newbie spoke tension question

Hi, I'm nearly done building my first wheel and I think it's working out pretty good but I'm
concerned I may be getting too much tension. I'm building with a Phil 36 spoke hub, Mavic CXP33 rim
and Alpine DT III spokes which are a triple-butted 14-15-13 if I understand them correctly.

My current worry is that I have too much tension on the spokes. I haven't hit the point of taco-ing
when stress relieving but when plucked the tone seems higher than my existing wheels. I have four
bikes in the garage and one is pretty close to it in tone. I have a Wheelsmith tensiometer and when
I measure with it, the scale reads in the 75-80 range. On the calibration chart that came with the
tensiometer, for a single gauge 14 spoke, this would translate to about 93-109 kgf. It is off the
scale for double-butted spokes- a reading of 65 for DB-14 gives a value of 130 kgf.

So, can any thoughts on this? Which column on the calibration chart should I be using for
these spokes?

Thanks! Lyle

 

res09c5t writes:

> Hi, I'm nearly done building my first wheel and I think it's working out pretty good but I'm
> concerned I may be getting too much tension. I'm building with a Phil 36 spoke hub, Mavic CXP33
> rim and Alpine DT III spokes which are a triple-butted 14-15-13 if I understand them correctly.
>
> My current worry is that I have too much tension on the spokes. I haven't hit the point of
> taco-ing when stress relieving but when plucked the tone seems higher than my existing wheels. I
> have four bikes in the garage and one is pretty close to it in tone. I have a Wheelsmith
> tensiometer and when I measure with it, the scale reads in the 75-80 range. On the calibration
> chart that came with the tensiometer, for a single gauge 14 spoke, this would translate to about
> 93-109 kgf. It is off the scale for double-butted spokes- a reading of 65 for DB-14 gives a value
> of 130 kgf.
>
> So, can any thoughts on this? Which column on the calibration chart should I be using for
> these spokes?

Use the column on the chart that corresponds to the section of spoke upon which the
tensiometer lies.

Also, my recollection of the tacoing process is that the wheel didn't taco by much when I hit the
max tension level. It's slight.

 

On Sat, 08 Mar 2003 18:26:46 -0500, res09c5t wrote:

> My current worry is that I have too much tension on the spokes. I haven't hit the point of
> taco-ing when stress relieving

In that case, it is not too tight.

> but when plucked the tone seems higher than my existing wheels.

So maybe they aren't tight enough. Common.

> So, can any thoughts on this? Which column on the calibration chart should I be using for
> these spokes?

Can't help you there.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Enron's slogan: Respect, Communication, Integrity, and _`\(,_ | Excellence. (_)/ (_) |

 

So, as long as I'm not tacoing when stress relieving, I'm ok? I've been worried about pulling the
nipples through the grommets or something. Thanks!

"David L. Johnson >" <David L. Johnson <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sat, 08 Mar 2003 18:26:46 -0500, res09c5t wrote:
>
> > My current worry is that I have too much tension on the spokes. I haven't hit the point of
> > taco-ing when stress relieving
>
> In that case, it is not too tight.
>
> > but when plucked the tone seems higher than my existing wheels.
>
> So maybe they aren't tight enough. Common.
>
> > So, can any thoughts on this? Which column on the calibration chart should I be using for these
> > spokes?
>
> Can't help you there.
>
> --
>
> David L. Johnson
>
> __o | Enron's slogan: Respect, Communication, Integrity, and _`\(,_ | Excellence. (_)/ (_) |

 

"res09c5t" wrote:

> I'm nearly done building my first wheel and I think it's working out
pretty
> good but I'm concerned I may be getting too much tension. I'm building
with
> a Phil 36 spoke hub, Mavic CXP33 rim and Alpine DT III spokes which are a triple-butted 14-15-13
> if I understand them correctly.
>
> My current worry is that I have too much tension on the spokes. I haven't hit the point of
> taco-ing when stress relieving but when plucked the tone seems higher than my existing wheels. I
> have four bikes in the garage and one is pretty close to it in tone.

The rim is the limiting factor for tension. If your other wheels have lighter rims, they shouldn't
have as much tension. Or maybe THEY are undertensioned. Do the other wheels also have 36 spokes?
Similar spokes and lacing pattern? Spoke gauge will affect the tone when plucked. And a wheel with
fewer spokes will require more tension.

When stress relieving, make sure you give a good firm squeeze. If the wheel stays true, I think
you are OK.

Art Harris

 

res-<< I'm nearly done building my first wheel and I think it's working out pretty good but I'm
concerned I may be getting too much tension

take it on down to a decent LBS and have them check it with a tensionometer-

<< I haven't hit the point of taco-ing when stress relieving but when plucked the tone seems higher
than my existing wheels.

Tone for tension doesn't work unless the spokes are the same gauge-and the other wheel is tensioned
correctly-

<< I have a Wheelsmith tensiometer and when I measure with it, the scale reads in the 75-80 range.

Measure the center section and then look at the chart-

for a 14/15, seems a little high-should be in the 60 or so range-

look for about 100kgf

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

Is it a front or rear wheel? If its the rear wheel, is the tensiometer measurement on the drive or
nondrive side spoke?

 

This was on the front wheel. I've since gone through and loosened it up so the tensiometer reads in
the 60's and re-trued it and it seems a lot more "normal" Thanks! Lyle "Rudge" <[email protected]>
wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Is it a front or rear wheel? If its the rear wheel, is the tensiometer measurement on the drive or
> nondrive side spoke?

 

rudge-<< Is it a front or rear wheel? If its the rear wheel, is the tensiometer measurement on the
drive or nondrive side spoke?

Front and right side rear should be the same for similar components-he said it was about 140kgf,
hopefully that's not the left side rear.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"