Originally Posted by
Dave Mayer
Look at the width of the 11-speed freehub. It is wider than the 10-speed, and much wider than the old 7. There is only 130mm of real estate on a road hub, so in order to make room for the ever increasing number of cogs, the hub flanges are being made closer together.
The closer the flanges, the lower the spoke bracing angles, and the lower the stiffness of the wheel.
Even worse is the growing amount of dish. 11-speed wheels feature drive-side spoke tensions double that of the non-drive side.
These structural hurdles are now requiring wheel manufacturers to use ridiculous kludges, such as offset rims, 2:1 (G3) spoking, and much stiffer (heavy) rims.
All things being equal (materials and expertise) a 7-speed wheelset can be made that is stiffer, lighter, and have superior longevity than an 11-speed version.
This is an excellent explanation and as stated, I understand the theory. I was simply saying that so far the theory hasnt played out in practice for me.
My 11sp wheelsets feel as stiff as or stiffer than my less than 11sp wheelsets. They are the same weight or lighter(depending on what hub is used). And they have been completely reliable with traditional center hole building(so none are offset). I am hardly a featherweight too.
For what its worth, my 11sp wheelsets arent low spoke count rims so if the theories of 11sp weaker wheels apply more to low spoke wheels, that could be why I havent found my wheels to be weaker or flex more. My 11sp wheelsets are 28/32 and 36/36, and both are properly tensioned.