Spoke count for the street (36, 32 or 28)

Just got a set of wheels from Parker and only option was 36 so that is now clearly the best option to have as that is what I have :-)

What I have noticed is that low flange, 36 spoked, open pros are more comfortable that high flanged, 32 spoked, mid deep section rim (radial front) wheels. Too many factors changed to say which one made the difference unfortunately but guess the radial front wasn't helping?

i asked quite a few people about the whole fewer spokes on the front wheel, more on the back wheel idea in bike shops and other forums and the idea was mostly laughed at.

As i said, decent wheelbuild with high spoken tension and 4 extra spokes is pointless. Save the £2 per wheel and buy a drink after you've built them instead.

sheldon's web site is great, but sometimes i think things like that are odd.

Do you have any experience of maintaining bikes?

Rear wheels always get fucked before fronts, and on a fixed they take much greater strains.

It always makes more sense to have more spokes on the rear, except if you have a downhill mtb perhaps.

I got 36 on the rear, suzue hub & dt swiss rim.

Do you have any experience of maintaining bikes?

i ask myself this everytime you post!

Due to lack of choice after an accident my backup backwheel for my geared bike is 24 spoke (well actually due to a lack of money). Buckled a few days after putting it on, had it re-trued by a LBS that specilises in wheels and has been fine for my commute over the last month or so...

I'm currently a shade under 16 stone.

I don't think number of spokes has anything like the effect that you'd expect it to have, compared with how well built a wheel is...

I don't think number of spokes has anything like the effect that you'd expect it to have, compared with how well built a wheel is...

Agree when discussing difference between 32 and 36. But looking at it logically an 8 spoke wheel could not be as durable as a 48 spoke wheel however well the 8 spoke wheel was built (obviously just an extreme example to make the point as I am guessing an 8 spoke wheel wouldn't actually work?)

Well you can get 3 spoke wheels can't you?

Just got a set of wheels from Parker and only option was 36 so that is now clearly the best option to have as that is what I have :-)

How long did they take to arrive -I'm waiting on a build for them, and just wondering how long it'll be!

How long did they take to arrive -I'm waiting on a build for them, and just wondering how long it'll be!

Ordered Tuesday morning, dispatched Wednesday and delivered Friday (New Years day Thursday). Couldn't have been any quicker, especially as they had to build them!

Well you can get 3 spoke wheels can't you?

with the same spokes as used in a 32 spoke wheel, wow. What is that, 2 spokes on one side and one on the other or something?

i dont know shit about wheels.

that said i can notice my 24 spoke radially laced mavic aksium flexing on the front when i trackstand wheras i dont when i do the same with my 32 3x on a formula to ambrosio front wheel.

all that says to me is that it isnt as laterally strong, which is something that isnt usually taken into consideration when building wheels but perhaps should be on a bike which will be used for trakstanding.

there are several things that i believe should be taken into consideration when choosing a wheel build, use, weight and spoke count and if you go to a good wheel builder then they will take all of these into consideration.

my fatass has been riding 28's on my work wheels for 5 years and i've only had to true twice. Once because of polo. 28's are more than fine if you have a good build.

with the same spokes as used in a 32 spoke wheel, wow. What is that, 2 spokes on one side and one on the other or something?

Don't be silly, all three on the same side...

After looking at sheldon's page about wheels I'm going to get some anodised spokes and make a wheel that actually looks like his diagram about spoke length...

i once destroyed a 28 radial in an emergancy bunnyhop that didnt go too smoothly. but that was an out of the ordinary experiance.

other than that ive never had any problems with any spoke count. i currently have 36 radial on the front becuase it looks cool, and a 36 on the back for balance.

guys, I'm considering a new pair oh wheels too... how does CXP33 compare to open pros?
with miche primato hubs?
what do you all think?

by the way i've been riding a 20 aero spoke aksium front wheel (with a 36 80's campy behind.. 20/36!) on my peugeot triathlon on my commutes and it does seem to hold up quite alright... i try my best to avoid potholes anyway...

I've got a pair of cxp33 with miche primato 32h 3 cross front and rear. Very happy with the rims. Crunched through deep potholes, got pinch flats and crashed a few times and they're still straight and true, amazingly.

The rear hub is a bit 'crunchy' after a winter and will need new bearings. This could be a bit premature however i'm a bit reluctant to blame the design, with nothing to compare them against from my experience.

(By the way if anyone know the bearing type for miche primato let me know. yeah i know they're written on them but that means i have to disassemble them twice)

27spoke FTW ;)

Seriously though...

i dont know shit about wheels.

that said i can notice my 24 spoke radially laced mavic aksium flexing on the front when i trackstand wheras i dont when i do the same with my 32 3x on a formula to ambrosio front wheel.

all that says to me is that it isnt as laterally strong, which is something that isnt usually taken into consideration when building wheels but perhaps should be on a bike which will be used for trakstanding.

Thatll be to do with less spokes not radial lacing. Lots of BMX flatland bikes have radial wheels, they get mega thrashings from all directions.

Ordered Tuesday morning, dispatched Wednesday and delivered Friday (New Years day Thursday). Couldn't have been any quicker, especially as they had to build them!

Hopefully I'll get 'em soon so -Mercian frame is arriving tomorrow :)

my fatass has been riding 28's on my work wheels for 5 years and i've only had to true twice. Once because of polo. 28's are more than fine if you have a good build.

True true, the only reason i changed from 28 to 32 was due to my drunk mate crashing straight into me side ways and the wheel bent right on the joint, haha. Cant wait for summer time.

My regular commuter has 20 radial spokes at the front and 24 half radial at the rear. No problem with buckling wheels or re-truing at all. Where are all these incredibly bumpy roads people keep finding in London? I was under the impression we were a developed nation.

ive only bent a wheel once, when i was much younger and went straight into a car bonnet. i also used to run a 40 spoke rear wheel which was strong as fuck but im so light that i dont really notice it at all. i also had 20 spokes on a front wheel which i felt was still really sturdy(mavic cosmic elite) i now run a tri spoke front and 32 spoke rear as i like a sturdy back wheel for skidding and curb hopping on

My regular commuter has 20 radial spokes at the front and 24 half radial at the rear. No problem with buckling wheels or re-truing at all. Where are all these incredibly bumpy roads people keep finding in London? I was under the impression we were a developed nation.

Have you riden on borough high st recently?

I used to have loads of problems with buckling wheels, when I was 20 stone.

I've since lost about 4.5 stone and found a LBS that I was told specialises in wheel buildng (A&W in colliers wood/South Wimbledon) and have only had buckles with new machine built wheels and crashes... so down to 3 in the last 6 months :-)

I've got 28's on my winter fixed.. but only because i had some old C Record hubs i wanted to make use of and nothings happened to them yet. But i've read about a test done on a mountain bike with 28's racing and audaxing over a period of a year, and it survived in tact with no truing required, but they were tied and soldered what ever difference that makes.

Question:

I understand that 36 spokes front and rear is a bit overkill, but what does it matter? Obviously there's another 8 spokes (over a 32-spoke wheelset) worth of weight but that isn't exactly much is it? Will the wheels feel noticeably stiffer/more uncomfortable with 36 rather than 32 spokes?

thanks in advance for any advice on this.

Not a lot,
No – but it's somewhere that matters,
No - unless your fat.

Your welcome.

rotating weight makes a difference

there's no point in having more weight than necessary

a well built wheel with 32 spokes will be more than strong enough