Check the level of spoke tension by ear — unless you are tone deaf, a musical pitch reference (pitch pipe, tuning fork, smartphone app etc.) is all you need to tell whether you have brought spokes up to the appropriate level of tension when building a wheel. It’s faster than using a tensiometer!
Category: New pages
Cyclecomputer and GPS accuracy
New page about the history of distance and speed measurement on bicycles, and the limitations of accuracy in measurement. Did you know that GPS readings wander, so you can rack up some distance even if you are standing still?
Measuring tricks
We have a new article on how to perform the precise measurements needed to determine whether bicycle parts fit each other, without expensive and fragile tools. There are a number of clever tricks — for example, you can test the width of the square taper of a cotterless crank with an ordinary open-end wrench!
Ajuste de conos
Thanks to Pablo Zumárraga, the article on “Cone Adjustment” (http://sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html) is now available in Spanish: “Ajuste de Conos” (http://sheldonbrown.com/spanish/cone-adjustment-Spanish.html).
Gracias á Pablo Zumárraga, el artículo “Cone Adjustment” (http://sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html) ahora está disponible en español: “Ajuste de Conos” (http://sheldonbrown.com/spanish/cone-adjustment-Spanish.html).
A quick quick-release lesson
New article: Osman Isvan demonstrates how to remove and replace quick-release bicycle wheels, with two videos. Here’s one of the videos:
The Award Dinner at Interbike
The food was good but the sound system was overdone: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas/award-dinner.html
Interbike bicycle trade show
I’ll be at the Interbike bicycle trade show in Las Vegas this week. I’ll be reporting on it here and on the Web page: http://sheldonbrown.com/las-vegas2014.html . — John Allen, for sheldonbrown.com.
Spoking patterns for large hubs
New article on spoke patterns which avoid excessive spoke angles
with large hubs such as electrically-assisted bike hub motors.
Measuring hub and rim for spoke-length calculation
New page on how to measure a hub and rim to get the numbers to enter into a spoke-length calculator.
Kryptonite history
Just posted — an article on the invention and early history of the Kryptonite bicycle lock — including numerous illustrations, and interviews with Stan Kaplan, the inventor, and Michael Zane, who commercialized the product.
