Snowflake spoke config

PB Forum :: Mechanics' Lounge
Snowflake spoke config
Author Message
flag freeride5
Posted: Jun 19, 2009 at 9:09 Quote
therevfryslim wrote:
pimp. what do you use these for?
hard tail commencal absolute crmo v.i.p edition and the hub is a khe geisha free coaster with gold halo nipples
flag freeride5
Posted: Jun 19, 2009 at 9:11 Quote
erixtar1992 wrote:
mi mate had it done on his rear wheel on his dj bike, its quite a good idea as the spokes seemd to stay well tensioned for longer, and the wheel was stiffer, the thing is that its is slightly weakeker, and a bitch to build because it takes longer, and the spokes and nippples can sometimes break
yeah i found that if i added to much twist the nipples rested at a weird angle it only take about and extra 15-30 minutes all you do is lace the wheel normally then you go around twisting the spokes together
flag therevfryslim
Posted: Jun 19, 2009 at 11:26 Quote
freeride5 wrote:
therevfryslim wrote:
pimp. what do you use these for?
hard tail commencal absolute crmo v.i.p edition and the hub is a khe geisha free coaster with gold halo nipples

sweet. let me know in a month how theyre holding up, it would be real useful to know.
flag freeride5
Posted: Jun 21, 2009 at 21:02 Quote
therevfryslim wrote:
freeride5 wrote:
therevfryslim wrote:
pimp. what do you use these for?
hard tail commencal absolute crmo v.i.p edition and the hub is a khe geisha free coaster with gold halo nipples

sweet. let me know in a month how theyre holding up, it would be real useful to know.
ive had them for two months already there are noticeably stiffer
but even though they are stiffer they loose spoke tension faster so they will de true faster

ive only had to true them once and thats cuz i was having a shitty day with spins and i rock the v brakes and i like my brakes tight so a little bit of wobble and im skrewed

but so far i love them and there so nice to look at and admire
flag therevfryslim
Posted: Jun 22, 2009 at 3:03 Quote
sweet. i'll reconsider getting them done in the snowflake pattern lol
flag spettit20
Posted: Nov 13, 2013 at 9:20 Quote
Check out tangledspokes.com site, twitter and facebook, some crazy wheels on there
flag kreature406
Posted: Nov 13, 2013 at 9:27 Quote
It was popular in the 90's...probably been said but only do it for the front. It does make the wheel weaker.
flag Cackerman
Posted: Nov 13, 2013 at 10:40 Quote
Back in the day, I did a few of these twisted spoke builds and rode them a fair bit. One pair I laced is actually still being used by a friend of mine on his old 94 Kona hardtail.

They look pretty cool, but structurally they are far weaker than a traditional lacing pattern.

The biggest issue is the extreme angles of the spoke nipples, they don’t sit flush in the hole there is far more stress on one of the sides rather than having the stress distributed evenly around the entire flare of the nipple. When I built these, we only had rim brakes, but this lacing pattern would be absolutely not recommended for disc brakes with the sharp spikes of torque they generate on the spokes.

The twist of the spokes makes it nearly impossible to get even tension. There is no way to properly gauge spoke tension, except for the friction of the nipple. And extra friction might be caused by putting the twist lower/higher relative to the pair beside it, so your nipple might be feeling tight due to the angle, rather than the actual spoke tension. Furthermore, when building tension in a wheel, you have to take time to stress relieve the spokes stress (grabbing opposing spokes, or pressing down on the rim) which you cannot really do with the twisting method. And even furthermore, the weird angle of the nipples and means that they can sporadically loose tension. The wheels are a pain to keep true.

The biggest thing that killed this lacing pattern for me though (even on a bike used for light riding on tame trails) was the creaking that developed, especially the rear. It sounded like I had a dozen crickets following me.

One thing that is pretty cool is when you unlace the rim, the pattern is still locked into place. You could use it as a pretty savage Chinese throwing star.
flag Firebladez2029
Posted: Sep 25, 2016 at 3:58 Quote
I had a snowflaked rim on the front of my GT RTS for years. It DID last and wasn't a flop like some people have quickly suggested. If you can get one I'd do it, I am a heavy clumsy get and never had a problem with mine.
flag Kiwiplague
Posted: Sep 26, 2016 at 1:33 Quote
Firebladez2029 wrote:
I had a snowflaked rim on the front of my GT RTS for years. It DID last and wasn't a flop like some people have quickly suggested. If you can get one I'd do it, I am a heavy clumsy get and never had a problem with mine.

Zombie thread! It returned 4 years later after dying in 2009 and now it lives again!
flag therevfryslim
Posted: Sep 26, 2016 at 9:04 Quote
you just cant keep a good thread down.
flag cmcrawfo
Posted: Sep 26, 2016 at 9:47 Quote
Firebladez2029 wrote:
I had a snowflaked rim on the front of my GT RTS for years. It DID last and wasn't a flop like some people have quickly suggested. If you can get one I'd do it, I am a heavy clumsy get and never had a problem with mine.

Its the new standard for 2018. watch for it. News broke on PB first.

I prefer to do mine with 28 spoke count.

 


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