36" rim + tube + spokes learnings

For what it’s worth, when I built my fat-tire wheel, some of the spokes came out about a mm when I got it all tensioned up. I was able to very carefuly file down the end of the spokes. I have ridden it pretty hard over the past year, and had no issues at all. It’s a fat tire though, so the tire absorbs a lot, and a 26" wheel is just inherently stronger anyway. Like jtrops said, if the spokes have enough threads it shouldn’t be an issue. I believe you could extend the existing threads with a rolling tool without messing up the existing threads, but it may be a tricky operation. You could perhaps ask unicycle.com or your local shop if they would try to tackle the task, and be prepared with a few extras in case they have issues.

Thanks you very much for those explanations and details.

I have sent a mail to UDC uk, awaiting the answer, and also am in touch with Romain from CDK who proposes the small nipples solutions, I’m trying to know the length of the threaded part of his spokes. (oh wait, he just measured them at 10 mm).
Romain have built about 10 G36 using 362mm spokes, his small nipples solution may be enough.

Since kh geared hubs (not the last one) and stealth 2 36" rim must be a pretty common combo among G36 owners, I’m also expecting some testimonies about this 360 vs 362 issue.

As a tinkerer and someone who likes to build wheels but not spend a bunch of money on custom parts: I bought a used Hozan spoke threader used on e-bay. Basically it payed for itself in the first wheelbuild in both cost of custom cut spokes and time saved by being able to do it myself.

When a spoke is too long I just add another few mm of thread to make sure it’s not bottoming out in the nipple. On double walled rims I just let them stick through the nipple, as long as they aren’t anywhere near the rim tape.

I built a wheel for my 2010 KH/Schlumpf hub last year using a Stealth 2 rim with 362 mm spokes and long nipples from UDC (and spoke head washers) and I could not tension it enough. I rebuilt it with the same spokes (and spoke head washers) but used shorter nipples and nipple washers. It worked very well. I suspect it would have worked without the nipple washers but I decided to use them to maximize my success.

I too have a Hozan spoke threader. Rolling more threads onto an existing spoke is not difficult at all. When you run the machine up to the spoke it naturally threads onto the existing threads, and then when it gets to the end it starts rolling new threads. I know I’ve read things online about it being risky, and that the threads might not line up. Based on my experience I can’t imagine that actually happening. It is another example of internet “experts” that have no actual experience.

If you could get 10mm nipples it would give you plenty of room to tension your wheel, based on nipples I have seen I would guess that a 10mm nip would have about 9mm’s of threading.

Good to hear actually. I was trying to be careful in how I worded my statement above. My shop here was very hesitant about threading spokes more, and gave some generic excuses. I believe this perpetuates these kinds of things because the shop simply didn’t want to do it. Of course not many people have any actual experience re-rolling spokes. : P I’m definitely one of them.

I have practiced thread cutting (or rather thread restoring) on a more precious thing than a couple of spokes : the shifting rod of my schlumpf hub which was damaged when I had this horrible stuck bolt issue.
It’s quite simple indeed.(once you have managed to keep the shifting rod from turning while you restore the thread).

Though, I looked at the cutting kit I have but didn’t find anything close to needed size for spoke threading.

Isn’t stealth 2 rim supposed to already have washers around the spoke hole?
Spoke washers : this is something I could add if I go with the “362mm spokes + 12mm Nipples” solution.
I could order the spokes at UDC-uk and ask them for cutting them as well.

Will think about it, Thanks guys.

I used the nipple washers to take up some of the spoke length. They would not be required otherwise.

So the washers you added are inside the rim I guess, right?
(never seen nipple washers before, I guessed the reason why you used them but since I imagined them just a the same place as the rim washers in the first place, I was wondering how weird it could look, until I figure out that they must be INSIDE the rim to be useful :D).

Why don’t you ask Romain from CDK shop ? He knows all this about spoke lengh perfectly …

Like I said I’m in touch with him as well.
Taking in account the advice from several well informed or experimented persons is always a good thing, it helps to understand what you are doing in a deeper level, don’t you thing so?
Plus, people made the mistake of simply going with the available spokes, hopping it would work and at the end they couldn’t tension the wheel and they had to do it again, like munimag said.
I prefer to be 100% sure of what I’m doing, I’m speaking about riding one geared giant unicycle, it’s not like if I was gonna ride a B-twin bike or something :smiley:
And I like to understand, cause understanding is the base of my job.

Normally the washers that go on the nipple are called “rim washers.” Rim washers are generally used on rims without eyelets, but in this case it would be a good solution to add to the ERD.

They aren’t expensive; although, most bike shops don’t stock them because most bike shops don’t build wheels anymore. Even though they are thin I think they will add a bit more due to the way the nipple will seat on the washer vs. the way it seats in the eyelet.

Here’s a link to some washers.

Yes, they go inside the rim. According to the manufacturer, they add 1.4mm to the ERD of the rim. These are the ones I used.

http://www.bikehubstore.com/Sapim-Nipple-Washer-Round-PolyAx-p/spw-1.htm

So, that would be just under a mm added to the spoke length. You may end up having the spoke come out of the nipple by just a little, and that is perfectly fine.

Munimag and jtrops : this sounds like a very good idea !
short nipple + spoke head washer + nipple washer + 362mm spoke should work without the need of cutting/threading the spokes.

Thank you, I’m gonna take a look to those washers you listed.

Here is a picture of the nipple and washers that I used with the 362 mm spokes.

thanks for the picture.
Do you have a photo of you G36?
Especially how it looks near the hub with those washers

Here are some pics.

Thanks.
that’s stealth, which goes very well with the stealth 2 rim :smiley:

those spoke washer are on my order, just have to order the rim washers now and that’s it.
Thank you all for your useful help. :slight_smile:

You are very welcome. Good luck with your wheel build.