What’s the deal with the orange spokes opposite the valve stems. Are they a different material or gauge than the black spokes?Here's my rig!
What’s the deal with the orange spokes opposite the valve stems. Are they a different material or gauge than the black spokes?Here's my rig!
Can also help as an added visual reference for wheel tuning.I always assumed it was stylistic - add in a little color. The italians fixed it up that way.
Or for just when you want to add air.Can also help as an added visual reference for wheel tuning.
The weight of the valve is offset by a block inside some rims where the ends are joined. If the block is heavier than the valve, you might want lighter spokes on either side of the joint to refine the wheel balance. To test the balance, turn the bike upside down and give the wheel a spin. As the wheel slows, it will start a pendulum motion with the heaviest part of the rim/wheel nearest the ground.
For fun, switch the orange spokes to the valve side and see if the pendulum attains rest more quickly. When the spokes are being swapped, compare the weight of 4 orange to 4 black. Or if the orange spokes are smaller in diameter or made of Titanium (exhibiting no Ferro magnetism), the theory could apply.
If the rim is welded (no block), then the orange spokes may be heavier to compensate for the weight of the valve.
Some guys use wooden wheels and balance them with a whittler. The Halloween colored wheel decoration theory lacks credence.
They sure look like they make an arrow pointing right at the valve. I know that there are other tricks to line up the tire hot patch etc so you can quickly attach a pump but going hands on this looks like it would be a winner.I have seen many wild paint jobs on bikes. As a wheel smith, I am curious as to why these 4 particular spokes were singled out for a contrasting coloration.
The bikes I have seen with speed wobbles were not crabbing, but I can see that this might be a problem.speed wobbles are almost always due to wheels being out of plane with each other
Most wheel builders try to minimize balance issues by placing valves and joints on opposite sides of the rim. Even though these 2 weight sources are seldom identical, the net difference between them is usually insignificant.I've had a bike shimmy from a wheel out of true after hitting a hard bump, but I can't say I've EVER weight balanced a bicycle wheel, and never had any issues even on downhills (in CA) where I was going 60-70mph on my road bike (passing cars lol).