Snowflakes in July …

Retro Spud

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Having followed various thread on wheel building for some time I thought I’d have a go at a Snowflake,
I’m no expert just a champion fiddler so this is no more than my own experience and I’m sure more accomplished wheel builders will look in horror at my amateur efforts and limited grasp on the dynamics of stress loading and structural integrity etc.

Now I have to fess up this isn’t actually my first effort as I did the ones on my Ozone Co2 however they were on Pulstar hubs and a little easier, as the straight pull spoke are free to rotate on the hub which in turn allows you a little extra tolerance
After measuring a “Normal” cross three spoked wheel with the same rim and a similar hub dimensions to a M730 I decided upon 272mm “J bend” spokes (was a gamble in fact so much you can’t use an on line calculator to work this out) so I only bought Sapin spokes rather than DT Swiss as they were decidedly cheaper and yet still Double butted
With the increased stress on the rim due to the spoke angles I’ve chosen a rim with eyelets, and whilst I’m at it I wouldn’t recommend using a prize Ringle or Hope hub either

My starting point




The result of a few hours of bending with just finger and thumbs, couldn’t do all 32 in one sitting as my fingers hurt like hell…. And before those who know me point this out,
Since I actually own/possess just four fingers and two thumbs these days (that’s another story) I thought I was doing well :LOL:
Contrary to popular belief you DON'T use pliers and twist them around each other, its far more refined than that, and actually quite a tactile if laborious process,
all you need is two graceful curves to start with if you bend with pliers you’ll lose the gentle curves and create kinks that you’ll never be able to pull out




Using a similar spec wheel I test fitted two and was pleased with the overall fit and the look of them, and let’s be clear here a good snowflake is ALL about the look, after all there’s little else going for them

The 2mm or so longer spokes are going to weigh more
Break a spoke and you’ve lost two since they use each other for tension
Trueing a wheel takes longer

In all other aspects the rules for spoking up is no different to any other (cross three) spoked wheel, especially when they cross, with upper spoke passes behind the rear of the lower one.

But they look way Kool and just scream the 1990’s louder than lashings of Purple Anno!





To complement the build I re-used some (used but not ridden) alloy Nipples from a nice Mavic SUP CD Bronze rim as I liked them and to coin a phase of bollocks I read elsewhere on here the Subtle nuance is visually rewarding :shock:





In order to get the Hub and Rim built with the correct alignment/orientation I spoked up just one side without the rim and then messed around with the position until I was happy it fulfilled all of the below requirements before popping in the first nipple.

A ➡️ The Spokes allow clear passage for a pump to access the Vale (especially important on a snowflake)
B ➡️ Looking through the Valve hole you can see the Hub label (Aesthetics only)
C. ➡️ The label can be read when sitting on the bike (Aesthetics only)
D. ➡️ The Mavic Rim label is viewed and read from the drive side (Aesthetics only)
E. ➡️ Ensure the spokes use the correct left and right holes drilled in the rim (really bad school boy error to make and the only one on the list that will affect the strength of the wheel especially with the increased angles that the spoke enters the rim when snowflaked)




A view through the Valve hole


^^^^^^
A The Spokes allow clear passage for a pump to access the Vale (especially important on a snowflake) Check

B Looking through the Valve hole you can see the Hub label (Aesthetics only) Check

C. The label can be read when sitting on the bike (Aesthetics only) Check

D. The Mavic Rim label is viewed and read from the drive side (Aesthetics only) Check

E. Ensure the spokes use the correct left and right holes drilled in the rim Check


The Snowflake is almost done….




Just need to tension them up and ensure rim is true however before you do that, take the time and effort to ensure all the spokes cross evenly starting and stopping at a uniform height, I do this with the rubber coated handle of the grips you can see in the picture above and use it either just above or below the twist to move them up or down a fraction, if they're way out you'll need to start again.




Go experiment,

If you’ve an old worn out wheel (and lets face it we’ve all got them) remove two spokes and have a go, who knows where it might lead.

Anyone for a crows foot
 
Re:

Nice job mate :-D

I have a couple of sets snowflake and never had any problems with them.

Whats the story with the fingers then? did it involve space aliens and intergalactic crime fighting?
 
Re: Re:

unit3":2lttjf5f said:
Nice job mate :-D

I have a couple of sets snowflake and never had any problems with them.

Whats the story with the fingers then? did it involve space aliens and intergalactic crime fighting?


^^^ I wish

check out half way down this page viewtopic.php?f=6&t=223525&start=78

this is the #1 reason why my bike are build US/Euro Style with the rear brake on the R/H lever..(only way I can stop in a hurry) :LOL:
 
Retro Spud":m4opq3za said:
Anyone for a crows foot

I still need to get these tensioned and trued by someone with some competence:

Up1tl5Lm-aDmNjZzUDtewEfabjafUJ_YPt7Bkjg4jkE=w1152-h864-no
 
kingoffootball":e5b8e3r5 said:
Retro Spud":e5b8e3r5 said:
Anyone for a crows foot

I still need to get these tensioned and trued by someone with some competence:


WTF :shock:

If I accept this is for real

Q.1 How the hell do you tension a spoke that's bowed without pulling it straight :?:

Q.2 What kind of pattern is that ..... it's deffo nothing like I've seen before, and certainly not a crows foot

Q.3 Is there any strength in the design


get it finished I wanna see it built :D
 

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Ollie":hw20r7bh said:
I've always fancied giving this a go myself :) .


go for it Ollie !

if you've got a old wheel (still spoked) to practise on all the better,
I can send you a couple of bent spokes to get yah going so long as you know the measurement of the normal spokes already in it we can work from there with some that are 2-3mm longer
 
Re:

I love Snowflakes :D and despite what people say about them, I (Touch wood) have not had any issues with mine.

Picture is when they were fitted to my Clockwork.
 

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Jussa":16dhbqq5 said:
I love Snowflakes :D and despite what people say about them, I (Touch wood) have not had any issues with mine.

Picture is when they were fitted to my Clockwork.


Snowflake on the rear as well :D

.....I thought I was the only dumb ass since everyone tells me it will collapse due to lateral loads being applied, but 2yrs on and an outing to Mountain Mayhem its still going strong perhaps its just an accident waiting to happen but its still tight and true
 

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Re:

Jees not built one in over 20yrs.....guess il have to now :LOL: Loving the 3DV RetroSpud :cool:

When we built these we always used small flange hubs, XT mostly. Think I did a front on a first gen Nuke Proof which is smaller again.
 
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