Originally Posted by
Wanderer
For every day, heavy duty use, it should have 36 spoke wheels, right out of the barn..... For heavy duty touring, for all of us clydes, 32 spokes just isn't enough. 36 works!
I agree with Wanderer! 32 spokes are not enough for us heavy guys and are not good enough for loaded touring. I broke a spoke on a 32 spoke wheel when doing loaded tour _miles_ away from any city. It never even occurred to me to buy/carry a spoke repair kit, because I had never broke a spoke before in my life. Luckily my friend had a kevlar spoke kit in his pack and I was able to repair the wheel to get me in to the next town. 32 spokes may be fine to ride on, and I still have that wheel set, but I built a 36 spoke wheel set after that trip!