T

hese thin strands of wire perform a relentlessly tough job, being stretched and compressed repeatedly with every single revolution of our wheels. They also carry the acceleration forces of pedalling from hub to wheel rim and transmit braking forces too. Their role in the very fact of us being able to ride a bicycle at all is almost magical – such thin strands supporting such huge loads. So we felt it was high time that the humble spoke took some credit, where a whole load is due.

‘The genius of the spoked wheel is that it can transfer the often very large forces created by the rider, bicycle and varying road surfaces into these skinny rods, each being systematically compressed as the wheel turns and the loads transfer from one spoke to another, and so it goes on,’ says Professor Mark Miodownik,

Spokes are the unsung heroes of our wheelsets, holding up bike and rider, transferring pedal power and weighing practically nothing. Cyclist says respect is due…