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So a friend of mine has 100 spoke radial lacing for his wheels and has never had an issue with feeling like they were weak or doing any damage to them. But the manufacturer of these wheels say that they are weaker and considered to be for "show bikes"...I guess meaning you aren't supposed to ride on them??
Does anyone else have radial lacing that aren't the fat spokes that are so popular now? What is your experience?
Friend says he just doesn't brake hard or ride like a moron and he's fine..... thoughts?
With pattern, on both sides, of each spoke radially going to C/L of the axle from the rim, there is no counter force to keep the whole set of spokes from bending/stretching during braking with the front/rear/both brakes. At some point the spokes will break.
Whoever designed these was a moron. They are unsafe to use on a motorcycle (or bicycle, for that matter).
well, the ole theory, is the weight supported by hanging from the top or from supported by the bottom. i am sure the mfg has to put a disclaimer for this design as they know there are idiots on the road. nothing new under the sun!
it will basically operate like a soild wheel only if the spokes hold their tension. even in that configuration, spokes can flex quite a bit. if the rim is fairly true to begin with, does not take much to hold it there. i def would keep track of them. if you find one loose, needs to come off and probably change the whole set. been there done that with spokes used on the dirt.
That's what I was thinking. It's really a question of proper spoke maintenance.
I've seen folks on here that have similar wheels and was wondering about their experience.
Also, the "fat daddy" has radial lacing and it is super trendy at the moment. I see it everywhere. I asked the manufacturer if there was a difference and he told me the only difference was the look.
The problem occurs whenever coming to a stop. The brake forces applied to the center of the wheel and the weight of the bike, forward momentum, and friction of the road surface on the outer rim via the tire. There is a great twisting force being absorbed through the spokes. The spokes will stretch because the twisting wants to pull the rim toward the center. The spokes become looser over time.
They have tried to minimize this effect by increasing the number of spokes and their thickness.
It is physics and dynamics. That type of wheel is bad engineering.
Normal laced wheels have a "push - pull" setup with the spokes.
spokes are really a marvel, just look at baja racing,
it is all about engineering. you are right in that more cross count, the stronger the wheel as there is more angle and the load is spread out over a wider area. but that does not mean a two spoke wheel is any less strong, i just requires more maintenance.
for example:
take a 24 hole hub/rim, a two cross pattern angle is nearly identical to a three cross pattern on a 32 hole setup. the reason is that it still just crosses two because there are few spokes all around the rim to begin with.so there is little diff in the strength of the wheel assy, but you get a weight savings because there are 8 spokes less. the down side is less reliability as each spoke carries more tension being there are less spokes.
for racers who can tune up their wheels between heats, a tad bit of weight loss can help but for a road killer/ever day rider, the more spokes is better and weight savings is moot.
with say 100 spokes, the load is spread out really thin. what really takes the punishment, the tire or the rim, my vote is on the tire. when you brake hard, the tire pattern/surface contact spreads out and braking forces are seen at the tire, by the time it gets to the rim, pretty much nil. now if you are doing jumps on a dresser, there is more problems than just the wheel, look more to the operator!
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Radial lacing experience?
