RE: Wire wheels again

["Jim Steck" <4sfed@xxxxxxxxx>]

Maybe I didn't make my point clear.  The strength of a wire wheel is not
inherently inferior to a cast wheel.  The main "fault" of a wire wheel is
it's cost.  Most of the assembly processes are very difficult to automate.
It can be made as strong and nearly as light as a cast aluminum wheel, but
not in the same "package".   Since the forces in the spokes of a wire wheel
are tension, some spokes must be angled away from the centerline of the car.
That geometry requires long wheel centers and limits maximum offset.  FWD
cars need not apply.

Lateral forces in cast and stamped wheels load the center (spokes or disk)
in bending.  Even though the input (tire) forces are the same, the load path
of a wire wheel is completely different than a cast wheel.

Jim Steck


> -------------------- original message --------------------------
> Subject: Wire wheels again
>
> Not to beat this into the ground, but I was thinking . . .
>
> The "preferred" engineering alternative to wire wheels on
> bicycles (and some > motor cycles) is now solid discs, and
> folks have said that "solid" steel wheels (as lighten and
> vented with holes) are the preferred alternative for
> vintage sports cars, so here's my question:
>
> Aren't all the same "faults" identified for wire wheels present
> in modern alloys that use a variation of the spoke-and-hub
> pattern?  I was thinking initially of the modern after-market
> wheels that have eight  "spokes," but I assume the same
> forces apply to the old BWA four spoke wheels.
>
> I presume the answer is that the strength of modern alloys makes
> the old wire wheel concerns moot, but the forces are the same,
> aren't they?
>

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