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  • Almost all bikes benefit from having mismatched wheels, or at least mismatched spoke-count.

    A rear wheel on any bicycle has to deal with driving forces, while the front doesnt. On many bikes the weight is biased twards the rear wheel also, this all puts greater strain on the rear wheel than the front.

    On any quality bike they take this into account and put more spokes on the rear than the front to deal with this, also appropriate lacing pattern for the wheel.

    On fixed wheels, especially those for the street. The rear wheel has to not only deal with driving forces but also contra rotating braking forces. Putting twice as much strain on the wheel.

    This calls for 3x or 4 x lacing, high spoke count, and a stronger rim than the front.

    Also, deep rims/disc wheels reduce air drag, but are susceptible to crosswinds. For this reason its better to have them on your more stable rear end than on the front where a disc would completely fuck up your steering (with a breeze).

    Modern mountain bikes use the same spoke & rim combo on front and rear as they both take a lot of impact and have to be strong, also hub-braking causes as much torsional forces as the drivetrain so a similar spoke count and lacing is required.

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