trace215

Been seeing a lot of track/fixed bikes with radially laced wheels on the front (especially with them deep v's), just wondering what the advantage of this is, if any.

wheres satchmo

i believe it's just easier to lace. no real advantages rather than aesthetics if you want to go for the look.

curiousincident

Yep, mostly that. They look spiffy, but will go out of true faster. The crosses in a normal crow's foot or whatever other kind of spoke pattern add strength you won't get out of radial lacing.

metaljim

ha! i knew it! i was arguing this with a buddy at the bar the other night (yeah, i have no life). radials do look good though.

Live2Die

I think you notice them on deep V's because they are so bullet proof you can afford to run radial and not worry about true as much. Mine are fine and the streets I ride are as bad as oprah without makeup.

helloamerican

yeah i've got radial lacing on my deep v on the front, only time its gone out of true was from a wreck but even then not very badly at all and its back to perfect true now. deep v's are resilient

No_Minkah

There is also a slight aero advantage to radial lacing, and some people say they feel 'stiffer'. But be warned, many hub manufacturers won't warranty a hub that's been laced radially. Ur flangez r in dangerrr

mihlbach

Heres some useful information...
https://www.geocities.com/spokeanwheel/lacingrl.htm

Radially laced wheels are lighter and more aero, but not by much. However they do result in stiffer wheels, which is probably most beneficial for low spoke count wheels. I don't know if they go out of true easier, but none of my radially laced wheels have ever needed truing, so I doubt that its something to be concerned about. Its also true that radial lacing causes more stress to your hub flange, but its not a significant concern as far as I can tell. Many hubs aren't covered by warrantee if radially laced, but most are still built to withstand radial lacing and many wheelbuilders will readily build you up a radially laced wheel with just about any hub.

Aeroplane

Radial lacing tends to make a wheel stiffer also. Less spoke length = less flex.

There are some who will argue it's slightly more aero too, but that requires too many significant figures for my blood.

Landgolier

First 5 posts of this thread have enough misinformation to keep us going all week.

This has been covered 1 million times, please search. All of you.

Also, velocity deep V's are in many ways too stiff, I can't find the link but a recent review of hub failures found that their stiffness puts too much stress on the hub and led to a disproportionate number of flange asplosions. More normal rims have a little more give when they take big hits, which is easier on the parts and rider. Anyway, if the goal was durability, people would just run bigger tires.

Aeroplane

... if bigger tires didn't slow you way the hell down. Everything has tradeoffs.

curiousincident

Sorry if I was misinformed, is it the part about radial laced wheels going out of true? I'm pretty certain that a wheel with crosses in the lacing will take more abuse in one way or the other.

Landgolier

Something has to change about the spoke tension or length for a wheel to go out of true. This can be from the nipple loosening, the spoke seating, spoke windup releasing, or strain relief within the spoke occurring; the rim can also bend, of course, but that's not the point here. There's not really any reason to expect any of this to happen faster on a radial wheel. A crow's foot wheel is not the "normal" 3x or whatever pattern, crow's foot is a hybrid lacing usually of 2/3 tangent spokes and 1/3 radial spokes. It's strong but kind of a pain and probably not better than 3x. Radial lacing is strong laterally but weaker from a torsional and radial standpoint.

The deeper problem here is people with no idea WTF they're talking about trying to give other people advice, compounded with people asking questions that have been asked over and over again.

bonechilling

My new signature.

Landgolier

Heh.

Can you change it to "compounded by"? I like my kvetching to be grammatically correct.

bonechilling

Sure.

curiousincident

Awesome, now I get to feel like the biggest dick every time I see that

Edit: perhaps misinformation can be the just punishment for people who ask repetitive questions? The deeper problem solves itself.

kemmer

My new signature.

RadioFlyer

How many spokes do you need for the aesthetic advantage?

My front wheel is radial with 20 hole and it looks like ass.

Sure, it's subjective, but I think it takes a minimum of 36 before it starts to bling. Otherwise it looks like my Junior High School prom with kids spread out afraid of talking to each other. My wheel spokes are so lonely.

11.4

This is the most erudite thread I've seen on this forum in ages. It also addresses two of the biggest problems on this forum, namely interminable repeats of the same question followed by lack of expertise in the replies. Perhaps I'm jaded, but it isn't necessary to respond to a thread if you don't really have an informed and accurate point of view to contribute.

deathhare

They have a -100 drag coefficient = fast skids and big messenger bags for the victory over the conversion riders with 3 brakes.

thiskidgotmoxie

Yes, please, no one try to respond to any questions unless they are absolutely 100% certain they are correct! Also, if you could respond in a pompous know-it-all fashion, while also drawing attention to how little everyone else knows, that would be great. Stop trying to be helpful, and start trying to be right!

trace215

Sorry if my question was repetitive, I just joined this site like 2 days ago and I figured if I have a question I should just ask it. Guess I better scour the archives first, god forbid I waste 5 whole seconds of someone elses time. Sheesh.

deathhare

First time on the internet?
Welcome!!

trace215

What the **** is the internet?