension, distribution of tension round the rim etc etc.

Hmn, will need to try and get hold of one, or borrow one...

Yeah? Roundable-down? They're all within the 2mm Smallfurry mentioned earlier.

290mm front, 286mm rear. You could also go 288mm rear and left hand side of front.

so 290 x 32 + 286 x 32 or 290 x 16 + 288 x 48

The later being cheaper if I post you 17 x 290mm spokes. I'll need to check what I have (want to save myself some spares of course).