Radical Spoke Rear Wheel (like Eurus)

[aegis_tri]

Hello,

I was reading a few posts on this subject but I don't feel that they addressed what I have been reading about with Radical rear wheels spoke configuration being bad.

I am a mid pack triathlete and race in various distance triathlons. I weight about 188. I am looking at buying a pair of the Campy Eurus 700 wheels and I have seen excellent reviews about them from a number of people. I have also been reading about the difference between the Radical and the Tangential spoke design (Tangential = Eurus front wheel and Radical = Eurus rear wheel). In reference to this article, http://www.exploratorium.edu/cycling/wheel2.html, it says to never put a Radical wheel as the rear as it twists too much to offer an efficient roll while pedaling. Anybody have an explanation why Campy would put the Radical spoke design in the back? I can understand that having this in the front would be worse during climbing but they can get away with it in the back because about 90% of the time, the bike is going straight so it won't matter? Would the rear wheel really flex a lot during pedal strokes or is this too small to even make a difference.

Thanks!

 

[drewski]

Originally posted by aegis_tri
Hello,

I was reading a few posts on this subject but I don't feel that they addressed what I have been reading about with Radical rear wheels spoke configuration being bad.

I am a mid pack triathlete and race in various distance triathlons. I weight about 188. I am looking at buying a pair of the Campy Eurus 700 wheels and I have seen excellent reviews about them from a number of people. I have also been reading about the difference between the Radical and the Tangential spoke design (Tangential = Eurus front wheel and Radical = Eurus rear wheel). In reference to this article, http://www.exploratorium.edu/cycling/wheel2.html, it says to never put a Radical wheel as the rear as it twists too much to offer an efficient roll while pedaling. Anybody have an explanation why Campy would put the Radical spoke design in the back? I can understand that having this in the front would be worse during climbing but they can get away with it in the back because about 90% of the time, the bike is going straight so it won't matter? Would the rear wheel really flex a lot during pedal strokes or is this too small to even make a difference.

Thanks!

first off, it's Radial and not Radical spoke lacing.

if a rear wheel was completely radially spoked, i think it would be bad because of the twisting mentioned in that link. the Eurus is only radially spoked on the non-drive side and tangentially spoked on the drive (freewheel) side.

this is a common rear wheel design with lighter weight wheelsets. oddly enough, the ksyrium's have the radial spokes on the drive side of the wheel.

 

[Eidetic]

Cane Creek wheels are radial front and rear. CC Aerohead and Volos are just as stable as Eurus, IME. I have Aerohead front, Volos rear on my Dean Ti and Eurus on my Merckx Ti. The Eurus stay in true longer, and are not nearly as finicky about preloading of the drive side bearings. I prefer the Eurus hands down, even though truing is a big production, but not a frequent one.

 

[aegis_tri]

Originally posted by Eidetic
Cane Creek wheels are radial front and rear. CC Aerohead and Volos are just as stable as Eurus, IME. I have Aerohead front, Volos rear on my Dean Ti and Eurus on my Merckx Ti. The Eurus stay in true longer, and are not nearly as finicky about preloading of the drive side bearings. I prefer the Eurus hands down, even though truing is a big production, but not a frequent one.

Thanks, this all helps a ton and I did not know that the back is only Radial on one side as I have not yet seen them in person. Based on this an everything I have read about them, I think I am sold on them.