Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - non-drive side radial lacing on a track wheel?

i am getting a new rear track wheel built, a phil wood high flange (single side fixed) laced to velocity deep v rim. with 28 spokes, is it a bad idea to have the non-drive side laced radially?

a friend does and it has gone through some s*** and it is still true. so i would say nope, not a problem.

On the other hand... Who cares? The whole radial thing really escapes me. I'm a 3x'er. I have many wheels that cross thrice, they're good wheels, we're good friends. Why change?

remember, when radial laced, the spoke is pulling through less material at the flange. when crossed, look at how much more material inline it is pulling through. i like my spokes crossed.

no point on a track wheel, cuase there's no dish. But if you want to do it, well it'll probably be fine.

I just got my wheels built up, radial in the front, 28 hole and I'm kind of worried about riding it in the city like that.

no point on a track wheel, cuase there's no dish. But if you want to do it, well it'll probably be fine.

true, no dish, but major style points!

I just got my wheels built up, radial in the front, 28 hole and I'm kind of worried about riding it in the city like that.

i have a front phil 32 laced radially. had a thing where 2 spokes busted at a 90 degree angle from each other (i think one from either side of the hub). i was checking the spoke tension because a friend had zapped spokes, and hey, i had busted spokes too! turns out it was the nipples, they had some kind of weird fatigue.

that was early on in its life. it's been rock solid after that, and it is a damn sexy front wheel.

if it were my back wheel, i'd get it x3. for symmetry and tension's sake.

...and tension's sake.

This may be a very good point. Radial lacing will probably "settle in" differently than 3x, because the crossed spokes settle in around each other (radial seems to keep tension from the start, as long as you build it heads-out, elbows-in at the hub) although this probably isn't really a big deal. I would just make sure to re-check the truing and centering after 50 and 100 miles or so.
Do I have a point or am I crazy?

You have a point if the wheel is not stress relieved when it's built. Stress relieving is unnecessary (impossible, even) for radial spokes as it sets the bend where spokes cross up front rather than over the course of the break-in miles.

But if you stress relieve the drive side properly then the wheel won't need any touch up truing as you break it in.

I'm a 3x'er too. Radially laced looks cool, but then again so does 3x. I was thinking long and hard about how I wanted to lace up my wheels and just came to the realization that hey, if I lace these 3x my wheel is going to be superstrong and almost invinsible. Not that radially lacing is super dangerous its just not going to make your wheel as strong as possible.

i just bought a pair of phil wood high flanges. (the new SLR weight reduction option hubs) they only come in 32h. the rear hub is double fixed (i use to wish i had a double sided hub so i figured why not) but before i bought a double fixed hub i wanted to lace it radial on the non drive side. i think it looks rad. my front wheel is radial...
i also wanted to go with deep V's and a ridiculously low number of spokes.

but it didnt work out for me. i ended up going double fixed and with areoheads.


id love to see pictures of your built up wheels !!!

-Starr

Not that radially lacing is super dangerous its just not going to make your wheel as strong as possible.

actually, it will, at least in the front. shorter spokes equal a stiffer wheel. for example, when i rear-ended that car about a month ago, my radial-laced 28 spoke front wheel was still straight, but my fork bent. i'd say that's pretty damn strong.

actually, it will, at least in the front. shorter spokes equal a stiffer wheel. for example, when i rear-ended that car about a month ago, my radial-laced 28 spoke front wheel was still straight, but my fork bent. i'd say that's pretty damn strong.

Sure, its strong against radial forces. No doubt. But the rear wheel, being driven from the center, experiences much different forces than the front wheel, which more or less just keeps your fork off the ground, if you know what I mean.

I have a set of high flange campy hubs that are radial (front and rear is non drive side) that I have to have rebuilt because on the front the spokes are very close to ripping through the flange. I guess it depends on type of hub and weight of the rider.

I like the 3x, part of the attraction for me to the track bike is a tough, low maintenance bike. That's just how I think about it.