A bicycle’s spoked wheel consists of a thin rim, spokes, and a central hub. By itself, the rim would turn into an oval if subjected to the slightest of loads, but due to the addition of thin spokes it becomes surprisingly stiff both along its plane as well as transverse to it. Spokes are prestressed in order to keep them under tension, and this allows for the transfer of the load between the rim and the hub through the sole use of highly efficient tensile members. The positive side effect of this is that the rim becomes a compression ring, which leads to an overall increase in stability.