Introduction

Welcome to my wheel building page. First I would like to state that I only build wheels as a hobby and have not built the a vast number of wheels expected by a professional.

I have however devoted some time into the theory and have practiced the building of wheels using irregular patterns. By irregular I mean patterns other than Radial, 1 Cross, 2 Cross, 3 Cross etc.

I could not find any literature on this subject other than a small snippet on Crows Foot in Jobst Brandt's book (a recommended read). However he did state that there was probably no advantage in building such a pattern, and he may well be correct.

Despite this I decided I wanted to build a 36 spoke Crows Foot purely from the challenge of building it, And secondly to ride on a wheel that is reasonably unique. There is a certain amount of satisfaction in riding on a wheel that is unique. We all like to personalize our bikes somehow so why not with a unique hand crafted pair of wheels.

I do assume that you have some wheel building knowledge or have at least read a book on the subject of wheel building.

There are certain problems you have to consider when embarking on a new pattern.

These are:

1. Number of spokes you can use in the pattern. For example a Crows foot has 3 spokes in the pattern and therefore can only be used on wheels that have the total number of spokes on each side divisible by three. Or put another way the total number of spokes in the wheel divisible by twice the spoke in the pattern. This implies that a Crows Foot wheel can only be built on 18,24,36,48 spoke wheels.

2. How difficult will the wheel be to build and maintain. Complex patterns such as the 40 Spoke Crows Foot Below (5 Spokes per pattern) was very difficult to build, and replacing a spoke could require major surgery. You may wish to consider where the wheel will be used as a wheel like this could result in major surgery while cycling through the most deserted and hostile parts of the world. I only use this wheel for commuting and club runs so I should not be caught out. However so far this wheel has been remarkably reliable.

3. Where is the best place to put the valve. You must have easy access to the valve. I initially spent hours with pieces of paper drawing the designs, then I spent several hours writing a software package to display them. This package was used to for the illustrations in this site. They are simple but effective.

Please don't pay to much attention to the scale. These are probably going to be incorrect as it depends on the resolution of you screen etc.

I'd just like to make one point clear. All these wheels are built for FUN and not because of some belief that they are superior in any way. There is no consideration for weight or aerodynamics. Just aesthetics.

The site has now been updated with photo's on there respected pages. I apologies if they take a long time to load, although I have done what ever is possible to help speed things along. They do illustrate how the spokes are weaved and in some cases this occours close to the hub causing the spokes to leave the hub at acute angles. I was not sure what if I might experience an increase in spoke breakage but so far have had none.

If anyone out there has built any unusual patterns or is about to start doing so, I would be very interested in knowing. So please Email me.

Please send Email to: cookrp@rpcsoftware.co.

Build WheelsAll these Gif's only show one side (Click on GIF to go to page)

36 Spokes Crow foot

This means that each set has to be inverted (Inward bound spokes on one set become outward bound on the adjacent sets). While the two crossing spokes leave on the same side of the hub the radial spoke leaves on the other and is interlaced with the crossing spokes.

The valve is a 7 O'clock. In this pattern you just need to make sure the valve is next to a radial spoke. Make the first spoke you start with a radial, and place next to the valve hole.

3 Leading 3 Trailing

This pattern I first saw on a motor cycle. Sheldon Brown also notified me of this pattern. Having 36 spokes all the same length (3X) it was easy to build, however all spokes are laced at some point (some three times).

Maintenance with such lacing may require the removal of other spokes to replace the broken one.

I think this is the best looking wheel I have seen,

A 32 spoke version can be built using 2 leading and 2 Trailing spokes (2X Length).

If you look at the outside spokes (At the hub) They are interlaced with all three spokes in the opposing set, The middle spoke is interlaced with two spokes, and the inside spoke is interlaced with only one.

The outside spoke are mildly curved as they run from the hub to the rim in the region of the interlacing

The valve is at 6 O'clock. As you can see there are only 3 places the valve can really go.

Try to ignore the shadows on the wall.

40 Spokes Crows Foot

This has been the most difficult wheel I have ever built. It took over three hours to build and has three different spoke lengths.

It has 40 spokes with 5 spokes to each set.

8 * Radial, 16 * 3X and 16 * 4X.

It was a challenge to build but has remained remarkably true throughout it's existence with no trouble. It does seem to be a forgiving wheel as it has been dropped down a few potholes without any problems.

However spoke replacement will require major surgery.

I know crows don't have 5 toes but my imagination was running thin and the idea came from the original Crows Foot described earlier.

This wheel is a double sided fixed. This simplified the building as no dishing requirements were necessary.

Again the outside spokes in the set cross the outside spokes of the next set, making it necessary to invert adjacent sets.

Note the valve placement at 7 O'clock. This is in the mid point between two radial spokes. There appeared to be more room here than next to a radial spoke as in the 36 spoke version.

Crossed LengthsTake a good look at the week below. All the spokes cross 3 other spokes bwteen leaving the hub and meeting the rim. But there are no 3X length spokes used at all.

The leading spokes are 4X and the trailing spkes are 2X.

I have not built one of these and neither do I intend to do so.It does question the defintion of spoke length being determined by the number of spokes they cross.

A more accurate definition would be a displacment factor. Consider a radial spoke. This would have a displacment factor of 0. Now displace the spoke one hole in the rim in any direction (Ignoring holes for the other side of the wheel). This spoke would now have a displacement factor of 1 or what is currently known as 1 Cross. Displace it again and it has a displacment of 2 or 2 Cross. This definition works for all methods of wheel building and not just regular patterns.

The wheel illustrated would have uneven tension in the spokes. All the trailing spokes would have greater tension than the leading. If the wheel was built so that all the trailing spokes had less tension (4X spokes) and all the

leading spokes had more tension (2X spokes). This may be advantageous for rear wheels to compensate for the affects of acceleration. However I am not an enginneer and will leave this thought with them.

Wheels I Might BuildThese wheels have remained designed but as yet have not been built. It's hard to justify the cost of building them when I already have more wheels than I need. One day perhaps.

This is a 32 spoke 2 Leading 2 Trailing design with 2X Spokes. Hopefully this will be the next wheel I build when I can justify it.

This is a 40 Spoke 2 Leading 2 Trailing design with 4X Spokes. Unfortunately nobody makes 40 hole light weight rims any longer so this design may never be built.

Classic wheel spoke patterns are well adapted to the strains they have to deal with but they’re so

common that we may be getting rid of them.

There are many special spoke patterns that can’t be forgotten whose pros are difficult to find but

they exist anyway. Wrong length spokes can be used with almost any rim and hub.

See this real good spoke pattern used by  Boonen from Fairwheelbikes and WeightWeenies, it’s

very used these days and called Crows foot:

This spoke pattern uses radial spoking and crossed spoking advantages. it’s for example used by 

Bikemessenger from Ligerowheels.

Twisted spokes allow to use longer spokes than expected with a normal build. There are several

cons since spoke tightening phase is more difficult, flexy spokes must be used and one won’t be

able to use the spokes manymore.

Another nice thing thanks to Terry using a 32 holes hub with a 16 holes carbon rim. Drive side

spokes are all heads in while non drive side spokes have their heads out in order to increase wheel

balance. Spokes are one time crossed but spoke angle from the hub is actually like a two times

crossed.

Another weird spoke pattern is the 3-pulling/3-pushing;

No real advantage over a conventionnal build but it’s non common!

Here are some others build example for more and more crafty wheels:

Hybrid crows foot:

5 spokes crows foot:

A different version of the 3-pulling/3-pushing:

Radial / 3xcrossed mix:

Many many variations exist while mixing them, 4x/2x, 4x/radial, etc…