Originally Posted by
3alarmer
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...the calculated ratio you quote is an estimate, and depend on how much dish you put in the wheel you build. So a rear wheel with a five gear rear cluster (not much dish), will be different from one with a ten gear rear cluster (a lot more dish, to make room for the wider cluster.) The primary concern is having the wheel rim centered in the frame, equidistant between the two lock nuts that fit in the dropouts.
I rarely even know what this number is. I just use a dishing gauge to center the rim, as I gradually increase tension to the maximum recommended for the rim by the manufacturer.
Good to hear. The estimate part makes sense. The spoke calculator doesn't ask about the cluster. My freewheel will be a 6-sp, ultra-spacing and all of my other wheels are <= 7 sp. Knowing that the tensions are an estimate and would be less for the smaller clusters settles the issue for me. As well, my spoke tension meter isn't calibrated. So relative tensions and a dish gauge are the best I can do and I do the best I can. Thank you.