Cole

A wheel is only as strong as it’s component pieces. The most common component failure and by far the weakest link in a wheel is the spoke. The patent-pending Cole® hub design was developed as a way to prolong spoke life, increase wheel tension and improve wheel stiffness by re-thinking the standard J-bend or straight pull spoke and nipple assembly using Dynamic Spoke Alignment (DSA) and our newly developed FatHead® Spokes on our new Massif® freeride wheels and COLE Road (OE only).

Standard J-bend spokes have two inherent problems, loss of strength due to bending on a J-bend elbow and the resulting flex. Bending the spoke at the hub flange creates a stress point that often leads to breakage on high tension wheels. This bend also creates a flex point that increases the spoke ability to stretch, causing wheel tension to decrease when load is applied as torque into the hub, either from pedal force or with disc braking after standard usage.

Cole® wheels approach the spoke in an entirely new and different way that overcomes the issues associated with standard spokes. Cole® wheels use a patent-pending DSA spoke and cylinder hub design, which involves a double threaded spoke, standard rim nipple, and a 6mm cylindrical movable alloy nipple in the Cole® SS and DS hub flanges. The threaded alloy cylinder, inserted into the CNC milled recesses, allows the spoke to fit through a slotted hub flange. This design allows Cole® wheels to achieve a number of advantages over standard spoke wheels:

Improved Tension

The double threaded spoke has no bends, which decreases the tendency to stretch and lead to loss of wheel tension or increased flex. The design allows Cole® wheels to use high-tension assembly and maintain that tension. The straight double threaded spoke has only the elasticity of the spoke material, which retains tension longer unlike the characteristics of J-bend spokes.

Fatigue Strength / Durability

The straight double-threaded spokes do not suffer from the decreased strength of J-bend spokes. While straight spokes with formed ends also share this strength increase, the Cole® design distributes the high-tension load into a larger area of the hub flange through the DSA alloy cylinders, while straight pull spokes with formed ends require heavily reinforced spoke mounts. Straight spokes equal increased strength, using DSA technology.

Assembly Flexibility

Hubs built with standard J-bend spokes can only be re-built in the same lacing pattern. Since the spoke holes deform to fit the spoke bend, any other method of lacing will eventually cause flange failure. The Cole® patent-pending SS and DS hub design allows the wheel to be built in a number of lacing patterns, even after initial assembly with out scaring the hub flange.

Perfect alignment

The movable cylindrical hub nipple moves to perfectly align with the spoke during assembly (DSA). As a result, the spoke strength is improved, the durability is increased, and long-term tension is assured.