explanation: Tom Dalton has asked that i forward his msg re "the Bicycle Wheel" here it is:
>Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 14:01:50 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Tom Dalton <tom_s_dalton@yahoo.com>
>Subject: Re: "The Wheel Book" was: RE: Polishing hubs...
>To: dave <kawika@austin.rr.com>
>
> > The Avocet-distributed book that I know is "The Bicycle Wheel," by
>> Jobst Brandt. It is not without its faults."
>
>...and perhaps Mr. Dalton who has informed that actual author credit
>ought to belong to Jobst Brandt (1) might cite the 'faults'
>mentioned...
>
>I didn't say that the actual credit should belong to Jobst Brandt, I
>simply said that the book I have is by Brandt, leaving open the
>(remote) possibility that Avocet had two wheel books, one by Brandt
>and one by Vanderplas. As for the book's faults, I should say that
>it was been a looong time since I reviewed the book, but as I recall
>Jobst recommends lubricating spoke threads to allow for sufficient
>tensioning. While there are certain things that are very helpful in
>this application (Spokeprep) the oil that Jobst suggests is
>absolutely not a wise choice. Do the experiment yourself: next time
>you build a pair of wheels, build one dry and one with oil. See
>which wheel stays in true longer. I did this myself years ago, and
>despite the fact that it was a front wheel that I lubed, it was
>still way less stable than the dry, 6-speed rear wheel.
>
>Jobst gets a bit carried away on the whole tension issue also. He
>suggests that the (theoretical) strength of a wheel increases with
>tension, and therefore more is better. This despite real world
>experience to the contrary. Building super-tight wheels is a great
>way to crack rims and flanges, but it's not good for much else. Of
>course Jobst says that any rim that cracks is a "bad rim." In other
>words any rim lighter than an MA2 is useless. Guess he's not an
>Ergal fan, but then neither am I. Jobst goes so far as to say that
>you should crank your wheels to the point of "columnar failure" then
>back off a bit. Hard on the equipment, for sure, and akin to
>setting torque specs as, "tighten 'til it galls, then back of 1/4
>turn." Generally Jobst buries his head in the sands of engineering
>priciples while ignoring real world observations that contradict
>these principles. Supposedly he rides his bike, s! o maybe he just
>can't get past his engineering background; for certain he is no
>scientist.
>
>thanks,
>
>Tom Dalton, Bethlehem, PA
>
>
>
>(1) Brandt, Jobst, "the Bicycle Wheel," Avocet, Inc, Menlo Park,
>*first printing 1981*, ISBN 0-9607236-4-1
>
>
>
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