I have asked some questions and seen a bunch of responses regarding lacing patterns. Can someone tell me a source for identifying various patterns such as:

Don't need a source, it's radial with heads out.

=8-)

what does the =8- mean AND can this pattern be used frt and rear?

https://www.justridingalong.com/news/...cing-patterns/

B^U

you forgot the ). Turn the =8-) sideways and look at the owner's name.

Tilt head 90 degrees to the left.

=8-)

Jumping in here with a radial lacing question. It seems to me that if you go heads-in, the wheel will be stronger laterally, because you widen the triangle. Can anyone confirm this?

Yes, but it's marginal unless you're using a hub with very narrow flange separation. I usually build radials heads in, unless the client asks for heads out.

Many others build heads out for the marginal aero benefit, and overall I've never heard of a material difference in the wheels life expectancy.

to the OP, please don't be offended by what follows.

Your questions show a general lack of knowledge about wheels, especially the question about radials in the rear. May I suggest that, instead of trying to pick stuff piecemeal via the forum, that you invest the time to read one of the many books or internet tutorials about wheels to get a comprehensive sense of the big picture. Then you can ask specific questions to fill in any gaps.

https://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

You really need to spend more time reading Sheldon's website.

Ummm... no offense, but the OP's original question was about a source for information.

And to answer the OP's question, the Sheldon Brown site above is a great source.

Also, I have not personally read them, but I have heard good things about this book:


And this book:

Here's a link to a [free] PDF version of this (if this is an unauthorized copy, despite being the second google result, let me know and I'll take the link down):

https://tri.by/content/files/ArtOfWheelbuilding.pdf



FWIW, I lace everything 3x. I've found radial isn't worth it for the weight savings (if I want crazy light wheels, I'll buy component wheels) and 4x requires a second spoke be detensioned to remove and replace a broken spoke. Crow's foot and twisted lacings might look cool, but IMO they're not worth the tradeoff in serviceability.

I'm not sure exactly what to say. My original post was aimed at obtaining not only sources but hearing those "piecemeal bits" from those of you with a broader knowledge base than I. Often, first hand experience expressed in response to a question, in spite of the question's elementary nature, offers nuance that simply reading from a text book does not! I now know of some sources and research sites that I will take advantage of.

This is a link to a gent's site who has forgotten more about wheels that any ten bikers combined ever knew. Suggest give the page a read with an open mind -- the rant is about 4 inches down from the top.

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/wheels.asp

There is a reason that the best wheels are built with conventional 3cross spoking. They are the eveloution of trial and error for the last 120 years. Radial lacing is a style thing that will go away when more bikes are equipted with disc brakes.

Cycling news seems surprised when the team mechanics put the same 3 cross 32 hole hard anodized
Ambrosio rim wheels with a fresh set of Sewup tires on them, at the Next Paris - Roubaix .

Well, I dunno. The thing you need to keep in mind is that sometimes there's no practical difference between "good enough" and "better".

But sometimes there is.

Radial, heads-in on a front makes for a measurably laterally stiffer wheel at the same order of magnitude that if you could show the same amount of aero, or drivetrain improvement you'd be a hero.

I'm not making any claims about how many seconds it shaved off my mile time, but going to a radial, heads-in front finally allowed me to have a nice snug brake adjustment w/o getting brake rub when honking. Peace of mind. Nice.

So maybe not many riders would actually gain a measurable benefit from it, but apart from the extra care needed for the build, where's the downside?
And the build isn't bad. It's advisable to use hubs rated for radial lace(not that I did), and threadlock may be called for. Not exactly a mountain of considerations that have been added.

And there are advantages to half-radial rears as well.
Heads-out radial on the DS will play merry hell with spoke tension balance, but is a godsend to people prone to jamming their chain between cassette and spokes. Last race last season I stopped to help a pal who'd done just that. I thought his cussing would strip the bark off the trees around. He'd be quite happy to trade some expected life for an easy road side fix. Yes, he'd had it happen to him before. Yes, I know "keep the bike properly adjusted and it won't happen" and all that. But for some it does happen, and there's a way to make it far less serious - Why not use it? If you can't remove the cause, remove the consequences.
But again, if that kind of accident don't happen to you, then mitigating the consequences obviously won't be an advantage to you either. And good ol' 3X will do just fine.

Heads-out radial on the NDS will improve spoke tension balance a tad, as well as reduce torque slackening. For some, this will improve wheel life considerably, for others it won't matter. And if what you have is good enough, then again you won't have anything to gain from going to a potentially more durable wheel.

It's like buying stuff from a vending machine. It doesn't care what else there is in your wallet. As long as you have enough for what you want, having more won't get you anything better.