Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
My question is: should I back off the tension on the front? If so, to what? It seems kinda crazy to have such high pitched spokes on such a lightly loaded wheel. Of course I could also back off on the tire pressure but I liked how the bike handled at these pressures with the Rolfs. I understand that many riders use lower pressures with wider rims like the Kinlin. Still, the question of spoke tension remains.
Once you get into the working range, increasing or decreasing spoke tension will have zero effect on vibration, or wheel strength. X change in load creates Y deflection in spokes, regardless of the starting place. What does change things is the total cross section of the spokes, so fewer thicker spokes will act similarly to more thinner spokes. If (next time around) you want a less rigid wheel, use thinner spokes.
The rim/tire combination may be the issue here. In a well proportioned combination the tire leaves the rim going outward rather than vertically. That creates 2 spring zones and the walls are primed to bow outward to absorb radial forces.
When the tire is narrow with respect to the rim, the near vertical sidewalls tend to be stiffer, than the rounder profile the same tire would have on a narrow rim.
I'm biting my tongue here, nor saying that one is better or worse. I'll let conventional wisdom and 100+ years of pneumatic tire history say that for me. OTOH - many people have very strong preferences for the narrow tire/wide rim combination, and extol some of the very properties I criticize, so I'll leave it to each to suit their own preferences.