Originally Posted by smashndash

I have not read the book. Only seen some snippets/debates online.
Don’t mean to turn this into a debate but:
“Other than its tension the bicycle wheel is the same as any other wheel such as a wooden wagon wheel. The spoke under the hub is shortened in compression by a load on the axle, while the upper spokes remain unaffected by the load.”

Maybe I’m just dumb but I don’t see a lack of tension as the same thing as compression. We don’t have to discuss this any further, but I think this could be fairly easily resolved if someone heavily loaded a wheel and then cut the spoke at the bottom, and nothing happened. If that spoke were truly a load bearing structure, then something would happen. Regardless, you’re right that this has been debated endlessly and there’s no resolving it.