The Basics
FreeSpoke is a spoke calculator designed to address some of the shortcomings and frustrations I have had with every spoke calculator I have used. Instead of an outdated and vague list of rim and hub data, FreeSpoke offers a centralized database of rim and hub information. This data is user-contributed and maintained, so you can enter your favorite parts for everyone to benefit from. No more keeping lists of measurements to enter into calculators by hand!
The Math
The geometry formulas used by FreeSpoke were adapted from Damon Rinard's highly-regarded Spocalc spreadsheet, which was a big part of the inspiration for this project. In addition to using what is possibly the best and most complete spoke length formula, FreeSpoke also calculates several other useful values to give you a better picture of how a potential wheel will build up.
What's in a Name?
I think "FreeSpoke" creates an image of open-source information sharing and community. Also, there was probably some subliminal influenced from the name of the shop where I wrench, Freewheel Bike in Minneapolis.
Behind the Scenes
FreeSpoke is powered by PHP and a MySQL database. Everything you see here was assembled and coded from scratch, starting in October of 2009. This is very much a work in progress, and I welcome feedback, comments, bug reports, etc. You can reach me via kstoerz at gmail.
Thanks,
Karl Stoerzinger
Minneapolis, MN