Spoke length question (wheelbuilding)

[Bloocow]

Hiya peeps,

First off I must say I'm extremely grateful to Damon Rinard, Sheldon Brown and some others for the
great effort put into Spocalc. Due to their efforts, I found out in no time that changing my current
Surly 1x1 hub to White Industries' Eccentric hub would mean my current spokes are 1.7mm too long.

I am thinking of re-using the spokes, but have yet to remove tyre and rimtape to see if the spokes
might poke out too much (cuz I still need to ride). If anyone has been through something similar,
I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Further info: current spoke length 3 cross for Surly is calculated to
264.4mm but I think my spokes are 264mm? White Ind Eccentric needs 262.7 for 3 cross. Mavic
X517's for both.

Many thankies,

bloocow

 

[Jim Price]

bloocow wrote:
> First off I must say I'm extremely grateful to Damon Rinard, Sheldon Brown and some others for the
> great effort put into Spocalc. Due to their efforts, I found out in no time that changing my
> current Surly 1x1 hub to White Industries' Eccentric hub would mean my current spokes are 1.7mm
> too long.
>
> I am thinking of re-using the spokes, but have yet to remove tyre and rimtape to see if the spokes
> might poke out too much (cuz I still need to ride). If anyone has been through something similar,
> I'd appreciate your thoughts.

I've used a strange mixture of spokes on one wheel, strictly for hack purposes. The spokes came from
a cheapish (but not so cheap they were all the same length) dished rear wheel, and I needed to build
a non-dished SS rear. The spokes were approximately 2mm different (shorter on the drive side). I got
away with using the longer ones as the "outside" spokes and the shorter ones as "inside" spokes on
the front hub. In your case this would mean sorting the spokes into two halves - longer and shorter.
What I mean by "outside" spokes is a spoke which is inserted through the hub from the inside to the
outside. They seemed pretty even when I'd finished the wheel.

> Further info: current spoke length 3 cross for Surly is calculated to
> 264.4mm but I think my spokes are 264mm? White Ind Eccentric needs 262.7 for 3 cross. Mavic X517's
> for both.

Sounds like you'll get away with it if the existing spokes aren't sticking out when you take the rim
tape off. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you discovered up to a 2mm variation between the
smallest and largest of your existing spokes. If they stick out a bit, you can just file them down.
Also, whenever I have had to replace a spoke, I've measured the old one, and usually had a choice
between slightly longer or shorter. I've always chosen and never had a problem with slightly longer.

--
Jim Price

http://www.jimprice.dsl.pipex.com

Conscientious objection is hard work in an economic war.