Originally Posted by
corvuscorvax
FWIW, I didn't say they didn't work. I said I don't understand why they do. Very different.
In the face of overwhelming empirical evidence that they do work, it seems that your only other option is to question your initial assumptions. I would start with
Originally Posted by
corvuscorvax
and it is exactly the stretch of the steel spokes that give a wheel its structural strength.
Is it really the "stretch" that adds strength? If so, why don't they make spokes out of rubber bands? Or is it in fact the tensile strength (aka resistance to "stretch") of the spokes that gives the wheel its strength?
And if so, I would suggest that traditional wire spokes, which are cut off a roll of coiled stock, then straightened, then die stamped to add spoke heads, then threaded, then bent to add the j-bend, are subject to and retain internal stresses (as a result of exceeding their elastic limits) before they're even laced to a wheel. So by design, the wire spokes have "stretch" built in as a part of the manufacturing process. But "stretch" isn't strong.
I9 spokes are machined from billet stock and therefore not subject to these manipulative stresses. Here's a photo of them being produced right cheer:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...n+colors+in+nc