Skip to main content

Timeline for How do bicycle spokes work?

Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0

7 events
when toggle format what by license comment
Apr 13, 2017 at 12:32 history edited CommunityBot
replaced http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/ with https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/
Jan 21, 2014 at 20:48 comment added ratchet freak @dav1dsm1th they just used the existing torque transfer lacing patterns
Jan 18, 2014 at 18:06 comment added db9dreamer @tpg2114 I'd be interested to know if the advent of disc brakes has influenced the design of front wheels - as I imagine spokes can be arranged in a radial pattern when the braking is done at the rim - but would, like the rear wheel, need to be able to resist a "shearing rotation" when the braking is done at the hub.
Jan 17, 2014 at 2:25 comment added tpg2114 @RBerteig Also true. Specialized (who later sold it to Hed) make a tri-spoke wheel that is back to the column-type wheel rather than spoked wheels and disc wheels are commonly used that have no spokes but are solid instead. But covering that in the answer is tangential and really off-topic here, no matter how many of them I may own and race on the velodome :)
Jan 17, 2014 at 2:20 comment added RBerteig There are also aerodynamic effects between the spoke and the air which don't matter to a casual rider. But in extreme cases such as world-class velodrome racing you might see advantages from a cowled or rigid wheel due to the elimination of drag from the spokes themselves.
Jan 16, 2014 at 22:40 comment added Martin Beckett A spoke doesn't even need to be rigid, see: fiberfixspoke.com
Jan 16, 2014 at 22:33 history answered tpg2114 CC BY-SA 3.0