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The practice of stress relieving spokes in bicycle wheels.

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MACtheYODA

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Mar 20, 2011
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The answer to thread684-88616

It seems everyone missed the answer in referenced thread which fairly simple.

The first big clue to what is really going on is that walking on the spokes is done but not recomend because it deforms the rim, this show that the rim is the weak link.

The second important clue is the method, spoke PAIRS squeezed by hand. By squeezing in this way the hand has the most leverage when the spokes are furthest appart and rapidly losses leverage as the spokes get closer together, thus, tighter pairs would have MORE force applied to the rim then losser spoke pairs.

Everyone was lost on the spokes the indavidual component, the solution is clear when considering the wheel as a system, hub, spokes, nipples, rim.

So the answer to the original question is that stressing the spoke pairs deforms the rim slightly around the nipples more so with tighter spokes and not so much with looser spokes, the result equalizes the load of the wheel equally over all of the spokes as it turns.

I would think that this is not a recomended technique for anyone accept proffessional bicycle wheel tuners as good hand strength would be required to create a consistent and effective result.

A MUCH BETTER practice would be to apply 3&1 oil at the spokes and rim for the nipples when tightening and use a torque wrench to equalize to tension on all of the spokes.


 
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As someone who built and trued hundreds if not thousands of wheels in the summers I worked full time as a bicycle mechanic I can categorically state that you will never have a round, true wheel with equal tension in all the spokes.
 
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