There is a lot of speculation and myths about tying and soldering spokes. A small part of riders and mechanics, especially older ones, still believe that this procedure brings a number of benefits, the most important of which is the alleged increase in wheel stiffness. So why is it currently so rare? Is no one in the 21st century have time for this? Or maybe it just … doesn’t make sense?
The main benefits of binding spokes are:
And that would be it for the sure things.
Now let’s try to answer the question of whether binding spokes translates into an increase in stiffness. Those interested in the topic of wheel stiffness are referred to our blog post entitled “Demystifying wheel stiffness”. It so happened that we were just laceing a wheel for a vintage Legnano tandem from the 1970s, when the customer asked us to tie and solder the spokes. We took the opportunity to measure the lateral stiffness before and after this procedure. This is a rather unique wheel – made with 40 straight spokes with a diameter of 1.8 mm and a soft, like an old banana, low-profile rim. Nevertheless, the dependence that we can observe here is universal for all wheels. The results presented below clearly show that binding and soldering spokes does not increase lateral stiffness. As mentioned in Demystification … too low radial and torsional stiffness are not a problem in properly built bicycle wheels, so – to put it simply – binding and soldering spokes does not affect the stiffness of the wheels.
Wheel deflection at the load point and on the opposite side:
Wheel before soldering spokes – 1.36 / 0.23 mm
Wheel with soldered spokes – 1.36 / 0.26 mm
Modern rims are now so stiff and strong that they allow spokes to be tensioned to such high values that the annoying sounds caused by spokes rubbing against each other at the crosses are no longer a common problem. Currently produced spokes are also so well made that the problem of their breaking (if the wheels were carefully assembled and tensioned by a professional wheel builder who knows how to use a tensiometer) is not as common as it used to be. Therefore, all the benefits of spoke binding are no longer relevant. Another reason why soldering spokes no longer makes sense today is the fact that high-end spokes are now made from smooth stainless steel, which is not easily solderable. There are only two reasons why it may still make sense to do it: aesthetics or restoration of a vintage bicycle with attention to detail and respect for historical solutions. If, despite our opinion, you still want to bind and solder the spokes in your wheels, you can entrust this task to us – but be prepared that due to the laboriousness of this service, it will not be cheap.
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