Anybody able to tell me the likely thread of spokes from an 70s or maybe 80s steel wheeled road bike. Unfortunately no idea which bike it came from a raleigh, schwinn, or panasonic, or none of those, it was a pile of frames and parts I bought a little while back. It was laced in a 4 cross which I will be redoing as a 3 cross once I order new spokes. Needed to unlace it to get a new hub on it as I had 2 27" front wheels. 2 spokes are hard turning so I would like to clean up the threading if possible on those spoke/nipple combinations. Ultimately it's not a big deal as I am going to build up a set of wheels with alloy rims but would like to be able to mount the wheels to set up the drivetrain and give it a short test ride.

56 tpi, just like downtown.

I am missing something here. I am trying to figure it out but I don't get it. Why downtown? Where the neon lights are pretty?

Old phrase, my friends all used it in the late 70's/80's.

Kinda like 'In like Flint' and millions more.

Bob's your uncle!

The vast majority are 56tpi regardless of spoke gauge, but there are exceptions:


Source: Sutherland's 4th Edition

thanks guys!