Originally Posted by
Jeff Neese
Here are a few:
Linked above, has charts for different types of spokes. Uses the Park Tool TM-1 readings but includes conversion tables.
The Complete Guide To Wheel Spokes Tension
A bit more comprehensive and includes readings for several common tensiometers, for different spokes.
Spoke tension tables - A database of tension meters and spoke tension charts
And for those that just don't want to buy a tensiometer, Sheldon Brown produced this chart detailing specifications by musical pitch. I have heard of people using a guitar tuning app. Obviously professional wheelbuilders have a tensiometer, but this could be helpful for the home DIYer that wants to perform a rough check.
Check Spoke Tension by Ear
These were all from the first page of Google results so these charts and tables aren't hard to find.
Many people go to great lengths to check things on their bike, especially a new mail-order bike, a used bike, or as part of their preseason checkout, but wheels don't seem to be part of that. Folks check tire condition and air pressure, shifting performance, braking, and all sorts of other things before getting on the bike and riding it. It seems that a lot of people don't check spoke tension as part of that, and are then shocked when they start breaking spokes.
None of those links are “manufacturer recommendations for spoke tension”. They are conversion tables for spoke tensiometers or methods for getting even spoke tension. I gave you a range from Velocity but if that range is more of a guess than an actual number.
Here’s an example. I built a wheel yesterday using a Mavic XC317 disc rim. Can you find a recommended spoke tension for that rim? I certainly can’t. Any number I’ve found for any rim is the same as the Velocity where they use a range but what does that mean? 135kgf for a rim doesn’t say much. Should all the spokes be that tension? That wouldn’t work for a dished wheel. Since the tensions are different for different sides of the dish, what is the value to be used?
The ICAN article that you linked actually
does give a value but says that the tension can be ±20% of their recommendations. Let’s look at the implications of that wild ass guess. There is a CN494 spoke that they use with the “ICAN standard hub”. They recommend nondrive side tension of 51 kgf and drive side tension of 96 kgf. That would be a reading of 17 and 23 on the Park TM-1 meter. But ±20% means that the tension can vary from 40kgf to 61kgf on the nondrive side and 76.8kgf to 115 kgf. I have experience with the TM-1 and know that a reading of about 14 on the nondrive side would make for spokes that are too loose.
Additionally, as someone who made a living measuring stuff, I gotta say that ±20% is a piss poor measurement. It’s just a wild ass guess. If I submitted a measurement with that kind of variance, I’d have been scolded and/or fired.