I've got Jobst Brandt's "The Bicycle Wheel" right here and I quote:
"Radial spokes carry loads just as well as crossed spokes, but they cannot transmit torque. They transmit torque only after the hub rotates ahead of the rim, making the spokes no longer truly radial."
He calls this spoke windup.
"In a radial rear wheel the windup that occurs while riding is small (less than two degrees). However, this motion increases spoke fatigue, and spoke rotation in the flange causes wear. As radial spokes windup during torque, they become appreciably tighter causing high rim stress and, in some circumstances, flange or rim failure."
"Even though they transmit no torque, front wheels should not be spoked radially because high radial stress can cause fatigue failure of their flanges. Flange fatigue takes time, so these do not occur immediately."
"Radial spoking has no aerodynamic advantage... because near the rim, where the spokes produce the most drag, they occupy exactly the same positions, regardless of [spoke] pattern."
I've got Jobst Brandt's "The Bicycle Wheel" right here and I quote:
"Radial spokes carry loads just as well as crossed spokes, but they cannot transmit torque. They transmit torque only after the hub rotates ahead of the rim, making the spokes no longer truly radial."
He calls this spoke windup.
"In a radial rear wheel the windup that occurs while riding is small (less than two degrees). However, this motion increases spoke fatigue, and spoke rotation in the flange causes wear. As radial spokes windup during torque, they become appreciably tighter causing high rim stress and, in some circumstances, flange or rim failure."
"Even though they transmit no torque, front wheels should not be spoked radially because high radial stress can cause fatigue failure of their flanges. Flange fatigue takes time, so these do not occur immediately."
"Radial spoking has no aerodynamic advantage... because near the rim, where the spokes produce the most drag, they occupy exactly the same positions, regardless of [spoke] pattern."