[Note: this is #19 of a series of 20]

We’ve covered how tension contributes to the structure. I’ve showed a few ways to measure it. We’ve also discussed the importance of even tension on each side of the wheel.

But how tight is right? In other words, what is optimal tension?

About Tension Levels
(1) There is no one correct tension for all wheels. Resist generalities, like “tighter is  better.” No more true of spoke tension than of tire pressure. Situations vary widely.

(2)  Even with low spoke tension, wire  wheels can efficiently support very large loads with minimal flex. Damon Rinard’s famous stiffness test should have put misconceptions to rest. But they’re out there like zombies (… ideas that should have died long ago in the face of evidence or logic, but just keep shambling forward, eating peoples’ brains).

Having tested spoke wire for years and made and sold millions of spokes, I will confirm the single greatest defensible argument for higher spoke tension is its contribution to spoke fatigue life by minimizing moments of zero tension during load cycles.

Don’t crank that tension too high!

Read more →

Before we’re deeper into 2014, you deserve to read a short ode to cycling by Simon Willis (edited by Emma Duncan).

Tilting for Stability
Here is a  design by Denmark’s  Butchers + Bicycles that sure grabs me. There have been many leaning 3-wheelers but B + B’s timing and execution are spot on.

© Butchers + Bicycles

See the trick? A vehicle that leans shares the fabulous stability and thrill of bicycles. This machine can be equipped with electric assist. Read more →

In April I bragged about an amazing tool discovered at an Oregon metal scrap yard. By June, the tool was disassembled and restoration underway. Six months later, it is back together and ready to show off.

Mounted to weathered maple, much as 100 years ago.

You can see a manually powered drill at the right. You can’t see the mechanism to advance towards a rim. A pair of handles on the other side are squeezed together by your right hand as you turn the drill bit with your left. The rim is held on a very crafty fixture that grips with four arms that are gear-driven outward, fixing the rim in place.

Intricate iron casting in the drill. Minimalist design, as if a bicycle. Artistic, yet light.

Another view of the drill. Hard for me to take eyes off it or stop wondering how much effort and passion went into its creation.

Handsome from any angle.

One of its cleverest features is an auto-indexing system for hole count: 24, 28, 32, 36, or 40 hole. A spring loaded lever is moved to the appropriate slot so its other end will index the correct circumferential set of stops.

Hole number selector. Notice clever Ric-made spring (from a 14g spoke volunteer).

Time to demonstrate the function. There’s no way to appreciate this system except to watch it used. Here, I do my best!

A close look at the rim support.

Elegance and function. Like a musical instrument or bicycle!

I’m serious about learning more about this machine, the designer and foundry in Keene, New Hampshire where it was made, how many were produced, for how long, how much did it cost, what type of rims were drilled, and details about operation. There are tricks yet to discover. Anything learned I’ll surely share with you.

When I sleep tonight, can you can guess what I’ll be dreaming?

I hear a Jim Morrison tune…