Wire wheel situation is debated. Some authors conclude from this that the hub "stands" on those spokes immediately below it that experience a reduction in tension, even though the spokes below the hub exert no upward force on the hub and can be replaced by chains without much changing the physics of the wheel. Other authors conclude that the hub "hangs" from those spokes above it that exert an upward force on the hub, and that have higher tension than the spokes below the hub, which pull down on the hub. Despite being composed of thin and relatively flexible spokes, wire wheels
Wire wheel by striking a wing of the nut with a special alloy mallet or "knockoff hammer". Some jurisdictions, including West Germany, prohibited eared hubcaps. Some manufacturers (e.g. Maserati) preferred to hold the wheel on the splined hub by capping with a single conventional unwinged nut requiring a special large spanner. In the 1960s even lighter cast alloy wheels became usual—at first with splined hubs and knock-off caps—and now predominate. New versions of wire wheels are still made but often with standard hub bolt patterns covered by a center cap to fit without adapters. At one time, motorcycles used wire wheels built