then it either wasn't tensioned properly, or it was built with poor quality components. the radial front that i've had for 3 years has had to be trued once, and by "trued" i mean "i had to turn one spoke nipple about 1/8 of a turn." i jumped off curbs, rode through potholes, bunny hopped it, took it off road, basically put the damn thing through it's paces and it held up just fine.

in my experience, radial wheels do feel different (assuming it's a traditional-style wheel and not a low spoke count, or something akin to a ksyrium SL, or Elite). they tend to be less rigid from all angles, and can feel a bit "dead" or, as i like to call it "smooth." i chalk it up to the tendency of an uninterrupted (un-crossed) spoke to vibrate more than a crossed spoke, so what i felt was less road vibration. of course, if you're comparing a radial deep V to a radial open pro, the deep V will feel stiffer, but a radially laced deep V wheel will not feel the same as a wheel that is laced 3x. and of course, i could be completely full of crap, just relaying my personal experience.

my next wheelset will probably be 3x by radial 32 hole in the rear, and 2x 28 hole in the front. of course, that'll be a wheelset for my road bike.

the points where the spokes cross form a brace which helps stiffen the wheel up quite a bit.