On Tue, 30 May 2017 20:14:44 +0200, Emanuel Berg
wrote:

AMuzi writes:

It's not relevant that 14g spokes are nominally
0.080 inches. What is relevant is that standard
spoke nipples for both 14g and 15g are nominally
0.130 inches on the flats. Early Japanese standard
for nipples was 0.136 inches, a tighter fit wrench
(very helpful for high quality builds with higher
spoke tension) is 0.127 inches.

How does the gauge system work and why does it get
smaller with higher numbers? Is it like the "P" system
for sandpapers? Not really, right?

Remember that a measuring, or gage, system is simply a method of
keeping track of something. In some countries a horse is measured as a
number of hands high., in other countries they are so many centimeters
high. Either system works perfectly well,,, for those who are failure
with it.

The traditional top tube diameter on a bicycle was 1 inch in the U.S.
and 25.4mm in Europe :-)
--
Cheers,

John B.