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Unlacing Wheels
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Unlacing Wheels
Postby mxmort » Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:48 pm
I want to unlace without damaging rims (buckle or make them out of round) as they will be relaced
Any help on best way to cut spokes would be awesome
Thanks
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby Mulger bill » Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:43 pm
London Boy 29/12/2011
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby bychosis » Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:51 pm
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby mxmort » Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:55 pm
Is there a method of which ones to cut each time so i dont wreck the rims and buckle or make them out of round
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby Mulger bill » Tue Apr 30, 2013 11:04 pm
London Boy 29/12/2011
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby jacks1071 » Tue Apr 30, 2013 11:45 pm
mxmort wrote:I have a set of wheels i need to unlace but the nipples are all seized on to spokes
I want to unlace without damaging rims (buckle or make them out of round) as they will be relaced
Any help on best way to cut spokes would be awesome
Thanks
I use a grinder (with safety glasses)
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby familyguy » Wed May 01, 2013 11:03 am
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.ph ... elace-hubs
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby human909 » Wed May 01, 2013 3:47 pm
familyguy wrote:Cause cutting will put odd stresses on the flanges.
Can you substantiate this at all. Releasing tension (even a sudden release) on the flange doesn't seem likely to cause "odd stresses".
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby Dan » Wed May 01, 2013 6:06 pm
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby DavidL » Wed May 01, 2013 6:15 pm
human909 wrote:familyguy wrote:Cause cutting will put odd stresses on the flanges.
Can you substantiate this at all. Releasing tension (even a sudden release) on the flange doesn't seem likely to cause "odd stresses".
I also find that very hard to believe. As that would suggest that if a spoke is broken during riding that the hub will also be damaged. Also back to the OP the rim.
Just cut them all with a big pair of wire cutters or the likes. Wheels really are not that delicate.
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby familyguy » Wed May 01, 2013 8:42 pm
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby wqlava1 » Thu May 02, 2013 12:05 pm
Dan wrote:I've been told by a reliable source not to reuse spokes which have been fully detensioned - +1 for wire cutters.
I've got diametrically opposite advice from a source that we can all look at if we have the e-book - Roger Musson's treatise on wheelbuilding.
My experience (which is probably not over a large enough number of wheels and kilometers to be statistically significant for proof for any of us) is that I've been building wheels with stainless spokes I've garnered from good quality wheelsets that have had worn out rims or freehubs, with no discernable different failure rate.
I find a 45cm set of bolt cutters to be good where I want to keep the rim or hub but not the spokes, and the wood splitter on a big stump with 6 blows spaced at 60 degrees where I am fitting the whole thing in the wheelie bin. Wear safety glasses for both these operations - old spokes may fly out from rims without rim tape, and the first blow of the wood splitter detensions the wheel in a way that may release stored energy in unexpected ways.
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby Dan » Thu May 02, 2013 1:56 pm
wqlava1 wrote:Dan wrote:I've been told by a reliable source not to reuse spokes which have been fully detensioned - +1 for wire cutters.
I've got diametrically opposite advice from a source that we can all look at if we have the e-book - Roger Musson's treatise on wheelbuilding.
Indeed, I'd forgotten about that. Reuse if you can, and if you know the history of the wheel.
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby sturmey archer » Fri May 03, 2013 10:25 pm
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby Mozzar » Thu May 09, 2013 12:35 pm
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Re: Unlacing Wheels
Postby wqlava1 » Thu May 09, 2013 1:19 pm

You may well get away with it, but the assumption behind being "quick enough" is that the rim will indeed distort.
My experience is that taco-ing the rim to some degree will probably only happen for spoke tensions around the rim manufacturer's specified max and shallow section soft rims - but I would still be careful to avoid extra time truing the rims when rebuilding it.
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