Originally Posted by
Andy_K
This is what I was trying to get at with straight versus butted spokes. I've read the scientific theories and I do believe that double butted spokes are in some very real sense better than straight gauge spokes, but how many people actually need their spokes to last for a few hundred thousand miles?
I usually ride 800 miles a month on one bike and don't replace bike parts without good reason like them wearing out. Jobst Brandt followed that philosophy and had 300,000 - 400,000 miles on a set although rims, bearings, and axles were replaced over that interval. That's OK - it's much less work to replace a rim and ruse the spokes than to relace with new ones.
ride about 3000 miles a year, and I spread those miles across multiple bikes. Assuming wheels that were equally well built, how many years would I be using a set of wheels before the straight gauge spokes started experiencing fatigue failure that would have been years away for the butted spokes?
The more important issue is the size of an impact your wheel can survive without collapsing.
Wheels collapse when they hit a bump causing the spokes to go slack, the rim shifts off-center, and tension returns once the bump passes. Thinner spokes allow a bigger rim deflection before they go slack and allow a collapse.