Never mind the blizzards, it's the spoke nipples!

[Huff n Puff]

Jolly Rotten luck? Sod Vicious weather let's make the most of a DNS weekend:

Having decided to let the Met Office scare me into DNSing The Dean, I got in the car and did a bit of exploration and prep for the MAY DAY CHILTERN AUDAXES yesterday and found new bike shops new cafes and a wonderful old working water mill that still makes and sells bread.....I even built two wheels this weekend too!

http://www.westerley.cc/may-day-chiltern-audaxes-theyre-back/

[Cudzoziemiec]

Talking of spoke nipples, popping into Halfords on the outskirts of Weston-super-Mare on Saturday we were treated to a chat with the mechanic about the downhiller he's building up for himself: purple spokes and green nipples.

[Huff n Puff]

Green and Purple sounds very Wimbledon All England Tennis and Cycling Club!

Coincidentally I went for Purple Nipples .... Westerley CC colours.

New Wheels  ,

[Cudzoziemiec]

Wimbledon hadn't occurred to me; good spot! It made me think of something vaguely along the lines of Fungus the Bogeyman and/or the Gruffalo.

[Wycombewheeler]

Talking of spoke nipples, popping into Halfords on the outskirts of Weston-super-Mare on Saturday we were treated to a chat with the mechanic about the downhiller he's building up for himself: purple spokes and green nipples.

Amateur
Should be yellow with purple. It's that lack of attention to detail that stops me using Halfords.

[Huff n Puff]

Halfords out of stock of yellow nipples again?

[whosatthewheel]

Annoyingly, and forgive me if I wrong, but this is what I can see from here, the rear lacing is "wrong". If you look at the valve, it sits between two converging spokes, whereas it should always sit between two diverging spokes, like the front.

It's not a massive issue and won't compromise the quality of the build, but... can you live with that?

On a different note, those rotors are the dogs bollox!! 

[Huff n Puff]

I can definitely live with that, but your observation is appreciated.
Bizarrely, I was at an event tonight at the V&A and at the networking drinks afterwards I got invited to an engineering event on Thursday where some science boffin is giving a talk on spokes.......seriously, never saw that coming, me at an engineering event! With my reputation? What were they thinking?
Anyway, I'll ask if it makes any difference.

[Grandad]

Should be yellow with purple.

That's our official club colours - must have a look in the local Halfords

[whosatthewheel]

I can definitely live with that, but your observation is appreciated.
Bizarrely, I was at an event tonight at the V&A and at the networking drinks afterwards I got invited to an engineering event on Thursday where some science boffin is giving a talk on spokes.......seriously, never saw that coming, me at an engineering event! With my reputation? What were they thinking?
Anyway, I'll ask if it makes any difference.

it won't make any difference it is purely aesthetic... provided the converging spokes don't prevent you from accessing the valve with the pump.
It can be a problem on a 36 spokes wheel, as space between spokes is tight

[Huff n Puff]

Thanks Whossthewheel...... that's worth knowing. I tend to make 28 spoke wheels s that is the number of holes iny dynamos.

Having made one fashion faux Pas, the fact that yellow and purple is clearly the colour of the season was reinforced when I got in last night.

Belstedly, my Ride London acceptance magazine had arrived in the post and the person pictured on the front cover in sporting a resplendent purple and yellow cycling jersey. 

[Huff n Puff]

Just picked up the email inviting me to the engineering event:

Continuing our celebration of the 200th anniversary of the
invention of the bicycle, the club has assembled
some diverse presentations to explore the modern
development of the bicycle.
Chris Burgoyne is Emeritus Professor of Structural
Engineering at the University of Cambridge. He is a leading
expert in pre-stressed structures and the tendons and fibres
which provide tensile strength. In his talk he will look at how
tension works in both the spokes and tyre of the modern
bicycle wheel.
Mike Burrows is an engineer who is probably best known for
the aerodynamic frame that helped Chris Boardman win
Olympic gold in 1992. We will  launch with a video which looks at
the story behind a number of different bike designs by Mike
Burrows – racing, compact frame, freight and city bikes. He
will be attending in person to give a short update on his latest
developments with South Bank University to take on the Battle
Mountain human-powered land speed record.

That should learn me to get me spokes right in future guv'nor!

[Huff n Puff]

Have noted that this event is open to all, so here's a link if anyone fancies attending tomorrow evening:

http://www.engineeringclub.org.uk/cycling-night-2018.html

[Grandad]

Should be yellow with purple.

That's our official club colours - must have a look in the local Halfords

Belstedly, my Ride London acceptance magazine had arrived in the post and the person pictured on the front cover in sporting a resplendent purple and yellow cycling jersey.

Sadly not ours then -the latest version has only a minimal trace of the official colours.

[Huff n Puff]

The engineering event about cycling was awesome. Mike Burrows, what an amazing character!  Designed bikes for Lotus, Giant and now an upcoming HPV World Record attempt.

Chris Burgoyne from Cambridge Universoty was fascinating too, who'd have thought wheels could be so interesting? Oh yeah, me!

[Huff n Puff]

It was nice to find out from fellow riders that, apparently, I am not the only person to have made the fashion faux pas of my valve being between convergent spokes......thanks for the empathy chaps!