Why do wheels have spokes

No small task. When the axle is pressed towards the ground with a force of lb, the only significant effect on spoke tensions is to reduce those directly below the hub — typically, one reduces to about 50lb and spokes to each side of that one reduce to about 75lb. This is exactly what one would see with solid wooden spokes like an old wagon wheel — the bottom one would carry 50lb and those to either side of it would carry 25lb. The difference with wire spoked wheels is that a wire spoke cannot carry a compression load — it will collapse.

So all spokes are ingeniously pre-tensioned. A wire cannot carry a compression load of 50lb, except when it already carries a tension load exceeding that. Steel wire is great because even with a very small amount of fastening area, such as where the nipple holds the spoke at the rim, you can put quite a lot of tension on them without stripping the thread. Stainless steel is the ideal material as it has the right mix of high strength and low weight, while also being affordable.

Stainless steel has been the metal of choice for spokes since the late 19th century because of its high tensile strength, which allows spokes to remain relatively thin and lightweight while coping with the forces placed on them. He designed the ground-breaking Lotus carbon fibre mountain bike and worked on one of the largest tension-spoked wheels ever made — the 60m diameter structure suspended beneath the roof of the Millennium Dome, used as a platform for aerial performers.

If you think your quads are being repeatedly put under strain from the repetition of your pedal strokes, then pity your spokes, being pummelled with every single wheel revolution. Each spoke in the wheel comes under compressive load only for the fraction of a second that it is directly underneath the hub, and for that moment it gets compressed before the pressure comes off and it can return to its normal length.

At the other end the J-bend flexes minutely and, after hundreds of thousands of normal wheel rotations, any tiny surface flaws, only microns deep and completely imperceptible to the human eye, may start to open up. Steel is not the only material used for spokes, however.

Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. David Fiedler. David Fiedler is an experienced cyclist and author of "Ride Fit," a guide to cycling for fun and fitness.

The benefits of having a spoke made of steel are due to the strength, lightweight, and ability to withstand the force that it burdens. Steel spokes are easily threaded to fit the nipples that attach to a bicycle rim and can handle a lot of tension without being stripped. The forms that steel spokes can come in are stainless steel and regular steel.

They are sometimes bladed, oval, or butted — for example, this is similar to how a flat head screwdriver is round one side and butted or flattened at the tip. Spokes made of aluminum are one-third less dense than steel spokes and that goes for the stiffness too.

They are thicker than steel spokes and require more space in the seating of a rim which makes wheels weaker and less stiff. Also threading an aluminum spoke is not easy as it does not hold up well. One way to tell the difference between a steel and aluminum spoke is to place a refrigerator magnet against them and look at them very closely.

Steel spokes will have some surface finish on them, aluminum spokes will have somewhat of a dull gray look to them. If you are going to decide which spokes you want on your wheel, go with the steel spokes on an aluminum rim as it will be stronger and stiff enough to handle the tension being placed on them over the long run.

Do you ever notice how some wheel spokes run tangent from the hub and then across other spokes while others run radial or straight from the hub to the rim? There is a reason behind this and it really comes down to how well torque is distributed from the force on the bicycle hub to the wheels. This affects how the wheel may perform under force and tension which aid in offsetting the load.

Terms Defined :. This pattern is less likely to withstand the load placed on the wheel compared to the tangential pattern. The main difference between the spokes of these numbers all comes down to wheel strength. Wheel strength is going to affect whether your wheel can handle the force and pressure being placed on it. So spoke count on a wheel varies from the type of bicycle you have from road bikes to mountain bikes or even a cruiser. People tend to like and purchase five-spoke wheels and rims.

In the '80s and '90s, a few car manufacturers released tri-spoke, and four spoke wheels; however, they weren't exactly best sellers. Perhaps the best looking car equipped with tri-spoke wheels was the original Dodge Viper SR I ; however, when the Viper was refreshed for , it did away with the tri-spoke wheels in favor of five spoke wheels.

Manufacturing-wise, five spokes allows the casting process to be much simpler and cost-effective when compared to a higher number of spokes. Cast wheels with a greater number of spokes do exist, but these are generally machined from a solid block of aluminum billet in several parts.