Tied and Soldered

[landsurfer]

I've got my hubs ... Normandy Lg Flange, rear double fixed ...
Is there anyone out there still building Tied and Soldered fixed road wheels ...
I have 2 pairs built by Charlie Alexander of Cardiff which are in irregular use but would like a new build pair ...... their 38 years old ...
He wasn't happy building them with clincher rims for the then new Michelin Elan tyres which i raced on.
I rode tubs for most of my TT events but realised very quickly the benefits of clinchers...

Your thoughts peers ...?

[Hobbs1951]

I'm sure I know two wheelbuilders that could build this way, however I've never used large flange hubs with tied and soldered spokes on the road - far too rigid.

On the track yes, road nooooo.

John.

[rjb]

Ok if you have money to burn otherwise it's of no benefit. Discussion on an old thread here. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=67685&p=578480&hilit=Tied+Soldered#p578480

[foxyrider]

In the days of 'cheese' rims it was common practice even on LF to T&S wheels. Did it make any difference? Not really sure. The last wheels I had done were in the mid 80's, I paid a lot of money to have it done. But the job was shoddy, many of the ties loose, I could have done better myself!

Maybe if I was building a retro museum piece i'd do it but there really is no advantage.

[Brucey]

FWIW trying to soft-solder onto stainless steel spokes is often a waste of time; it doesn't want to wet and even if it appears to, it often soon works loose again. If you are set on tying and soldering, it works best on rustless spokes, if you want it to do anything useful, that is. In terms of 'useful' there is little benefit past the looks of the thing, apart from the ends of broken spokes not flapping about so much.

I wouldn't bother with it.

cheers