Does anyone know a place to buy these other than on UDC?? I am getting a drilled airfoil built and the spokes from my old double wall steel rim are 4mm too long! I was wondering if anyone sells black ones?? Or maybe nice titanium ones? And where online?
I think Tom Miller of the Unicycle factory sells the spokes.
You could probably get you spokes shortened at a bike shop but I would want the lighter, shinyer (and possibly stronger) 14G stainless spokes with that new rim you are getting.
Have you tried the calculations for lacing it 4-cross instead? When i bought SS spokes I was told they would lace up 3 cross for an old steel coker rim, or 4 cross on an airfoil (I did the later).
Thanks I didn’t think I would get an answer. The thing is that the guy building the thing right now phoned me today and told me this, meaning he has it already apart and in pieces. He told me I def need new spokes. He actually said the wheel build that I already had was done totally wrong. He said the spokes were even a bit too long for my old rim and that they actually were already pretty loose.
So now I am really not sure what to do. I think I will contact the unicycle factory and find out.
Hmm i will ask about that thanks a lot. Maybe he doesn;t know about that. I’m unsure what my old wheel had though as it was not a coker rim but a double wall UDC steel rim that came with the Nimbus SE.
Yep, 4-cross is what you need.
The length that works for 3-cross on coker rim works with 4-cross on an airfoil, and presumably the nightrider rim.
Well If you guys just gave me the info i needed to solve this case without any cash-shed then thank you once again unicyclist community. I had the answer i needed mere minutes after posting.
I can help you calculate the proper spoke length if you want.
What’s the diameter of the spoke holes on your hub?
And what’s the distance between your flanges?
For my high-flange hub wheel builds, which require shorter spokes, I buy the standard 14g spokes from UDC, cut them down to length, and take them to a LBS that has a spoke threader. I realize you may not have such a shop, but at least know what the proper lengths are for a 3-cross and a 4-cross pattern.
Pete
Hey thanks Pete. The whole Uni is at the shop now and I am leaving it there until i get spokes… maybe someone else around here has those measurements.
Nice find Eric!
However, I plugged in a couple of my wheels already built, and the stated result was 4mm too long on each. Might want to double check.
Some of the discrepancy: The Schlumpf hub / Airfoil combo is listed as 359mm spokes for 3x. That hub is spec’d as having a 91mm spoke hole diameter, but I get 93 on mine. And my wheel uses 355mm spokes, even with 14g nipple washers to help spread the load.
I would like to take this occasion to ask: how tight should the spokes on a 36" be? Is it possible to tighten them like on a 20" due to its size or should they be a bit springy?
Sorry for thread jacking, i just cant afford to open a new thread with the same name
In my experience with long 14g stainless spokes, you can still tension them pretty darn tight, and should. When properly built, you can squeeze pairs of spokes with your hand and deform them just a bit. They should not feel springy or loose at all.
However, there is a point at which the (relatively soft) stainless steel will actually stretch and lose tension. Usually the one in particular that you happen to be tightening. When that happens, the rim will deform significantly, and the spoke is shot. Best to loosen all the spokes, replace the stretched one, and try again. Stainless is a finicky metal, and the long spoke length makes it more difficult to hit the best tension without going over.
Doesn’t the strain hardening nature of SS mean that the tension will actually increase well past yield, until UTS is reached?