<VV> Re: WIRE WHEELS

[Eric S. Eberhard]

Please don't reply off-line, I would like to see your answers too :-)

At 10:11 AM 10/17/2005, you wrote:
>The writer asks: "any secret to keeping wire wheels tight?"
>
>The response is that I'm not entirely sure it is a secret as much as 
>it is just an almost lost art.  Wires, of course, were designed to 
>be lighter than a solid wheel.  With knock-offs, splined hubs and 
>the ubiquitous leather hammer, it was an easy thing to change the 
>wheel quickly.  However, spinners became hazardous, I suppose, when 
>someone thought about the demise of Isadora Duncan one too many 
>times. Thank God they didn't outlaw Bugattis..or maybe they did!
>In any case, the purpose of  the wires is to stabilize the rim in at 
>least two ways: it keeps the rim equidistant from the hub and it 
>keeps the edge of the rim in line with the direction of the rotating 
>wheel.  What I believe is happening to your friend is that the 
>wheels are probably being balanced before they have been 
>straightened.  If the wheels are not straight, they are more than 
>likely out of alignment in both these directions and, because 
>certain spokes are more stressed than others, which is to say some 
>are doing the work that other spokes are not, the spokes will loosen 
>even more often.
>Truing a wire wheel is no job for an amateur, although I should just 
>send you to the book or archives: (Sorry! Couldn't 
>resist!)  Although I could reproduce the procedure here, I fear that 
>would be counterproductive for this forum.  Please contact me 
>offline and I will try to brush away the cobwebs in my old brain and 
>help you out.
>
>Ron Byers,
>Largo, FL
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Eric S. Eberhard
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