Low spoke count wheels and fork shudder

[John Rees]

I got a great deal on a new wheelset (Gipiemme Grecal ) for one of my bikes. I put them on my
all-steel DeBernardi and experienced a surprising amount of fork shudder on braking. Something I've
never seen on the bike previously (Previous wheels were Helium's and a pair of MA40's before that).

This has improved somewhat now, but it made me wonder about these kinds of wheels and newer all CF
forks (steerer too).

I wasn't worried about my lugged, threaded fork dealing with this shudder, but what about newer
bikes? Is this kind of thing typical of the paired spoke kind of wheels? I also don't see this on my
bikes with Kysium wheels and SPOX wheels, although they have a lower than (previously considered
normal) spoke counts.

Brakes are Chorus, if that matters. John (no fast alpine descents with these wheels) Rees

 

[Jon]

Check your brake pads for alignment and proper contact. Often when you switch wheels the pads don't
contact the same way. It has nothing to do with the number of spokes.

Jon

"John Rees" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I got a great deal on a new wheelset (Gipiemme Grecal ) for one of my
bikes.
> I put them on my all-steel DeBernardi and experienced a surprising amount
of
> fork shudder on braking. Something I've never seen on the bike previously (Previous wheels were
> Helium's and a pair of MA40's before that).
>
> This has improved somewhat now, but it made me wonder about these kinds of wheels and newer all CF
> forks (steerer too).
>
> I wasn't worried about my lugged, threaded fork dealing with this shudder, but what about newer
> bikes? Is this kind of thing typical of the paired spoke kind of wheels? I also don't see this on
> my bikes with Kysium
wheels
> and SPOX wheels, although they have a lower than (previously considered normal) spoke counts.
>
> Brakes are Chorus, if that matters. John (no fast alpine descents with these wheels) Rees

 

[Mike Jacoubowsk]

> Check your brake pads for alignment and proper contact. Often when you switch wheels the pads
> don't contact the same way. It has nothing to do with the number of spokes.

It can also be a function of a rim whose sides aren't completely square (perpendicular to the
ground). If there's any up/down trueness issue, the brake will see a rim of changing width, which
can cause significant pulsing.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com

"Jon" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Check your brake pads for alignment and proper contact. Often when you switch wheels the pads
> don't contact the same way. It has nothing to do with the number of spokes.
>
> Jon
>
> "John Rees" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I got a great deal on a new wheelset (Gipiemme Grecal ) for one of my
> bikes.
> > I put them on my all-steel DeBernardi and experienced a surprising
amount
> of
> > fork shudder on braking. Something I've never seen on the bike
previously
> > (Previous wheels were Helium's and a pair of MA40's before that).
> >
> > This has improved somewhat now, but it made me wonder about these kinds
of
> > wheels and newer all CF forks (steerer too).
> >
> > I wasn't worried about my lugged, threaded fork dealing with this
shudder,
> > but what about newer bikes? Is this kind of thing typical of the paired spoke kind of wheels? I
> > also don't see this on my bikes with Kysium
> wheels
> > and SPOX wheels, although they have a lower than (previously considered normal) spoke counts.
> >
> > Brakes are Chorus, if that matters. John (no fast alpine descents with these wheels) Rees
> >
>

 

[John Rees]

"Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Check your brake pads for alignment and proper contact. Often when you switch wheels the pads
> > don't contact the same way. It has nothing to do with the number of spokes.
>
> It can also be a function of a rim whose sides aren't completely square (perpendicular to the
> ground). If there's any up/down trueness issue, the brake will see a rim of changing width, which
> can cause significant
pulsing.
>
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com
>
> "Jon" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > Check your brake pads for alignment and proper contact. Often when you switch wheels the pads
> > don't contact the same way. It has nothing to do with the number of spokes.
> >
> > Jon
> >
> > "John Rees" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > I got a great deal on a new wheelset (Gipiemme Grecal ) for one of my
> > bikes.
> > > I put them on my all-steel DeBernardi and experienced a surprising
> amount
> > of
> > > fork shudder on braking. Something I've never seen on the bike
> previously
> > > (Previous wheels were Helium's and a pair of MA40's before that).
> > >
> > > This has improved somewhat now, but it made me wonder about these
kinds
> of
> > > wheels and newer all CF forks (steerer too).
> > >
> > > I wasn't worried about my lugged, threaded fork dealing with this
> shudder,
> > > but what about newer bikes? Is this kind of thing typical of the
paired
> > > spoke kind of wheels? I also don't see this on my bikes with Kysium
> > wheels
> > > and SPOX wheels, although they have a lower than (previously
considered
> > > normal) spoke counts.
> > >
> > > Brakes are Chorus, if that matters. John (no fast alpine descents with these wheels) Rees

I'm going to put on a new set of brake pads and re-align them afterwards. The old ones are pretty
worn and maybe they just 'miss' the old wheels John Rees