Radial lacing and hub strength

[dabac]

Hi guys,

Although the verdict seems to be that there's no substantial benefit to radial lacing I'm still considering trying it on a front wheel. I've used 3X over and over again, thought it'd be more fun to lace up something else for a change.
Sheldon Brown mentions that there IS an increased risk of ripping the spoke holes in the hub with radial lacing, has that ever happened to any of you guys?

(the hub is an old Shimano LX 32 holes, I'll be using DT Revolution spokes and a Mavic 517 rim. Intended use is XC. My weight is 75-80 kilos)

 

[percious]

The other day I talked to a wheel expert because I am in the market for a new set of wheels... I asked him if they would build my wheels radially in the front. He told me they would be happy to, but that it would void the manufacturers warentee. Furthermore, there is significant strength decrease, without significant weight savings. I personally will stick with 3 cross...

-percious

 

[tizzen]

Originally posted by dabac
Hi guys,

Although the verdict seems to be that there's no substantial benefit to radial lacing I'm still considering trying it on a front wheel. I've used 3X over and over again, thought it'd be more fun to lace up something else for a change.
Sheldon Brown mentions that there IS an increased risk of ripping the spoke holes in the hub with radial lacing, has that ever happened to any of you guys?

(the hub is an old Shimano LX 32 holes, I'll be using DT Revolution spokes and a Mavic 517 rim. Intended use is XC. My weight is 75-80 kilos)

About the spokes..I've yused revolution spokes with alloy nipples and noticed that wind-up and stretching was a problem; the alloy nipples worked fine. Search Sheldon Brown's site about "elbows in or out" in relation to radially spoked wheels and try to get some Sapim race spokes (2.0-1.8-2.0) or if you want to spend some money Sapim cx-ray (www.sapim.be) imho these are the strongest. Radial lacing looks very good and can produce very strong wheels. I saw the factory warnings for the hubs (campagnolo in my case) and asked around but never heard of anyone ripping the flange off.

 

[king_matt87]

i broke a fornt hub flag on radial wheel u lose so much strength. this was the wheel that came with the bike so teh cyle shop got me a new wheel built up 3 cross but this was off there own backs not under wantrentee

 

[daveornee]

Originally posted by dabac
Hi guys,

Although the verdict seems to be that there's no substantial benefit to radial lacing I'm still considering trying it on a front wheel. I've used 3X over and over again, thought it'd be more fun to lace up something else for a change.
Sheldon Brown mentions that there IS an increased risk of ripping the spoke holes in the hub with radial lacing, has that ever happened to any of you guys?

(the hub is an old Shimano LX 32 holes, I'll be using DT Revolution spokes and a Mavic 517 rim. Intended use is XC. My weight is 75-80 kilos)

You will gain a slight amount of lateral stiffness and loose a very slight amount of weight by using radial spoking compared to tangential spoking.
You loose durability in the hub and spokes.
I tried it once and had spokes break and spoil some nice rides. Since I had a package of 50 spokes that I originally purchased that were too short to use for anything else, I kept installing new ones until I broke the hub at a spoke hole.
The heavier you are and the more flexible the rim, the more you will cycle the spokes through their range of tension.
I never experienced spokes going slack enough to have the nipples "back off".
Front wheels with rim brakes have virtually no torsional effects at the hub/spoke interface.
If you are trying to save weight, I suggest you use XTR hub and stay with tangential, or at least 2X spoke pattern, for a much more durable wheel.
A good Lateral Wheel Stiffness "draft" of an article by Damon
Rinard is on Sheldon Brown's website at URL:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/wheel/index.htm
A large data table of actual wheel stiffness results are also posted at URL:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/wheel/data.htm
I no longer do any radial spoking.
David Ornee, Western Springs, IL