Danno,

You've said a great many sensible things in this war of egos here, but the above sentence is what stressed me out.

Tension does not balance torque. Tension is a force, and a force must be multiplied by a distance (the "moment arm") to make a torque. To revise your statement:

What happens is ALL hubs will wind-up until the increase in tension, multiplied by the moment arm (perpendicular distance from the axle), equals the applied torque. (Perpendicular distance means perpendicular to the spoke.)

There we go. Now the radial has a tiny perpendicular distance from the axle, generated solely by the wind-up, so a huge tension increase is needed to equal the applied torque. The tangential has a healthy perpendicular distance built into the structure, so only a modest tension increase is needed.

I think that's what BCRider is trying to get at, though I'm blearily having trouble deciphering those posts myself.

An all-radial rear might feel a bit rubbery, and I don't doubt that Danno has ridden one. It's almost certain that the spokes can take the large tensions involved. The flanges might blow up on you, though. It's a nonstandard way to build a rear wheel and for good reason.

This is all I'm going to say. I'm not going to flash my credentials, re-explain this concept in new words, or engage in any below-the-belt sniping. After all, I do have work in the morning.