Wheel/hub rebuild/respoke

Since the bike is in pieces I thought I'd rebuild the rear wheel.

Currently it has 32 spoke 26" wheels
Spokes measure 1.94mm with calipers (weird..)


The spokes have taken a beating. A bent spokes from branches presumably. On the drive side where the chain has derailed a few times there are spokes that have some of the steel sheered and thinned out, not the best for downhill/e-bike with a Tangent 6kW kit bolted to it. Rims is in good shape and so is the hub.

I'm considering rebuilding with sapim-strong 2.3/2.0mm spokes.

Measurements:

Hub Flanges width: 70.7mm
Drive side flange dia. on spoke Center: 48mm
Brake side flange dia. on spoke Center: 58mm

Questions:

1) what length do I need? which washers and nipples? https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/spokecalc/

2) There are a few things I don't know such as hole dia. , flange offset, cross (left/right), erd/asym?

3) is there a preferred/strongest lacing pattern?

You need to post the model of rim you have. They vary in depth, so different models require different length spokes.

You'll have better reliability and wheel longevity if you use thinner spokes, like 2.0/1.8mm double butted. The strength comes from the rim, and thinner stretchier spokes allow the rim to work harder before spokes begin to slacken. On the left side of the rear wheel, spoke tension must be low to maintain the proper amount of dish, so using 2.0/1.5 spokes is a good idea for those.

Thanks,

I was relying on another thread where you mentioned some of these things.

The rims are ALL TERRA DD32 32 Hole Not sure it's much help since i believe they are just a rebrand or inhouse product that GT used to put as original equipment. There is not info that I have ever been able to find about the wheels. I might just need to take a couple spokes off and measure them...

Would the torque through the rear wheel from 6kW with gearing not create more of a problem then the typical considerations for building a strong wheel for a "standard pedal" bike?

The idea of adequate stress within the spoke makes sense, but is there a trade off with wheels that are powered?

12-C said:

Rims is in good shape and so is the hub.

I'm considering rebuilding with sapim-strong 2.3/2.0mm spokes.

1) what length do I need?

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Since you're rebuilding with the same hub and rim, then just measure your existing spokes (probably different on drive and non drive sides). Assuming you rebuild it with the same lacing pattern, you'd use the same spoke lengths.

Then just swap spokes out when you get the new ones. If you loosen them all up first but don't take any out, then just swap one by one and thread the nipple on just enough to stay in place, makng sure you interlace the spokes the same way (any overlap in same spots and same over/under). Then go thru once all are swapped out and retension/retrue.

Thanks that's a good idea.

amberwolf said:

Then just swap spokes out when you get the new ones. If you loosen them all up first but don't take any out, then just swap one by one

Click to expand...

Is there any mileage in replacing them 1 by 1 and re-truing after each one?

Ie. Would it be easier to keep it true as you go rather than having to centre then true from scratch?

Not really, because even if you could tension one spoke without the others in place, every one you loosen to take off or tighten to put on changes the rest of what you already did.

Technically you might be able to tension four spokes at a time on a radial lace (two on each side at opposing holes) if it's an even number of spokes on each side so they are diametrically opposite. In a crossed-lacing, you'd need to do them in sets of however many cross, x4 (one set on each side, and diametrically opposed to each other).


Aside from tensioning, truing the wheel itself really requires all the spokes in place, although if you had an otherwise intact and already trued wheel with one broken spoke, you could replace just taht spoke and retension it and adjust just it for fixing the trueness, however you might still ahve to adjust others around it a bit.