You're right, they can be reasonably strong. I'm a bike mechanic first and
foremost, and I've built hundreds of wire wheels. Maybe thousands. For most
of the time I made my living wrenching they were the only choice. I still
have a spoke torque wrench that I built. I still have my wheel building
stand and dial indicators with roller tips. I built experimental wire wheels
with the spokes connected to the outer rims instead of nipples in the center
of the rim (as they currently do with the GS1200 BMW). I built double spoked
(80 spokes) rear wheels for SC500 Yamaha desert sleds and Maico 450s. I can
drill dimples for three cross and four cross spoke patterns in my sleep (and
according to my wife I sometimes do).
Spokes are unique in that they break in every possible place. You'd think it
would be at the first thread, or where the head met the bending jig. But
I've seen them break right in the middle with no apparent flaw. Having them
all properly tight helps because it spreads the load over more spokes, but
there's always one that's taking more than the others. The most modern wire
wheels use straight spokes--the hubs are drilled with the proper angle. They
use stainless spokes with rolled threads (or no threads and a swaged
nipple). They'd be okay, but they cost a mint.
Personally I'm very happy to put a set of cheap mags on my car with exactly
the offset I want and have one less thing to worry about.
Bill Babcock
Babcock & Jenkins
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