Hey folks,

I bet many of you are familiar with the wheel deformation calculations done by Jobst Brandt for his book The Bicycle Wheel. I built a web app for designing and testing virtual bicycle wheels. I recently received my PhD in Mechanical Engineering for my thesis on the mechanics and failure modes of bicycle wheels. The web app is based on the theory and simulation code I developed for the thesis. You can find the app at www.bicyclewheel.info

The app calculates spoke tensions and deformation of a bicycle wheel under external forces. For example, the plot below shows the spoke tensions for a wheel supporting weight (a radial load).

You can add whatever forces you want. Below is an example wheel supporting both weight and pedaling torque.

Unlike Brandt's calculation, the web app works in three dimensions, so you can also add lateral loads, and you can use different properties for the DS and NDS spokes. The wheel below has 3-cross spokes on the NDS and radial spokes on the DS and it's supporting weight, pedaling torque, and a lateral load.

Unless you somehow know the exact stiffness of your rim, you will probably want to start with one of the pre-defined rims. The properties of these rims have been measured using the acoustic technique that I developed with Patrick Peng (now at Boeing). Try picking a rim with similar properties and see what happens when you tweak the stiffness.

The app also calculates basic properties like stiffness, mass, effective rotating mass, and maximum tension.

I'm excited to continue improving and updating the app and I'm very interested in hearing feedback from the BikeForums community! Let me know what you think of the app and what improvements you'd like to see.