3alarmer

Eight! Eight! Eight! Eight! Eight! Eight! Eight! Eight! Eight!

mrrabbit 

*sniff*

...no one noticed my comment about upside down spoke labels...

*sniff*

...no love on BikeForums.

=8-(

FBinNY 

Kimmo, that assumes a fact not in evidence, which is that a label facing right is correct and one facing left is wrong. Given that Shimano felt it was appropriate to have a hub label read from the left side of the bike, I hold that the right reading label is a purely arbitrary distinction.

To be clear- I don't have any issue with folks who claim that a right side reading label is right, only with those who claim that a left reading rim label is somehow wrong, and the greatest issue with those who feel that rim label direction is any indicator of attention to detail or build quality.

aixaix 

I don't think Einstein said this. He was smart enough to realize that results depend on factors other than our actions; that much human activity is repetitious with varied results (farming, e.g.: some years a bumper crop, some years bupkis); that insanity can take many forms, such as extending a thread long past its relevance.

Mr. Rabbit: don't feel neglected! The spoke label post was spirited, humorous and relevant (well, no less relevant than most of these posts). Who wouldn't love an irascible, curmudgeonly anthropomorphic lagomorph?

FBinNY 

Michael, I wasn't there when he said it, but it's attributed to him by many fairly reliable sources. OTOH, this could also be urban myth, and I lack the time or inclination to research it either way. A friend in the military heard it from his seargent while in basic basic training way back during the Vietnam war era, so it dates back at least to the sixties.

Whether Einstein said or not, I find it practical reminder at times.

aixaix 

Francis! We're doing it again! Extending this thread! This madness must stop! Mustn't it? I know: I'll add some more stuff to it. Didn't work too well the last dozen or so times, but maybe this time...

There's madness and then there's metamadness...

FBinNY 

My friend Mike won the pool for page 8, I figured we were working on page 9.

cranky old road 

I wonder when this fastidiousness began? I know that my grandfather who had a bicycle factory in Germany in the 20's made no mention of it when I was 9 and he showed me how to re-lace a wheel. I know that Dr. Sloane makes no mention of it in his step-by-step wheelbuilding instructions in The Complete Book of Bicycling , 1970. What is the earliest reference we can find to hub-label-through-the-valve-hole and rim-label orientations? Is it in Jobst Brandt's book? Has anyone had a chance to look at old wheelsets in museums to see if they follow these cultural imperatives? Are the labels on Eddy's orange team Molteni bike still legible? WHich way do they face? Fat old cyclists with ruined knees want to know!

3alarmer

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin

3alarmer

Gimme an N!.......gimme an I!.........gimme an N!.......gimme an E!.....

himespau 

to me it looks like we're only on page 7.

ThermionicScott 

Depends on your forum settings. It's 7 pages for me as well.

aixaix 

That's kind of funny. Seems to me an addict would be a poster child for sanity, then. After all, he's repeating an act (using) expecting to get the same result (high).

I just noticed the bike in my office has mismatched valve stems. The back one is at least 1/2" longer than the front. No wonder I can't ride it no hands!

3alarmer

So from this, can I assume you guys come down on the
side of "appearances are very important" ?

himespau 

Nah, I'm just on the side of preferring to click as few times as possible, so I like more posts/page. I was planning on building up a wheelset this winter, but now I'm too worried that I won't get things lined up right. I also bought a wheelset for a different build from what I believe to be the vender OP bought from. I actually haven't unboxed it yet, as the frame it's going on has been out of my hands for a while and needs a fair bit of work when I get it back before it's ready to put wheels on. I've been told (if this is the same vendor) that he buys machine-built wheels, and then loosens and retensions them by hand. Whatever, in my case, I wasn't going to question how he was able to make a wheelset with tiagra hubs and mavic a319 rims for $125 shipped as long as they're round and true when I need them.

FBinNY 

I can't tell you when it started, but at least here in New York nobody cared about it when I started building wheels in the sixties. The most reputed builder in the area, never mentioned it to me back when I was starting out, and he was getting ready to retire.

Sometime in the late seventies, or early eighties (in NY) a few people decided it was kinda cute to be able to read the hub marking through the valve hole, and the idea caught on. As to the rim label, it's news to me, but I don't always stay up with these sorts of trends.

Unfortunately things like this take on a life of their own. It takes less effort to line up the labels than it does to explain that you don't put stock in this nonsense.

If I built wheels for a living, I'd probably follow suit for that reason. But because I only build for a small referral clientel, and being who I am, I'll use the same attention to detail, and have rims read from the left, and hub decals face the rim decal starting now. That way my wheels will be different again.

photogravity

+1 I'm in!

CACycling

Actually, most addicts are using to escape their problems. Each time they come down, they find their problems are still there and often have increased. They use more but keep coming back to a reality that is constantly getting worse because of their use. That is not sane.

Bill in Houston

I noticed, Mr Rabbit.

I think OP should peel off both stickers, and then restick them perfectly just how he wants them.

blamp28

I think the OP should peel off both stickers and leave them off for a cool shaved custom look.

blamp28

And I vote for at least nine pages

tcarl

I can't believe that we're closing in on 200 comments and that no one has yet started discussing the need to keep all the spoke nipples aligned not only with each other, but perfectly "square" to the rim (or is it better that they're in the more aerodynamic "diamond" shape when looking down on them?). This subject needs all aspects of it to be thoroughly considered, not ignoring any minute details. I just don't see how an average of an eigth turn to get each nipple to line up can have that much effect regarding spoke tension and quality of build.

Six jours

Pshaw. Any decent wheelbuilder will grind the corners off the nipples in order to improve aerodynamics. As per my previous post, the key is the slotted side of the nipple. These all need to be lined up with each other ("regulated", as the British say) and parallel with the rim.

davidad

Let's go for an even TEN!

3alarmer

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Cable-end-caps
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