Originally Posted by
dabac
But uneven tension is "all" about sloppy building, and very little about spoke length or spoke orientation. If you lace any X pattern and have the outbound spoke crossing underneath the inbound you're pretty much cancelling the effect of the spokes leaving the hub one flange width apart.
Assuming both leading and trailing are still under tension an outbound spoke passing under the inbound at last cross will act on the rim as if it's axis was anchored 1/2 spoke dia to the inside of the middle of the flange. I can't see that tiny difference doing anything significant unless something else is causing the spokes to go slack, and maybe not even then.
This uneven tension is different from what you'd get from sloppy building. Instead of the force vectors on each pair of spokes canceling each other out, the force vectors pull in the same direction. Put a little sideways force on the wheel and everything will seek a lower energy state...which looks a lot like a potato chip
