Retro Grouch 

Don't haggle with me over the physics because I don't want to hear it. Radial is actually a skosh more expensive because the spokes have to be custom cut but that's not a deal breaker either. This is just about cool.

I'm gearing up to build a wheelset for my daughter-in-law. The bike is an old Porsche hard tail mountain bike with a VERY sturdy looking front fork. Black hubs, gold colored rims, 24 spoke front wheel. Which do you think would be cooler? Bonus points awarded for reasoned answers.

fietsbob

1 ) I wouldn't use a 24 spoke wheel that was more than 20" in size.. My preference is a 32 spoke wheel ,IE, the most Common one for MTB's

if building a Low spoke count wheel how about using Sharp Edged Bladed Spokes, to cut those Squirrels Cleanly in half?

Radial spokes can and have pulled the J hook through the Alloy hub flange , and with so few You will have to pull the tension Higher..

JohnDThompson 

Radial is all about "cool" since there is no functional benefit to radial lacing. Just make sure the hub is rated for radial lacing or you'll risk breaking the hub flange.

jputnam

To your question of apples or oranges, let me say watermelons.

I've always liked the aesthetics of 4-cross, with spokes perfectly tangent to the hub flange. If "cool" means what everyone else does, then radial spoking would do, but if "cool" means distinctive and clearly hand-crafted, 4X combines elegant geometry and rarity in today's market.

fietsbob

.. 3 cross in 32 hole . 4 cross in 36+spoke, if just 24 spoke the pull is somewhat more tangental, 2 cross.. because there are only 24 to start with ..

My Burly 28 hole trailer wheels are 3 cross 406 rims FWIW. just barely misses the head of the spoke headed to the opposite side of the rim.

as is the front wheel on my Disc Braked Bike Friday (Definitely no radial lacing with a hub mounted Brake. )

cyccommute 

Crowsfoot or 3-leading/3-trailing or twisted spokes are all cooler than either radial or 2 cross.

But I'd probably go with radial. Dead simple and not nearly as hard on hubs as some would have you believe.

79pmooney

I have been doing 4X on very high flange Tipo hubs for decades. The spokes cross the heads. The only problem I have ever had is having to hear occasionally that it is wrong or that I will start breaking spokes at the contact. (One of those wheels is my workhorse winter/rain/city bike. Rim sidewalls only go two winters. I reuse the spokes for three rims. Over that six years, I break maybe 3 spokes, usually at the threads. DT Competition, 2.0-1.8-2.0)

Ben

fietsbob

Seems Nuevo Tipo Hubs are 36 hole .. in my experience.. still have a Low flange set, some high flange [with the round holes in them,]
have passed thru my hands over the decades.



FWIW my Winter bike now has Drum or Disc Brakes .. the C&V stuff stays inside till summer ..

GravelMN

I'm also a 4-cross fan both for looks and function.

JohnDThompson 

36h was the default configuration, but other drillings were available. I have a 40h rear Tipo hub on my loaded tourer.

Retro Grouch 

It's looking like it's going to be cross 2.

My rims are 24 hole front and 28 hole rear so I don't think that patterns like crows foot or 3 leading 3 trailing are going to work on both wheels. Also, I might have to change my screen name. Radial just doesn't appeal to me even if the hubs will handle it (I haven't examined them yet). I'm kind of thinking that cross 2 will probably be pretty closely tangent at the hub so maybe it will have some of the elegance that jputnam likes.

FBinNY 

True tangent happens only at certain combinations.

4x 36h
3x 28h
2x 20h

Nearly tangent

5x 48h
4x 40h
3x 32h
2x 24h