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In my article ‘Do Bicycle Hubs Hang from the Rim?‘ I explain that in order to understand how bicycle wheels work they need to be thought of as a complete structural system, with the hub, rim, and every spoke contributing to the strength and stability of the wheel. In this article I am going to explore how bicycle wheels actually… Read more: How Bicycle Wheels Work

Building bicycle wheels is one of those things which is often seen as black magic by people who have never done it before. The perceived complication starts with component choice. When you buy a pre-built wheel, the manufacturer or wheel builder chooses the hub, rim, and spokes for you; but when you build your own, the choice is yours, and… Read more: Bicycle Wheelbuilding Introduction

Spoke length calculators such as this typically rely on two standard hub measurements for each hub flange: pitch circle diameter, which is the diameter of the circle about which the spoke holes are drilled, and flange to center distance, which is the distance between the center of the hub and the center of the left or right flange. Shimano publish… Read more: Converting Shimano to Standard Bicycle Hub Dimensions for Spoke Length Calculation

What is bicycle chainline and why is it important? Simply put, chainline is the distance between the center of the bike frame and the center of the chain. Chainline can be measured at the crankset as well as at the cassette/rear gear cluster, and if the chainline of both is the same it is said to be perfect. But cassettes… Read more: Bicycle Chainline: What is it, how is it determined, and why is it important?