James Starley invented the tangential spoke pattern in the 1870s. As they discovered on the old penny-farthings it is much stronger than radial spoking when transmitting torque. Small diameter rims and large diameter hubs are progressively more problematic to build into wheels as spoking pattern approaches tangential. Solving this problem by going to a radial spoking pattern for a front hub motor - as I see done on a great many small wheel ebikes - is probably not a great idea. The better manufacturers do one-cross in this application.

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