London Fixed-gear and Single-speed SJS Cycles

i have used the damon rinard spoke length calculator exel spread sheet http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3524 and have come up with 281.1 mm spokes.



for the wheel im using a on one front hub
large flange track hub
front
hub flange diameter: 61mm
flange distance: 34/34
locknut flange: 16mm

and a rigida dp18 rim, the measurements for which are in the calculator.

was going to order the spokes from parkers when i buy the rim to save postage, just wondered if someone with some experience of wheel building could run the measurements to make sure i have got it right and not messed up! i have laced a couple of wheels, but have no experience of purchasing spokes so any help would be greatly appreciated! plan is to lace and roughly true it, then hand it over to the lbs for fine truing, saving me pennies on wheel building!

its to match the wheel i have just purchased so i have a set to go on my new project, an old alan frame

Use Lenni's application to double check. www.lenni.me/edd

phone and check with your LBS before you lace it up! they may not want to do this for you.

if you're lacing yourself anyway, just HTFU, read Sheldons instructions on how to true a wheel and you should be ok.

take the hub and rim to LBS and get them to measure for the spokes, at the same time tell them what you are planning and see if they are up for it.

But you should give wheel building a go, I found the hardest bit was getting the hop out but practise (and patience) makes perfect (enough to miss the brake blocks!)

when I'm lazy/ too busy i hand the wheels to be trued to the LBS, when not I don't.
saves a load of money.

yeah have used sheldons instructions plenty of times, yeah the truing was just to save time but i have spoken to them and they are fine with it as long as it is laced correctly. will try the leni calculator anyway see what it says and if its miles different will get the lbs to measure up the spokes and get them there.

I've run the spoke calculator ... it's saying 280.7

So do I trade up to 282 spoke length or stretch in some 280's

Trade up to 282.

what if the spoke length required is 292.4mm.

do i go 292mm or 294mm?

292, better shorter than longer

That was the question I was wondering myself :-) So if calculator says 292.6 I should go for 292 rather than 294.

Go whichever way puts you within 1mm of the spoke length given by the calculator.

I always tend to round down and usually take another mm off. Better to reach the recommended spoke tension and risk having a few threads showing rather than reach the end of the thread with the spoke still loose.

^ I have followed Arups advice too with great results.

It's a controversial subject. Not engaging enough threads in the nipple can cause problems. Being 1mm too long definitely won't.

That doesn't sound controversial.

Wheelbuilding is almost as contentious as religion. Someone's always going to wade in with their spoke stretch/round down/reaching end of thread opinions, to which they're entitled.

I'm sticking with this, if wanting to be absolutely sure of things:

- measure ERD of rim in 4 places, and take an average.
- run hub/rim measurements in 3 different spoke calcs, and take an average.
- round up or down to nearest spoke available within 1mm.

But there are more experts on forums like Weight Weenies than this one.

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/fo...hp?f=3&t=56170

The DT calculator is good
http://www.dtswiss.com/SpokesCalc/We...px?language=en

As long as you're not doing anything tricky (ultra-light rims, low spoke counts), bulding your own wheels is not rocket surgery. Modern spoke metallurgy makes them much more tolerant of amateur builders too.

I got a new required spoke length of 287.9mm.

do i go for 288mm or 286mm?

thanks

288

Spoc calc gave me 290,3 to 291,3 for my current build (varies very slightly for disc brake sides, and short trials freehub side). I could only get even number spoke lenghs, so figured I'd round down to 290 (I tend to agree with arup, sorry BMMF).

Thing is, DT Swiss spoc calc assumed 12mm long nipples and I have 13mm ones. I'm curious to wether...

13mm nipple + 290 spoke = 12mm nipple + 291 spoke.

I'm sure its too little to matter. I just like to get things spot-on :)

when in doubt, I always go for a longer nipple and a shorter spoke.

wise words nhatt - san

Cool, that makes me near as makes no difference to spot-on. Bought some of these gimmicky things.

I was curious to wether I would be able to install a StansNoTubes strip over the top (when I can be bothered to attempt a conversion to tubeless). Belt and braces innit. If it dosent work I can just remove them for reuse.