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The Bicycle Wheel 3rd Edition [Hardcover]

Jobst Brandt
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)


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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 150 pages
  • Publisher: Avocet; 3rd edition (1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0960723668
  • ISBN-13: 978-0960723669
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

This is the book if you even have a remote interest in building your own wheels. mason sinclair  |  12 reviewers made a similar statement
I have been using Mr. Brandt's book for 19 years now (since its first edition in 1981). Kurt Klappenbach  |  4 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
84 of 86 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Good but I'd like an update and correction June 8, 2005
Format:Hardcover
Unlike some reviewers who would like to see Brandt describe and bless novel spoking patterns, I concur with his recommendation of traditional spoking. The traditional tangent tension-spoked wheel is one of the most elegant and efficient structures ever devised. A wheelbuilder may choose a rim, hub and spokes at will and so, construct wheels of many kinds that are not available commercially. With skill and care, an amateur may build wheels of professional quality. The traditional wheel may be built to the desired degree of ruggedness vs. weight, and if damaged, can often be made usable with an emergency repair or adjustment.

Brandt's advice faces challenges from within the bicycle industry, which is always looking for a new selling point. Wheels with low spoke counts, trendy now (2006) are more tolerable with deep-section aero rims than with shallow rims and can make sense for racers, who are willing to sacrifice reliability for a very slight increase in performance -- but for most bicyclists, it is much more important not to get stranded or crash than to increase speed by half a percent.

Some of the newer types of wheels may sell because they look different, but provide little actual advantage. Wheels with thick aluminum or polycarbonate spokes decrease weight slightly but at a major expense in air drag. Carbon-fiber spokes have a very poor record of reliability and safety, though carbon-fiber-epoxy composite material has been used successfully in rims and in single-piece formed wheels. Still, brake shoes wear carbon-fiber-epoxy quickly, so a metal braking surface is preferable. Don't get me talking about paired spokes, which make a wheel look as if it has fewer spokes -- but require a heavier rim, because longer rim segments are unsupported. The inward pull of the spokes is, after all, about 10 times the lateral pull.

I have built some wheels with radial spokes, but I caught one with a cracked hub flange quite by chance shortly before it would have caused a nasty crash. Since that time I have been very careful which hubs I will spoke radially. As usual, Brandt is correct with his warning on this topic.

There is one serious error in Brandt's book, and I am astonished that it has not been corrected through 3 editions. A graph, on page 39 in the 3rd edition, shows the change in spoke tension with lateral loading of the rim. The left spokes are shown to go into compression. They can't, as they simply flex once they are slack. It might also be asked whether this graph reflects the influence of spokes that are differently stressed as the load is applied at the bottom of the wheel. To do so would require a more complicated mathematical model than I think Brandt was able to command.

I also disagree with Brandt's advice to tension spokes until the rim begins to deform. It can then deform further due to increased stresses during riding, and loosen the spokes. I have seen a new wheel which failed after a few miles for this reason. Spokes should be tight, but should leave a margin of safety. If the rim deforms before the spokes reach their optimum range of tension, then they are too thick for it, or it is too weak for them.

I would really like to see this book updated with today's more sophisticated finite-element analysis, including analysis of stresses in the novel low spoke-count wheels. But for people who are willing to build conventional wheels -- the better choice anyway for most cyclists -- this book is a valuable and fairly comprehensive reference.
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65 of 67 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Opinionated and Priceless August 14, 1997
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Jobst Brandt is an engineer who has been a consultant to the bicycle industry for many years, having been involved in the creation of Avocet's line of road tires, among other products. Those who have corresponded with him or read his posts on rec.bicycling know him as an opinionated, seemingly gruff fellow who does not suffer fools lightly. Quite a reputation.


But what Jobst is probably best known for is this book, The Bicycle Wheel. In it, he demolishes myths, and gives actual engineering data to support his contentions about bicycle wheels materials and construction. He tells you why butted spokes are better and longer lasting than straight gauge spokes, and why tying and soldering spokes doesn't make a wheel any stronger (and why it was nonetheless a useful thing for track racers to do). He explains why radial spoking doesn't really make for a rougher ride, as some claim, and he gives actual figures on elongation and strain to back up his claims And he teaches you how to build good bicycle wheels, too.


This is a book for any serious bicycle rider. If you choose to build your own wheels, Brandt will teach you to that. If you buy your wheels, Brandt will teach you to spec and maintain them. And if you're simply interested in better understanding the function and physics of bicycle wheels, he'll teach you that as well. Not a bad deal for one small volume.

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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have been using Mr. Brandt's book for 19 years now (since its first edition in 1981). It is invaluable. Concise, clearly written. It debunks myths and makes the seemingly complicated matter of the bicycle wheel easy to understand and not intimidating at all. Maintain, repair, rebuild or build new wheels. The results are perfect. Ride without fear. Have pride in what you have done and show it off to others.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars Sadly disappointed - a waste of money
This has been called 'the bible of wheelbuilding' - well it may be but i also think the bible is outdated poorly illustrated disagree strongly. Read more
Published 1 month ago by glendott
3.0 out of 5 stars A caution for light sew up rims
The general theory is excellent but you have to bear in mind that Jobst's favorite rim was a fairly heavy Mavic clincher touring rim that was exceptionally strong. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Stevan Thomas
5.0 out of 5 stars the Bicycle wheel
Jobst writes a factual book about wheel building - not the easiest one to follow but the theory & technical information is absolutely top notch

Rob Rudman
master... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Rob. Rudman
4.0 out of 5 stars Definitive
This is perhaps the most important book that has ever been published about bicycle wheels. I got my first copy while working in a bike shop when it was originally published, and... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Vernon Forbes
5.0 out of 5 stars HOW TO
I've built a dozen or more wheels with this book at my side. They all performed well. The hard parts are dishing to allow for gear cluster width and chain line and truing. Read more
Published 6 months ago by JOBLESSNUSA
1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money
I bought this book because I want to build electric bicycle wheels, and I was hoping to get information on different lacings, spoke diameters, and wheel strength so that I could... Read more
Published 8 months ago by H. Gonzalez
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book.
Explains the finer details of wheel building. Gives the equations in the back of the book for your use or make a spreadsheet for yourself. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Joe User
4.0 out of 5 stars Complimentary to Schraner's book
The finite element analysis aspects of this book make it a nice complement to Gerd Schraner's book.

I do wish he did not use the "wheel stands on its spokes" terminology... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Jim T
5.0 out of 5 stars great book
really good guide to wheel building - covers theory how to build wheels spoke, hub and rim selection wheel repair the text is a little dated but all the information holds true... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Hammer
3.0 out of 5 stars Good guide for the basics, but lacking on the "how to" fine points.
This was the first book I read on wheel building and gained a good sense of the basics. The book can get very technical at points, but it misses some critical issues such as how... Read more
Published 18 months ago by J. Hogan
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