Originally Posted by
MarcusT
I went with 36 H, but one cannot ignore the fact that many, many touring bikes coming out these days have 32 H as stock.
Maybe tech has improved over the years
No, technology hasn’t improved. Manufacturers don’t want to be bothered with trying to find sources of 36 hole hubs and by the time spokes start to break the warranty period is past so that don’t have to worry about it.
The technology that has changed (20+ years ago) is spokes. A 2.3/1.8/2.0mm spoke
could be used with a 32 spoke hub to make a wheel that is the equivalent of at least a 36 hole wheel with 2.0mm straight spokes. They might even push the strength to a 40 spoke or even a 44 spoke wheel. On the other hand, a 36 hole wheel is the 2.3/1.8/2.0mm spokes is equal to at least a 40 spoke wheel and perhaps up to 56 spokes.
This article details why this is the case.
But you’ll never find this kind of spoke on an OEM wheel. If you have someone else build your wheels, you’ll likely run into resistance to using them. Even people who build their own wheels will resist using them for some reason.