Originally Posted by
79pmooney
I like wheels with the max number of crosses and have built many 4X 36 spoke wheels. Low flange racing wheels, high flange Campy Tipos; probably the biggest common flange diameter out there. My wheels went (and go) a long ways without spoke issues. Several have talked here of the interference between spokes and adjacent heads being an issue. It hasn't been for me and some of my hubs with interference have gone very long distances. I consider it an old wives tale as it matches my experience so poorly. (I build my wheels 4X, note the interference and wonder how long it will be before it gets pointed out I built it "wrong". I still have 2 Tipo front hubs that I still lace up 4X. They are winter wheels so the rims get replaced fairly regularly but I reuse the spokes and pattern.
Edit: One place the extra cross really helps is comfort on chip seal. Riding rural Oregon 4X is a real plus.
Ben
Not sure I understand the "comfort" thing reffered to.
As for spoke head overlap - similar experience, had no problems, when all done properly. All with 36 spoked 4X wheels. It should be noted that it's not perfect - makes changing a spoke (if needed later) a little bit more complicated and one needst to and can often place an extra bend (over the adjacent spoke head) on the already pretty stressed part of the spoke.
Though, if I'm the one building a wheel (choosing spoke length etc.), I opt for no spoke head overlap.