Originally Posted by
stedalus
This is crazy. You will either end up with an undertensioned front wheel or an overtensioned rear wheel. *DS* should be about the same as the front, and both should be at whatever the max tension for the rim is.
No, I am not crazy. I have been building my own wheels for a while and they hold up better than factory or LBS wheels, and they are built to the rim manufacturer's spec, which might have something to do with that.
I just went out and measured spoke tension on my tandem, conventional 36H Velocity rims, because this bike is loaded like a touring bike might be and has145mm rear dropouts. My Park tensiometer reads ~19 on the front spokes, ~20 on the NDS spokes, and ~21 on the DS. Velocity specs 105-115 kgf for front wheels and 110-120 kgf for rear wheels, so I'm in the range, which might have something to do with the reason my tandem wheels stay true and don't break spokes. I built these wheels a couple of years ago.
On my single with Rolfs for another instance, Rolf specs 140 lbs. front spoke tension and 180 lbs. DS tension.
You are incorrect.