As Tom says, small wheels can get away with fewer spokes. The front wheel on my Lightning recumbent is a 17" Moulton-size. It's got a 24-spoke hub and rim, and it holds my fat arse (220 lbs.) up just fine.

If you want to go nuts in the other direction, Mavic GP4 tubular rims are still available in 24-spoke: http://www.euroasiaimports.com/produ...dcategory=1896

i love browsing that site, but the only thing that sucks is all their NOS stuff is worth more than the cost of diamonds

Are you looking for something specific ?
Edit.
I have a few old rims that I should try to find a home for.

I took a look there at a few random parts and they all came up $0.

I just got a new set of Mavic Aksium wheels of JensonUSA a few weeks back for $199 for the SET for my vintage Raleigh- I try and put about 100miles a week on her. They are bullitproof and fairly light at 1795g with an aero profile. I am I guess considered a clydesdale at 225lbs and 6'4" and have no problem on these 20 spoke wheels. They are noticibly stronger feeling that my original Araya 36h wheels. I have a Twin brother who also purchased the same exact wheelset for his 85 Cannondale a few months back and has taken 2 good pinchflat hits to the front with absolutely no problems to the Mavic Aksiums. They still spin perfectly true.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=229739

The Art of Wheelbuilding has a good discussion about how spoke number, spoke design, tension, and spoke threading pattern (radial, 1x, 2x,3x, 4x) affect wheel strength.

An interesting point he makes is that if you want a 4x pattern you need a high flange hub (that's probably the only real advantage of the high-flange hub).

i think that bike may be a little small for you?, it's a nice bike though

Spokes are misunderstood. EVen professional wheelbuilders don't really understand spoke count for applications. Case in point, now that hex nipples are readily available allowing for higher spoke tension when building wheels, why do custom wheelsets still get built with soft spokes, using a higher count than would be necessary with proper spoke tension? The answer, because people don't know better.

Overseas it used to be 36 front and 40 rear, and then this migrated down over time. Not a era thing, but maybe if you consider that you can overlay racing popularity over era displacing touring and cruiser wheels.

Most bikes would benefit greatly from better wheels, which can be had as lighter/faster/stronger with less spokes if built by someone who is a master wheel builder (Peter White, not your local shop).

nice bike though[/QUOTE]It was small and uncorfortable in stock form, but fits me beautifully with the extention upgrades, I do 20-30 mile rides regularly with ease of comfort and an occational 50 or 60 mile workout. 20mm setback seatpost, and 125mm adjusable stem with quill extendergreat arm and leg comfort as well as extention. A person 6'6" could fit this bike if you utilized more of the current adjustment range. Its bigger than the pic looks. Here is my twin next to his Cannondale that is pretty much set up with the exact same seat to pedal measurements and seat to bar measurements, etc. His is a 60mm frame but both feel identical in rider position since we are twins. Measurements from pdeal to seat, bottom bracket height (1/8" difference), handlebar hegiht, and seatpost/seat center to bar stem center are identical- again, his is a 60 and mine is a 57.

With the exception of racing tandems, which sometimes used 40 front 36 rear.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-O.../s800/dm2..jpg

Aerodynamics didn't catch on as a marketing tool or technical feature until the early '80s, and for the most part tubular rims were even slower to get on the bandwagon. Aero clinchers (very conservative by today's standards) came preceded tubulars, probably because of triathlon and the technical stodginess of competitive cycling.

The biggest advance in wheels through the early '80s was heat treated rims that were heavier but more rugged, that allowed the move to 32-spoke wheels for most stage racing, for large and small riders alike.

On the road, 28-spoke wheels were for the lightest riders and then only for time trials and mountain stages. On the track, they were strictly for pursuit, time trials, or the lightest of riders.