Originally Posted by
davidad
The upper spokes on a wheel are not affected by the load. The bottom spokes tend to lose tension a a reaction to the load. A wheel stands on it's spokes as they are loaded in compression. If the load is great enough they will lose enough tension and collapse.
Not sure where you got this from but it's wrong. The upper spokes are most certainly affected by the load. They increase in tension while the lower spokes decrease in tension. You'd have to stretch the upper spokes quite a bit to get the lower spokes to become completely loose. You'd need a rim failure to get them to collapse.