Q for wheelbuilders: Spoke tension for HED Stingers 60 and 90

Triathlon Forum
1

I will appreciate if there is anyone here that could tell me what spokes are used (I think the rear and front of these wheels are different material) on the rear 60 and 90 Stingers and in the front 60. I also need to know what is the recommended tension for these spokes is in Kfg.

I decided to do this myself after having the 90 rear Stinger repeatedly loosing the spoke tension (apparently because of vibration) when the bike rode on the rack on the back of my truck on a several hundred miles trip. The second time I lowered the tire pressure for the ride back home and the same thing happened. It seems that the bike mechanic was able to always true the wheel but not at the proper tension. The wheels are tubular so you can imagine it is not fun at all having to take take off a well glued tubular from such a wheel.

I have a Park Tool TM-1 tension meter at hand.

Thanks beforehand for your comments,

Sergio

2

You may want to apply Spoke Prep to the spoke threads. It is a weak loctite-like substance that prevents spokes from vibrating loose. I think HED used Ti spoke for hte front and rear non-drive side on those wheels and steel on the drive side, but dont hold me to that.

Zipp recommends a limit of 100kgf, but I’m not sure what HED says. I haven’t had the best luck with that tensiometer, be careful not to overdo it.

3

I will appreciate if there is anyone here that could tell me what spokes are used (I think the rear and front of these wheels are different material) on the rear 60 and 90 Stingers and in the front 60. I also need to know what is the recommended tension for these spokes is in Kfg.

I decided to do this myself after having the 90 rear Stinger repeatedly loosing the spoke tension (apparently because of vibration) when the bike rode on the rack on the back of my truck on a several hundred miles trip. The second time I lowered the tire pressure for the ride back home and the same thing happened. It seems that the bike mechanic was able to always true the wheel but not at the proper tension. The wheels are tubular so you can imagine it is not fun at all having to take take off a well glued tubular from such a wheel.

I have a Park Tool TM-1 tension meter at hand.

Thanks beforehand for your comments,

Sergio

Sergio,
I had asked Andy T. about this awhile back for my front Jet 90, here’s what he wrote me at the time:

Hi Tom,
Most of the stinger 90 fronts are Ti. You can check with a strong magnet. A stainless spoke will still have a little attraction, none with Ti. With Ti spokes, I would like to see 10-13 on a park gauge, with steel, 11-14. -andy

4

I will appreciate if there is anyone here that could tell me what spokes are used (I think the rear and front of these wheels are different material) on the rear 60 and 90 Stingers and in the front 60. I also need to know what is the recommended tension for these spokes is in Kfg.

I decided to do this myself after having the 90 rear Stinger repeatedly loosing the spoke tension (apparently because of vibration) when the bike rode on the rack on the back of my truck on a several hundred miles trip. The second time I lowered the tire pressure for the ride back home and the same thing happened. It seems that the bike mechanic was able to always true the wheel but not at the proper tension. The wheels are tubular so you can imagine it is not fun at all having to take take off a well glued tubular from such a wheel.

I have a Park Tool TM-1 tension meter at hand.

Thanks beforehand for your comments,

Sergio

Sergio,
I had asked Andy T. about this awhile back for my front Jet 90, here’s what he wrote me at the time:

Hi Tom,
Most of the stinger 90 fronts are Ti. You can check with a strong magnet. A stainless spoke will still have a little attraction, none with Ti. With Ti spokes, I would like to see 10-13 on a park gauge, with steel, 11-14. -andy

I am pretty sure now that the Stinger front wheels are Ti and the rear are Stainless.

A TM-1 Deflection Reading (DR) of 10-13 in that bladed Jet 90 Ti spoke should be around 57-72 Kgf. A DR of 11-14 in steel corresponds to 47-65 Kgf.

Should I go a bit higher for the rear steel spokes? Maybe a DR of 14-15?

Sergio

5

I will appreciate if there is anyone here that could tell me what spokes are used (I think the rear and front of these wheels are different material) on the rear 60 and 90 Stingers and in the front 60. I also need to know what is the recommended tension for these spokes is in Kfg.

I decided to do this myself after having the 90 rear Stinger repeatedly loosing the spoke tension (apparently because of vibration) when the bike rode on the rack on the back of my truck on a several hundred miles trip. The second time I lowered the tire pressure for the ride back home and the same thing happened. It seems that the bike mechanic was able to always true the wheel but not at the proper tension. The wheels are tubular so you can imagine it is not fun at all having to take take off a well glued tubular from such a wheel.

I have a Park Tool TM-1 tension meter at hand.

Thanks beforehand for your comments,

Sergio

Sergio,
I had asked Andy T. about this awhile back for my front Jet 90, here’s what he wrote me at the time:

Hi Tom,
Most of the stinger 90 fronts are Ti. You can check with a strong magnet. A stainless spoke will still have a little attraction, none with Ti. With Ti spokes, I would like to see 10-13 on a park gauge, with steel, 11-14. -andy

I am pretty sure now that the Stinger front wheels are Ti and the rear are Stainless.

A TM-1 Deflection Reading (DR) of 10-13 in that bladed Jet 90 Ti spoke should be around 57-72 Kgf. A DR of 11-14 in steel corresponds to 47-65 Kgf.

Should I go a bit higher for the rear steel spokes? Maybe a DR of 14-15?

Sergio

I don’t know…that’s a good question for Andy. Typically, the driveside spokes are set to a certain tension, and then the non-driveside end up being whatever it takes to get the proper dish. That said, 47-65 Kgf seems a bit light to me.

I’d recommend that you PM or email Andy and get the definitive answer.

6

FWIW I had a set of jet 2000s that had a lot of loosening issues. I got tired of paying a shop to true them constantly so I did it myself (without any gauge). After several hundred more miles and additional trueings (?sp) it pulled one of the nipples through the rim (now junk). So in my case the spokes were stronger than the rims. Expensive mistake. Even with a gauge, I would question its accuracy on nipples and spokes that have been torqued multiple times.