Spoke tension meter

Can't we just use the term: "Tensiometer"?
It sounds so hokey with all these pseudonyms.

wrote:

I wrote:

Wheels are surprisingly tolerant to a poor build, or you'd see a lot
more collapsed ones out on the road (I've never seen a total wheel
failure, and only one broken spoke - on a machine built wheel).

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Interesting observation--not at all what the casual reader
of this newsgroup would expect.


If you look at some of the horrible wheels out there, yes it is
surprising. I think one helpful factor is that the cheapest wheels on
the $100 bikes usually have 36 spokes, and that's a structure that can
take a lot of abuse both in terms of a poor build, hard riding and lack
of maintenance [1].

To balance things up, I've seen a broken crank, a broken frame and
pretty much anything that can happen to a tyre (puncture, blow-off,
skidding right through the casing in one stop, slashed sidewalls,
leaving black trails on hot roads...)

[1] although a wheel with a good build needs no maintenance, unless the
rim wears through or you twist it in a storm drain :-(

wrote in message
...
Can't we just use the term: "Tensiometer"?
It sounds so hokey with all these pseudonyms.



Well I would have used this term, but i was not sure it was a the right
term, or something someone had made up.

Ken

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 15:15:06 -0400, "Ken"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
Can't we just use the term: "Tensiometer"?
It sounds so hokey with all these pseudonyms.



Well I would have used this term, but i was not sure it was a the right
term, or something someone had made up.

Ken

Dear Ken,

Don't worry too much about it.

The level of fuss about "tensio(n)meter" serves as an
attentio(n)meter that measures how much attention is being
paid to what matters.

The more ill-natured fuss about it, the less attentio(n) is
being paid to the good-natured original questions and
replies.

A cheerful alternative is to add a space instead of removing
the "n"--google for "tension meter" and you'll find a
respectable number of manufacturers.

Or you can use other happy phrases, such as "tension gauge"
or "tension tester"--they work quite nicely.

Interestingly, the tension level in a thread tends to rise
in direct proportion to the number of snide comments. Oddly,
we are all too often astonished that sarcasm and insults
fail to win friends or influence people.

Carl Fogel

wrote:
On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 15:15:06 -0400, "Ken"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
Can't we just use the term: "Tensiometer"?
It sounds so hokey with all these pseudonyms.



Well I would have used this term, but i was not sure it was a the
right term, or something someone had made up.

Ken

Dear Ken,

Don't worry too much about it.

The level of fuss about "tensio(n)meter" serves as an
attentio(n)meter that measures how much attention is being
paid to what matters.

The more ill-natured fuss about it, the less attentio(n) is
being paid to the good-natured original questions and
replies.

A cheerful alternative is to add a space instead of removing
the "n"--google for "tension meter" and you'll find a
respectable number of manufacturers.

Or you can use other happy phrases, such as "tension gauge"
or "tension tester"--they work quite nicely.

Interestingly, the tension level in a thread tends to rise
in direct proportion to the number of snide comments. Oddly,
we are all too often astonished that sarcasm and insults
fail to win friends or influence people.

Dear Carl,

David Damnitall told me to tell you that you're just being Jobst's tool.

Nanny Bill

Ken Marcet writes:

Can't we just use the term: "Tensiometer"?
It sounds so hokey with all these pseudonyms.

Well I would have used this term, but i was not sure it was a the
right term, or something someone had made up.

Try:

http://www.m-w.com/

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 14:45:45 -0600, wrote:


Don't worry too much about it.

The level of fuss about "tensio(n)meter" serves as an
attentio(n)meter that measures how much attention is being
paid to what matters.

The more ill-natured fuss about it, the less attentio(n) is
being paid to the good-natured original questions and
replies.

A cheerful alternative is to add a space instead of removing
the "n"--google for "tension meter" and you'll find a
respectable number of manufacturers.

Or you can use other happy phrases, such as "tension gauge"
or "tension tester"--they work quite nicely.

Interestingly, the tension level in a thread tends to rise
in direct proportion to the number of snide comments. Oddly,
we are all too often astonished that sarcasm and insults
fail to win friends or influence people.

Jul: O Tensio, Tensio! wherefore art thou Tensio?

Ten: O! be some other name: What's in a name? that which we call a
gauge by any other name would spell conceit.


-------------------------------
John Dacey
Business Cycles, Miami, Florida
http://www.businesscycles.com
Since 1983
Our catalog of track equipment: online since 1996
-------------------------------

Quoth Peter Chisholm:

Gee, so do I. Tone to compare tension is something all of us old fart
wheelbuilders use. But I also use a DT dial tensionometer to check
actual tension to see if I am where I want to be. I think I could
probably tell also but when building 5-6 wheels in one day, hands
getting tired, different rims, the tensionometer is a good thing.

But the concept of plucking a spoke and then truing a wheel cuz it's a
few notes too low, that just makes me giggle, but I don't play anything
but the truing stand.

I don't think you give yourself enough credit. If somebody brought you
a wheel and the spokes plunked "a few notes too low" I'm sure you could
tell that it was undertensioned without needing to throw a tensiometer
on it.

I don't understand why you keep bringing up the issue of whether
somebody knows how to play a musical instrument. This has _nothing_ to
do with the issue.

Sheldon "Not Tone Deaf" Brown
+--------------------------------------------+
| If you haven’t yet discovered the novels |
| of Neal Stephenson, don’t wait! |
| Start with Snow Crash or Quicksilver |
+--------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

On Sun, 12 Jun 2005 13:44:49 -0400, Sheldon Brown
wrote:

Quoth Peter Chisholm:
[snip]
But the concept of plucking a spoke and then truing a wheel cuz it's a
few notes too low, that just makes me giggle, but I don't play anything
but the truing stand.

I don't think you give yourself enough credit. If somebody brought you
a wheel and the spokes plunked "a few notes too low" I'm sure you could
tell that it was undertensioned without needing to throw a tensiometer
on it.

I don't understand why you keep bringing up the issue of whether
somebody knows how to play a musical instrument. This has _nothing_ to
do with the issue.

Sheldon "Not Tone Deaf" Brown

Dear Sheldon,

True, but I still enjoy a fantasy in which Harpo Brown
plucks a delightful Gilbert and Sullivan tune on a
mis-tensioned 36-string 700c-sharp wheel.

(Or a loom. Or a piano.)

Carl Fogel

"Sheldon Brown" wrote in message
...
Quoth Peter Chisholm:

Gee, so do I. Tone to compare tension is something all of us old fart
wheelbuilders use. But I also use a DT dial tensionometer to check
actual tension to see if I am where I want to be. I think I could
probably tell also but when building 5-6 wheels in one day, hands
getting tired, different rims, the tensionometer is a good thing.

But the concept of plucking a spoke and then truing a wheel cuz it's a
few notes too low, that just makes me giggle, but I don't play anything
but the truing stand.

I don't think you give yourself enough credit. If somebody brought you
a wheel and the spokes plunked "a few notes too low" I'm sure you could
tell that it was undertensioned without needing to throw a tensiometer
on it.

I don't understand why you keep bringing up the issue of whether
somebody knows how to play a musical instrument. This has _nothing_ to
do with the issue.

Sheldon "Not Tone Deaf" Brown

I have noticed a lot of people posting about the "tone" that a spoke makes
when plucked. But myself being tone def, this seems like a very unlikely
method I would be able to use. I am thinking that if I am ever to "build" my
own wheels I will invest in a tensionometer.

Ken