Spoke patterns...

[Adam]

Hi All,

Well, my partner Polly persuaded me that spending money on my bike wasn't as frivolous as I had
thought it was (she's such a star!), so I've found the money and I have two new Hope hubs and two
x618 (32h - as per the advice from this group) rims on the way! Now I've got a couple of questions
over spoke patterns...

First, 2-cross vs 3-cross. Presumably the majot advantage of 3-cross is that the spokes are nearly
tangential to the hub, so give the minimum wind-up when used at the back or with disk brakes.
Presumably 2-cross gives slightly better lateral rigidity, given the higher spoke tensions, and
makes negligibly lighter wheels. Is there any other difference between them (for front wheels)?

Semi-radial rear wheels: Sheldon Brown recommends them quite highly on his site, and suggests that
they're much more durable. If I understand correctly, this is because the spoke tensions on the
non-drive side cannot be reduced by hub torque as there are no leading spokes and there's less dish
if all the spokes run up the inside of the flange. Presumably there is also less of a difference in
spoke tensions between drive and non-drive side, as radial spokes are more highly tensed. Does
anyone have any advice to offer on these?

Cheers - Adam...

 

[Supabonbon]

[email protected] (Adam) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi All,
>
> Well, my partner Polly persuaded me that spending money on my bike wasn't as frivolous as I had
> thought it was (she's such a star!), so I've found the money and I have two new Hope hubs and two
> x618 (32h - as per the advice from this group) rims on the way! Now I've got a couple of questions
> over spoke patterns...
>
> First, 2-cross vs 3-cross. Presumably the majot advantage of 3-cross is that the spokes are nearly
> tangential to the hub, so give the minimum wind-up when used at the back or with disk brakes.
> Presumably 2-cross gives slightly better lateral rigidity, given the higher spoke tensions, and
> makes negligibly lighter wheels. Is there any other difference between them (for front wheels)?
>
> Semi-radial rear wheels: Sheldon Brown recommends them quite highly on his site, and suggests that
> they're much more durable. If I understand correctly, this is because the spoke tensions on the
> non-drive side cannot be reduced by hub torque as there are no leading spokes and there's less
> dish if all the spokes run up the inside of the flange. Presumably there is also less of a
> difference in spoke tensions between drive and non-drive side, as radial spokes are more highly
> tensed. Does anyone have any advice to offer on these?
>
> Cheers - Adam...

Whatever the Symmetrispoke man says must be true: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/symspoke.html /s

 

[David Kunz]

Adam wrote:

> First, 2-cross vs 3-cross. Presumably the majot advantage of 3-cross is that the spokes are nearly
> tangential to the hub, so give the minimum wind-up when used at the back or with disk brakes.
> Presumably 2-cross gives slightly better lateral rigidity, given the higher spoke tensions, and
> makes negligibly lighter wheels. Is there any other difference between them (for front wheels)?

3x is stronger. The last time I checked, after market disc companies wanted at least 3x.

> Semi-radial rear wheels: Sheldon Brown recommends them quite highly on his site, and suggests that
> they're much more durable. If I understand correctly, this is because the spoke tensions on the
> non-drive side cannot be reduced by hub torque as there are no leading spokes and there's less
> dish if all the spokes run up the inside of the flange. Presumably there is also less of a
> difference in spoke tensions between drive and non-drive side, as radial spokes are more highly
> tensed. Does anyone have any advice to offer on these?

I haven't checked his site lately, but I would go with 3x.

David