spoke patterns

Hey everyone, I have a few questions about spoke patterns. What would be
stronger for a trials uni, 4 cross or radial. The more crosses a wheel
has the stronger it is supposed to be when pedaling hard in a low gear
(like unicycling), but radial is supposed to be stronger side to side.
My logic tells me this would be stronger for drops. Is this true, or am
I wrong? My last question is how do you make a 4 cross wheel?(I have
instructions on how to build a three cross) Any responses would be
appreciated. Thanks!


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heavy metal unicycling - Loveland Unicycling Club

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Radial lacing would be terrible for a unicycle wheel, as radially-laced
spokes absorb energy while transmitting torque.

There is probably not a big strength difference between four-cross and
three-cross; for small wheels, four-cross is probably preferred.


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tholub - Kinetic Sculptor
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I think the number of crossings has to be considered along with wheel
size. I once asked for a 4-cross wheel to be laced up for me and the
pattern came out very funny looking, because of the proportions of rim
to flange to # of spokes. In the case of that wheel (I can't remember
the size), 4-cross was too many and it should have been 3.

Notice you will never see radial spokes on the drive wheel of any
bicycle. That's because every time you apply drive (or braking) torque,
the spokes all move and the axle actually rotates a little bit. This
wears out the spokes very quickly. Though the wheel is very stiff
laterally, it's very weak in the direction of drive. Spokes will tend to
break in chain reactions. If one goes, more will follow quickly! This is
based on experiences with older models of unicycles that used to come
with radial spokes.


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johnfoss - More Moab Fun

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Another reason to avoid radial spokes is that they pull straight out
on the hub's flange, stressing the thinnest, weakest part of the hub.
If you look at the newfangled radially spoked road bike front wheels,
you'll see super beefy flanges to hold the spokes.

Crossed spokes pull somewhat against each other, reducing tension in
the flange and distributing it through more material.

Ken

If you are planning to build a trials wheel with a Torker DX hub you
will need 170mm spokes to do a four cross patern which I recomend. I got
directions from searching google for 48 spoke wheel building
instructions and found a site from the UK called G Sport. The
instructions were easy to follow and it was the first wheel I had ever
built and it turned out great. I had to make a spoke wrench that would
fit between the spokes because mine was too wide, which I made by
bending a thick washer at 90 degrees and them making a slot to fit the
spoke nipples with my dremel tool. The instructions were for a 48 spoke
20" BMX wheel and the pictures made the instructions easy to follow. In
the instructions he has you lace the spokes under the third cross and
then over the fourth which pulles the spokes in closer to the hub. I did
this and it looks cool, it is suposed to protect the spokes from damage
when doing grinds. I tried to put the link in a post before and it
didn't work I will try again but it may not work. Good luck. Dan

'G Sport' (http://www.gsportbmx.co.uk/custom/wh...ld/wheels.html)


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Tellurider - Dan Wilson

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It still doesn't work so if anybody could tell me what I might be doing
wrong. Help me out. Thanks, Dan.

Just go to www.gsport


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Tellurider - Dan Wilson

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Tellurider wrote:
*It still doesn't work so if anybody could tell me what I might be
doing wrong. Help me out. Thanks, Dan.

Just go to www.gsport *


That didn't work either. Try this. http://www.gsportbmx.co.uk/ Then go
to the wheel building guide.


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One on one - Proud member of the UALW and GUA

"However, like the jet pilot, if the Coker rider tries to turn too fast,
he/she could black out."
-Memphis Mud

I went further than I had planned and had a testicle break at about 25
ks
-onebyone


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