Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - number of crosses for a track wheel

im will be rebuilding my track wheel soon, and am trying to decide between 2x and 3x for it.

bc its a track wheel all the braking forces originate at the hub, which will transmit the forces to the spoke to the rim, to the ground.

for this reason im leaning towards a 3x, but aesthetically i really want to build a 2x wheel. anyone built a 2x rear track wheel before? ill probably end up building the proven 3x, but i think a 2x would look nice paired with the 1x front i already built.

3!

what hub? what do you weigh? how much do you ride? are you a nice person to your gear? :D

/m

3x drive side, radial nondrive, with bladed spokes on the radial side.

i've got 2-cross 32 spokes in the back on my ride, and it's held up well... but i'm willing to bet i weigh a lot less than the majority of guys on this forum...

3x drive side, radial nondrive, with bladed spokes on the radial side.

:lol:

Why so cruel?

3x drive side, radial nondrive, with bladed spokes on the radial side.

and you need a place stick spokecards!! :)

do you use solely on a track?

i know the chub is questionable as to durability, but say to your opponents you have a motor in there and they´ll sttart crying..

and it needs 2x!!

i use mine on the street, and crack a spoke every 3 month.. but i got more than one wheel.. so eehh..

what hub? what do you weigh? how much do you ride? are you a nice person to your gear? :D

/m

very old steel BSA track hub, one piece construction (yay!). ride it on a daily basis, my commuter. i weigh between 150 and 160, and im very nice to my gear!

im still leaning towards a 3x just to be on the safe side though..... but gosh durnit do i want it to be 2x!

do you use solely on a track?

i use mine on the street, and crack a spoke every 3 month.. but i got more than one wheel.. so eehh..

Who builds your wheels?

And what rims do you have? Sounds like single walled, but I'm just guessing.

i build da wheels :D
and i am past the 100 mark. on that particular wheel its an open pro - 2x . the last time i needed a new spoke i was dodging a cab and hit a pothole. while talking on a phone.. so many ways to say stoopid. i know , but hey it seemed as a good idea at the time..:D

and i think legalize it should throw caution out the window and make a fragile wheel. if you build yourself- you can rebuild..awright?
and i mean, the difference is minor and the horror story on sheldon brown with an exploded hub is the only hub i have ever seen like that!
normally its one spoke at atime and you will notice before youre fecked.. ;)

3x on the drive side. if you want to be creative do it on the other side.

My rear wheel is actually built 4x. My LBS ordered my rims from Velocity, got to talkin' with them that it was going to be a fixed gear, and that's what they recommended. Huh!

Isn't NJS Keirin 4x?

I know the Japanese popularlized 4x, I dunno about in Keirin. In many cases 4x is more prone to problems (namely, broked spokes) than 3x. It has something to do with how very very close the first cross is to the hub - it puts weird tension on the spoke near the head or something like that.

I don't either. Huh. With 4x, it does increase the amount of distance the spoke goes before it clears the hub flange, if that makes sense, because of the increased angle. Um, I can't explain it.

Visually, there's not much difference between 2x and 3x, so I vote for 3x.

And what rims do you have? Sounds like single walled, but I'm just guessing.

27" sun CR18 definately not single-wall!

Ah. I've read quite a lot of unhappy CR18 reviews, too squishy. A good stiff double-walled rim should soak up road noise and broken spokes should be rare.

:lol:

Why so cruel?

you know you'd love it...

for the bladed spokes, i'd probably use the sapim CX-Rays. they're pretty much a normal spoke width, but bladed for maximum aero-ocity.

Ah. I've read quite a lot of unhappy CR18 reviews, too squishy. A good stiff double-walled rim should soak up road noise and broken spokes should be rare.

ive heard good things about the CR18, first hand. the owner of the shop i work in and 2 other mechanics ride them on their commuters. the wheel wont be squishy if its built right.

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Rim/product_22618.shtml

Granted, that's presumably for the 26" mtb version.

I recall you can't do 4x on 32h, maybe just with high flange? I've never tried. Certainly you can do 4x on 36h though.

I recall you can't do 4x on 32h, maybe just with high flange? I've never tried. Certainly you can do 4x on 36h though.

I'm no expert, but...
I thought high flange would make it harder to have that many crosses, as you have less space between hub and rim, therefore you have to have an angle closer to being tangential to the hub.
I learned a cool rule for the max. number of crosses, its the maximum number of times 9 will go into the number of spokes.
36 and above - 4x
32 - 3x
28 - 3x
24 - 2x
20 - 2x

I would love to see a 48-spoke, 5x wheel.

I guess it wasn't clear but I meant to indicate that high flange would make it harder to do more crosses. But I was pretty sure that you couldn't do 4x on 32.

regarding 48H:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=39362&highlight=hole+fixed+gear

I'm having a wheel built for fixie number six. A Mavic OR10 tubular (350 grams) laced to a Dura Ace hub with 32 DT Comps. It will be two cross with two leading and two trailing spokes and will look sweet. I don't race but my sprints and downhills can push 40 mph. This bike will be for long rides on rolling country roads.

(Three cross would be stronger though.)