There absolutely is a benefit to twisted or 'snowflake' spoking; it allows the rest of us to spot a pillock at 50 paces. The same sort of idiot who would specify a steel frame for a hillclimb bike having failed to notice that carbon fibre is a thing.
I agree re; that bike but according to MIT's Bicycle Science, heavier bikes have an advantage in hillclimbing. As far as I could understand it, I think it's due to momentum, but it sounds on the face of it like a bizarre assertion to me, too.
There absolutely is a benefit to twisted or 'snowflake' spoking; it allows the rest of us to spot a pillock at 50 paces. The same sort of idiot who would specify a steel frame for a hillclimb bike having failed to notice that carbon fibre is a thing.