Snapping on the Spoke Ring

bamabikeguy

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Lessons learned thus far-

1. 16 gauge spokes bend VERY easy on installation.

2. 12 gauge spokes are EXCELLENT, but you get what you pay for, and steel spokes eventually rust, higher priced aluminum don't rust.

3. Zip ties on installation prevent spokes loosening along thousands of miles of travels.

4. Proper installation is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT PART, affecting performance and satisfaction. Get this part right and everything else falls into place, get it wrong (and I got it very wrong on one bike wheel, the third one I built), and NOTHING will work right.


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GEBE instructions say use liquid soap and a Q-tip. IF YOU DO, make sure you rinse it off after the ring is installed, ELSE rust forms at every junction where soap touched metal. I tried vegetable oil, which works nearly as good as soap.

12 gauge is UNFORGIVING, take your time and get it right. Spin the spoke ring around, sighting spokes versus notches. There is a spot on a wheel where the measument is BEST, and if you spin the ring, you will find the perfect spot to snap on FIRST.

This is hard to convey in words, but when you make that first snap, you have to have "counter pressure" on that spoke, to prevent any bending. I bent one slightly, and got it unbent satisfactorily because of zip ties at the onset.


That first snap is 12 o'clock.

The second snap on is 6 o'clock.

Measure the gap, use the end of the screw driver as a hammer and get the ring centered. Then snap in 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock.

This is THE critical moment. That gap has to be as close to centered as you can possibly make it. Measuring tape is NOT good enough, BUT A CHILD'S PROTRACTOR WILL DO FOR A SINGLE INSTALLATION.


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If the 4 points of the clock are right, EVERYTHING else falls into place. Snap, snap, snap, using a torque type method, eyeball all the notches when you think you have completed it, and wash off the soap.

AND if you try and build an indestructible tire, which I've empasized umpteen times, ad nauseum, every chance I get, you should NOT have any worries about the rear wheel, nor the belt wearing too fast.

Properly centered, the tension arm will barely move, OFF centered by an eighth of an inch, one way or the other, and the tension arm jumps way too much.
 
Hey Stick,

The tool GEBE provides for snapping it on can also be used to pry it off.

If you are just installing it the first time, and haven't completed it:

make sure the notch is lubed

reverse that tool, HOLD THE SPOKE FIRM TO PREVENT BENDING, and gently pry it off. If you are completely taking it off a wheel, then use the same back and forth "torque" method going around the spokes.

With the heavier 12 gauge, you can "eyeball" and correct any bent spokes with your fingers.
 
How to measure 'centeredness' of the drive ring??

Ok, so I see the syringe method for measuring the ring centeredness, but I don't understand how a protractor would be used. Can you use calipers to measure the distance a various points on the rim/wheel?

Beyond that, what else could be used besides a syringe? I don't have any lying around...LOL

Thanks! - John
 
Turkeyser,

Calipers are great, and the protractor I'm taling about is the equivalent of the caliper, the one you insert the pencil into to make circles, NOT the plastic schoolhouse thing used to trace shapes.


Those syringes work good if you are going to install them as a hobby, any veternarian has them for 20 cents or so. Throw away the plunger, grind them snug on a perfectly centered ring. There is a crown at the end, which can be notched to fit over a spoke.

It was just the cheapest/easiest effective way I had to make those "gappers", which stay on the spoke while I tap it around and triple check the gaps.

Jeff,

Stainless steel is fine, just make sure if you use liquid soap when you lube the notches to rinse the soap off thoroughly, else it rusts.

Zipties keep things stable. You WILL snap 16 gauge spokes if you don't center the ring. In fact, you might snap 3 in less than 2 miles, and have to walk the bike on home.
 
Re: How to measure 'centeredness' of the drive ring??

turkeyssr said:
Ok, so I see the syringe method for measuring the ring centeredness, but I don't understand how a protractor would be used. Can you use calipers to measure the distance a various points on the rim/wheel?

Beyond that, what else could be used besides a syringe? I don't have any lying around...LOL

Thanks! - John

I measured from the hub to make sure of it's centeredness. That seems the best way since the belt will rotate around a spinning disk equal distance from the hub. What did I just say? :cool:
 
Torques IS right about measuring from the hub.

I had to do another 24" for a tricycle wheel, and using a tape measure, keeping the axle nut ON, I measured 9 5/8" all the way around.

9 and 5/8" inches is PRELIMINARY, I may edit this when I go check out the perfectly centered ring Dennis did for me last month.....

We can start getting our topics cleared up before Augie gets our own section of the owners manual together.....
 
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