Originally Posted by
waynesulak
That being said I have to wonder about the "these wheels would exceed the durability of a 40 spoke Deep V wheel" statement. Wheel strength is not magic.
Just reading the quote, it would appear Ric's statement was made in regard to "durability", not strength. There's a difference.
In talking with Ric at STR regarding the Spinergy wheels, I believe what he was sharing was the PBO spokes don't put hub flanges and spoke nipples/rims through the same fatigue cycles as do steel spokes and thus far they haven't seen any such failures with the Spinergy wheels.
The only failures they have seen are on the 29er wheels, and it has nothing to do with the PBO spoke technology. Instead, it was the rear hub shell that was the weak link, and this is hardly a unique problem for the Spinergy wheels. During my occasional visits to MTBTandems Alex always shares the latest additions to the MTBTandem's hub graveyard. I think the only hub I haven't seen in the graveyard may be a Chris King. There are some really ugly other failures -- most coming from 29ers -- where in one case the pawls not only cracked a ratchet ring, they eventually drive through the hub shell.
Bottom Line: If you really want to know what Ric is citing as the rationale behind the durability statement, call and ask him. He'll most certainly take the time to go through all of the details. One of the nicest guys I've met in the tandem business, which is filled with really nice guys.