Fred Kelly Freedom Picks

Plucking spokes while building is a time-honored technique for tension appraisal. It's especially effective for judging if neighboring spokes on the same side of a wheel are at different tensions. The more even the tension, the more stable and long lasting the wheel. For more on the acoustic tension method, check here. Years ago, visitors to Wheelsmith would remark that we sounded like a harp tuning studio with musical notes in the air as builders plucked spokes to confirm or correct their hunches about the best adjustments to make. In those days we used fingernails to pluck and it wasn't so easy for everyone. Today, plucking continues in popularity among builders who want to make accurate adjustments and move faster through builds and, guess what, guitar/banjo picks are being used. Here, I show how to compare the tensions of neighboring spokes by plucking them. After Jude Gerace  told me she used banjo picks, I tested every finger pick I could find to determine the best for wheelbu