By Anna Collins


A wire wheel simply refers to a wheel in which the rims are connected to the hubs by wires. They are known by several other names including tension-spoked, suspension, or wire-spoked wheels. Suspension wheel should not be confused with vehicle suspension because the two are very different. Wire wheels function by maintaining the rim in shape while they support the load applied. They function in a similar manner to tensioned flexible wires.

These products were invented in 1808 by an aeronautical engineer named George Cayley. Cayley made the proposal on how the wheel could function and its production but never applied for a patent on it. Someone named Theodore Jones was the one issued with the patent later in October of 1826 in London. A patent for using the product on bicycles was first issued to a French named Eugene Meyer in 1969.

These products were first successfully used on a commercial scale on bicycles. Their use began shortly after the invention of bicycles and adoption of rubber tires. Its introduction came with a lot of improvements that lacked before. First, there was a lot of comfort and more weight could be supported.

Important properties such as elasticity lacked in the older wood-made wheel, which made it insufficient in many ways. For instance, because elasticity lacked, absorption of road variations was poor. Several millions of suspension wheel commodities got manufactured yearly by early bicycle makers. They utilized crossed-spoke patterns mostly where crossings of adjacent spokes was dependent on how many spokes were available. However, two-cross, no-cross, and one-cross among other patterns still remained in wide use.

The common patterns named above are considered to have more strength and stability. They have been in use for more than a century and their use seems stable and probably increasing. Irregular patterns have been determined to be simply art forms with very little structural merit. The introduction of cast wheels that contain 5-6 rigid spokes started appearing in professional racing and the Olympic games in the 1980s. They are applied in time trial and similar specialized applications, but wire-spoked product remain in wide use.

Stainless steel is the main material used in production even though several other materials are also in use. Stainless steel is a preferred material because it is much stronger and elastic. Because of the strength of steel, the wheel remains un-deformed under great load. The Chinese have recently started producing products that are made from plastic.

The number of wires in a product is usually varied. Some products have more wires than others. The main factor that determines the number of wires is the application the wheel is meant serve. For instance, products installed on cars have more wires than those installed on motorcycles and bicycles. The higher the number of wires, the stronger the device is.

These products are known for their beauty. The retro appearance is one of the factors why it is still in wide use on motorcycles. There are many producers worldwide today and they sell products at varied costs.




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