Relatively new to wheelbuilding/truing/fettling
I've decided to learn to true and possibly rebuild a wheel.
I have noticed that some spokes on this wheel go under another and some go over another spoke. Should the pattern be uniform or have the spokes been laced incorrectly from stock? I'd like to know as could this throw out truing slightly, or even significantly? 32 spoke front wheel - the J bend spokes are uniformly threaded outward - inward - outward - inward on the hub correctly, yet if I go around all the spokes, one by one some cross under and some cross over. What I'm trying to say is should all outward threaded spokes cross over or under and all inward threaded spokes cross over or under or vice versa, or doesn't it matter? TIA I'd rather rebuild the wheel correctly if it's not right. |
On each side-
Trailing spokes should all be the same. Leading......."" On a 3X, first 2 go over and the last 1 goes under. |
Every conventionally laced wheel is built with a multiple, repeating pattern of 4 spokes. 2 crossing on one flange, and a similar pair on the other one spoke hole away in the rim.
The 4 spoke motif is repeated a number of times depending on the number of holes, ie 8x for a 32h wheel. Everything should be uniform and repeat identically, usually with the spokes woven over/under at the last cross. If your wheel has most, but not all, spokes woven over/under at the last cross, the non woven ones may have been replacements done by a sloppy mechanic. In any case a whee is a model of repetition and uniformity, so either switch a few spokes if that'll solve the issue, or relace completely. |
Originally Posted by Bill Kapaun
(Post 17915439)
On each side-
Trailing spokes should all be the same. Leading......."" On a 3X, first 2 go over and the last 1 goes under. |
Originally Posted by FBinNY
(Post 17915467)
Every conventionally laced wheel is built with a multiple, repeating pattern of 4 spokes. 2 crossing on one flange, and a similar pair on the other one spoke hole away in the rim.
The 4 spoke motif is repeated a number of times depending on the number of holes, ie 8x for a 32h wheel. Everything should be uniform and repeat identically, usually with the spokes woven over/under at the last cross. If your wheel has most, but not all, spokes woven over/under at the last cross, the non woven ones may have been replacements done by a sloppy mechanic. In any case a whee is a model of repetition and uniformity, so either switch a few spokes if that'll solve the issue, or relace completely. Thanks for the info :thumb: |
Originally Posted by Bill Kapaun
(Post 17915439)
On each side-
Trailing spokes should all be the same. Lots of wheels have been built with the left and right hub flanges the same rather than a mirror image of one another. I suspect that made it easier to insert the spokes into the flanges. |
Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
(Post 17915639)
While that's the way that I build them, I don't think that statement is necessarily true.
Lots of wheels have been built with the left and right hub flanges the same rather than a mirror image of one another. I suspect that made it easier to insert the spokes into the flanges. |
Originally Posted by Bill Kapaun
(Post 17915676)
EXACTLY, what was wrong with my statement?
|
Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
(Post 17915684)
Because the wheel was laced as intended.
|
Think about the person who laced the wheel. They did it the way that their boss told them to lace the wheel so they did it right.
|
Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
(Post 17915639)
Lots of wheels have been built with the left and right hub flanges the same rather than a mirror image of one another. I suspect that made it easier to insert the spokes into the flanges. There ar two ways to do this - lace the upper flange first, then flip the wheel and lace the other -- or -- lace the lower flange, then the upper. The second saves the time to flip the wheel and is faster by that amount, but it' hard to teach hands to work in the opposite (mirrored) direction, so both flanges are the same. To give you a sense of how important the few seconds to flip the wheel are, a decent worker can lace about 60 wheels per hour, so losing 6 seconds to flip the wheel is a lost 10% of production capacity. |
Originally Posted by fbinny
(Post 17915749)
a decent worker can lace about 60 wheels per hour,
I assume you're saying insert the spokes that come up from the bottom first, then insert the spokes that go down from the top. |
Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
(Post 17915778)
60 wheels per hour!!!
I assume you're saying insert the spokes that come up from the bottom first, then insert the spokes that go down from the top. When all is said and done, a production department like what Giant would have can turn out wheels in about 3-5 man minutes each depending on the final quality desired. That compares to high quality hand built wheels, which take a skilled builder about 30 minutes or so start to finish when done in small production batches. |
Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
(Post 17915778)
60 wheels per hour!!!
I assume you're saying insert the spokes that come up from the bottom first, then insert the spokes that go down from the top. |
Originally Posted by SquidPuppet
(Post 17915841)
Something tells me that even if I had the best tools in the world, I couldn't connect 2,160 nipples to 2,160 spokes in an hour.
|
Curious use of an old germanic-english word that is not used in the US, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fettle
BTW there are Machines that Build wheels those are what will be on a New bike from a Factory (all well known Brands ) |
Originally Posted by FBinNY
(Post 17915861)
Then you'd starve to death doing piecework in a wheel production facility. Most wheel building facilities pay either straight piecework, or salary with production quotas and bonuses for beating the quota. Any worker or team not consistently beating the quota and earning bonuses usually doesn't last.
My (low) level of manual dexterity would for sure have me on food stamps. |
Originally Posted by FBinNY
(Post 17915861)
Then you'd starve to death doing piecework in a wheel production facility. Most wheel building facilities pay either straight piecework, or salary with production quotas and bonuses for beating the quota. Any worker or team not consistently beating the quota and earning bonuses usually doesn't last.
John |
Originally Posted by 70sSanO
(Post 17916226)
Just wondering... just how much a decent paced worker would actually make?
John Years ago, a friend ran a wheel production business in this area, and had an all women crew. They seemed satisfied because they all had friends and relatives looking for jobs whenever he had an opening. The women would lace wheels for about a 6 hour day, getting home in time to meet their children coming from school, then take hubs and spokes home to preload them at their leisure. As factory work goes it's not bad, but it's still factory work. |
Originally Posted by fietsbob
(Post 17915877)
Curious use of an old germanic-english word that is not used in the US, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fettle
|
Just an addition to my OP.
How do I measure spokes and how does this relate to spoke gauge? For instance: 1.8mm = 14g and 2.0mm =13g or whatever. Secondly, I need to replace some spoke nipples. If I find the spoke gauge how does spoke nipple size relate? |
Originally Posted by migrantwing
(Post 17920437)
How do I measure spokes and how does this relate to spoke gauge? For instance: 1.8mm = 14g and 2.0mm =13g or whatever. Secondly, I need to replace some spoke nipples. If I find the spoke gauge how does spoke nipple size relate?
Someone correct me if I've got this wrong though. |
Originally Posted by Chesterton
(Post 17920918)
My understanding is that you need to match the spoke and nipple gauges, but that doesn't necessarily tell you which spoke wrench to use. So a 14 gauge and 15 gauge nipple may both have the same outer width and use the same wrench. Use the smallest wrench that will fit.
Someone correct me if I've got this wrong though. My question is for compatibility i.e. if you have a nut and a bolt, you need a certain size nut to fit that specific size bolt, so, what spoke nipples fit what size spokes and how do I go about a) measuring a spoke to know what size or gauge it is and b) what corresponding nipple will fit that spoke. I need to replace some spoke nipples but need to know what spokes they are to get replacements. |
Discounting vintage and now rare sizes, and the uncommon heavier spokes, spokes come in only 2 sizes as far as thread is concerned. 14g (0.80", 2mm) and 15g (0.72", 1.8mm). Both are threaded 56tpi. Likewise nipples only come in those two thread sizes. So it's no big deal to identify spokes by the diameter of the wire just beyond the thread, and to identify nipples using a 2mm spoke a a go/nogo gauge.
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
(Post 17921508)
Discounting vintage and now rare sizes, and the uncommon heavier spokes, spokes come in only 2 sizes as far as thread is concerned. 14g (0.80", 2mm) and 15g (0.72", 1.8mm). Both are threaded 56tpi. Likewise nipples only come in those two thread sizes. So it's no big deal to identify spokes by the diameter of the wire just beyond the thread, and to identify nipples using a 2mm spoke a a go/nogo gauge.
BTW, you're either up very late or very early. I'm 5 hours ahead of you on GMT. |
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