Originally Posted by
njkayaker
Round spokes on well-built/maintained wheels last a very long time
It's possible that fatigue resistance is "significantly" more important for low spoke-count wheels.
I'm not disputing that round spokes last. However, sapim has some data on their website showing their flattened spokes withstanding many many more load cycles than rounded spokes. Like I said above, it could be biased data...who knows. Fatigue resistance is most significant for wheels that are undertensioned, ridden roughly, and/or ridden by someone weighing above the wheels design parameters.