No, tying and soldering started with the Ordinary (high wheeler) bicycle before wood rims. A broken spoke getting wrapped around the hub had disastrous consequences.
Chuck Schmidt SoPas, SoCal
Stephen Barner wrote:
>
> It is my understanding that tying & soldering was first done on wheels with
> wooden rims, due to difficulties in getting the spoke tension tight. The
> loose spokes would rub against each other, causing noise and wear. I have
> an early 1890's ladies' lightweight in original condition, and it has very
> light gage spokes (T&S, of course) laced to wooden rims. I have only done it
> once (it was on a pair of wheels that I built with wooden sewup rims), and I
> was surprised how little extra time it took. Definitely worth the mojo
> factor.
>
> BTW, wooden rims have much mojo, but they work best on track bikes without
> rim brakes. I understand there used to be special "breadloaf" brake shoes
> for wooden rims. I can tell you that Campy pads work lousy on them. You
> can definitely tell the ride difference between aluminum and wood rims, but
> anyone who says that he can tell the difference between the ride of an ash
> rim and a maple rim in one of those famous blindfold tests is a bald-faced
> liar. I just tried it and just ended up in a thornbush.
>
> Steve Barner, Wooden Bike & Ski Touring Center, Bolton, Vermont.