Originally Posted by
old's'cool
So, initiate me here, a z-bent spoke is useful for roadside repairs compared to a standard spoke, because you can install it ass-ways, which you can't do with a conventional spoke obviously?
Yes, ass-ways. The first "blade" spokes that came out in the 1970s had a so called "Z" bend like this so they could be instaled with any hub and Z bend spokes are stronger than the norm. When a regular spoke takes bad hit it has no place to go but "pop" at the bend. A Z spoke can "spring" out and then back. Yea, slicker than snake poop!