Originally Posted by
Severian
In the class on wheelbuilding at UBI (as well as in reading from the books by Jobst Brandt, Gerd Schraner, Barnetts and others) the general consensus was that Radial lacing is (surprise surprise) radially stiffer and therefore better able to handle loads across a diameter line on a wheel.
I reread Jobst's book "The Bicycle Wheel"....here are a couple pertinent quotes from his section on radial wheels:
"...Radial spokes carry loads just as well as crossed spokes, but they cannot transmit torque..."
He goes on to say...
"...Even though they transmit no torque front wheels should not be spoked radially because high radial stress can cause fatigue failure of their flanges..."
and finally...
"...Radial spoking has no aerodynamic advantage over other patterns because near the rim, where the spokes produce the greatest drag, they occupy the exactly the same positions, regardless of pattern...."