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Im rebuilding a gravel bike rear wheel onto a new hub (swapping from 148mm width to 142mm width hubs), using the same DT Swiss DT350 rear hubs (apart from width obviously) planning to copy the lacing pattern, reuse the spokes (in same position as current build), nipples and carbon rim.
Whats the acceptable ways to measure the tension in the current wheel spokes and replicate that in the rebuild? I was thinking of recording the spoke pitches when tapped - and rebuilding to the same pitch - as thats cheap and easy to do. Has anyone tried this method - any advice?
Otherwise its buy a spoke tension tester, but the branded ones seem expensive (I'll only need it for one re-build). Is it worth considering a cheaper one? If so any recommendations. I guess just need it to measure the before and after tensions, so not necessarily be accurate/calibrated (just repeatable).
Cheers.
Have you checked ‘that the spoke lengths will be ok? And… Is it the same hub and just a new rim or the same rim and different hub?
If it’s just hub width changing have you investigated whether DT Swiss do adapters from 148 to 142?
If it’s just hub width changing have you investigated whether DT Swiss do adapters from 148 to 142?
They don't.
If the hub dimensions are the same other than width then current spokes will probably by just fine (confirmed with a quick play in their spoke calc). Beware though there are lots of different 350 versions that are not all the same.
I’ve done the maths and swapping from a 61mm wide flange width to 55mm changes the spoke length by 0.2mm so I’m ok to reuse them.
I asked Madison (uk importer) about getting a 142mm suitable hub body and they said I could only buy an entire hub assembly, I’ve sourced a new hub assy now, just need to work out best way to get it up to the same spoke tension.
Assuming the tension in the current wheel is "right", you'll get close enough by checking with a firm squeeze. I always try and build to 120kgf but wheels are fairly tolerant of variance so long as it's not silly extreme one way or the other. Lots of folk happily ride around in wheels they built by feel.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a reasonably priced spoke tension meter? Park tools one looks pretty expensive , so looking for a cheaper alternative for very occasional use. Thanks.
Having built several wheels over the years I'm inclined to comment that a spoke tension meter isn't the first thing I'd be worried about when rebuilding a wheel in the manner that you describe.
Do you have a wheel jig? If not I'd suggest that this would be a better investment as it allows you to check that the wheel is both true (no side to side wobbles) and round (no up and down wobbles).
Similarly, a wheel dishing tool to ensure that the rim is correctly centred in the hub I would view as a higher priority.
For checking spoke tension - using your hands to squeeze pairs of spokes together to ensure that the tension is consistent on both sides and all the way around the wheel is likely to be an adequate approach.
I would also like to raise a note of caution around cheap measuring tools. I note that you're using a carbon rim and suspect that some specific guidance has been given about spoke tension. A cheap measuring tool is likely to be poorly calibrated and associated with variance in accuracy - meaning that a given user can have less confidence in the reading given by the tooling unless further calibration trials and adjustments can be performed.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a reasonably priced spoke tension meter? Park tools one looks pretty expensive , so looking for a cheaper alternative for very occasional use. Thanks.
What do you think is a fair price for a Park Tension Meter? I might have a new one spare.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a reasonably priced spoke tension meter? Park tools one looks pretty expensive , so looking for a cheaper alternative for very occasional use. Thanks.
What do you think is a fair price for a Park Tension Meter? I might have a new one spare.
If I can find one for £40 Id buy it (which is about half the current new price)
Does anyone have a recommendation for a reasonably priced spoke tension meter?
I bought one of the digital ones from AliExpress, works perfectly.
TBH building one set of wheels is the absolute worst for spoke tension. You've got no experience to fall back on. So it's all a game of compare and keep your fingers crossed!
If you have another similar wheel, you can use that as a sniff test (or a ping test) does it sound/feel similar, and are tensions fairly consistent, your wheel is probably good to go.
I'd not buy one TBH, i used to do a good number of wheels (shop) they had a gauge and a really nice jig. Could put a pair together, evenly tensioned, true, round in an hour. Even weird builds didn't take that much longer.
Then doing it for fun/beer money. Crappy jig, no gauge, can still get them round, true and evenly tensioned. But takes me a couple of evenings.
Roger Musson says no need for tension measurement. Just tighten them to the point where the little masking tape flags turn around 1/3 of a turn before stopping. That will put you in the correct (quite wide, as others have observed) window.
Hopefully you've understood spoke wind-up, and are allowing for it, masking tape flags etc.
If in doubt, Roger Mussom's ebook, Wheelpro, will guide you through the process for this build and any others you build in the future.
