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Old 05-16-09, 10:24 AM
  #64  
Wogster
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Originally Posted by Tom Stormcrowe
Riding style also affects this. Does the rider absorb road shock with their legs or just plunk down in the saddle? Do they try to choose the smoothest line, or do they beat their wheels to death? Do they curb hop?

All of these are factors, as well.

Personally, I don't sweat over the idea of saving a few grams on my wheels, and run deep profile, high spoke count wheels because they work best for me.....

I don't like having component failure in the wheels, so I hand build bombproof wheels for my rides. Matter of fact, the wheels on my Allez, if the tires weren't so skinny, would stand up to rough offroad use. I essentially specced the wheels to be able to ride the Paris-Roubaix on the cobblstones if I chose to.
Very true there are a lot of factors, which is why I have a problem with some people who look at spoke count as the only thing that matters and that there is a magical correlation between a spoke count of 36 and a rider weight in excess of 200lbs, and that if the spoke count were reduced to 34 (not sure how you would build a 35 spoke wheel) the wheels will immediately collapse. Some bikes look much nicer with the lower spoke count wheels, I'm thinking something like a Trek Madone here or an Opus Vivace, higher end CF "fun" bikes. They would look silly though on a Surly LHT or any other touring bike.
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