On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 09:24:56 -0700 (PDT), TBerk
<
[email protected]> wrote:
>
>Shouldn't the place where they come out be parallel with the rim? Are
>there just such hubs being made and if so why aren't they common
>place.
>
>I found a spoke had pulled itself out at the axle end yesterday. That
>along with the recent 'fatigue' thread, got me to thinking.
>
>TBerk
Dear T,
Originally, modern single spokes were straight. They threaded directly
into hubs on highwheelers and were laced radially.
Tangent lacing, which is stronger, was invented early in 1874, roughly
the beginning of the highwheeler era.
But tangent lacing was practically ignored until 1885 by hundreds of
highwheeler manufacturers, who happily used straight spokes and radial
lacing, much like wagon wheels.
Here are some simple 1890s radial straight-pull safety-bicycle hubs:
http://www.nostalgic.net/index.asp?S=arc/pre1920/1890's+straight+pull+hubs.jpg
Straight spokes can be tangent laced, but the hubs need little arms
with holes drilled at different angles.
Here are some complex 1890s tangnet direct-pull safety bicycle hubs:
http://www.nostalgic.net/index.asp?S=arc/pre1920/1890's+straight+pull+hubs+1.jpg
http://www.nostalgic.net/index.asp?S=arc/pre1920/1890's+straight+pull+hubs+2.jpg
http://www.nostalgic.net/index.asp?S=arc/pre1920/1890's+straight+pull+hubs+3.jpg
http://www.nostalgic.net/index.asp?S=arc/pre1920/1890's+straight+pull+hubs+4.jpg
The modern Mavic Cosmos wheelset uses radial direct spokes on its
simple front hub (like old highwheelers and the first pictures) and
tangent direct spokes on its more complex rear hub (like the second
set of pictures).
Spokes with elbows and hubs with side holes keep things simple and
allow different tangent lacing patterns--1x, 2x, 3x, and so on up to
8x.
Spokes with elbows also resist wind-up better than straight spokes.
By the 1890s, elbow spokes and hubs were replacing straight spokes and
hubs. They work so well and are so easy to manufacture that they have
over 99% of the bicycle market.
Here's a page that shows several varieties of the old direct
highwheeler spoke schemes:
http://www.hochrad.info/hochradseite/hochradteile/hochrad teile speichen.htm
Here's a later 8-cross tangent highwheeler hub with elbows:
http://i2.tinypic.com/5xq520p.jpg
Cheers,
Carl Fogel