https://www.competitivecyclist.com/ro...962.266.0.html

tied and soldered wheels? i'm having a hard time visualizing what this means exactly. and further, is this hype or what. any thoughts?

i'm seriously looking into some new wheels for my Merlin, and i want something very very durable, as the roads around here stink, and i'm tired of worrying about my wheels when bombing down pave like descents.

edit - nevermind i found the zoom in pics. this is interesting:

I wonder what happens if one of the spokes breaks.

no appreciable difference. source

unsolder & replace.

According to Jobst Brandt, author of The Bicycle Wheel, tie/solder does nothing to stiffness; it's there in case of spoke breakage, so it doesn't flop around.

yea-no.

Old school technique that doesn't nothing but sound cool. From what I have been told it actually makes the ride harsh. I am no wheel builder though, so my post is pretty much null and void. LOL.

Seems wacky but I know that those top of the line Ultralight wheels also join their spokes (with carbon fiber not solder).

That's always been my understanding. Just there to keep broken spokes from flopping around. All of the Cool Kids did it for a while. Kind of faded away when all the Cool Kids started doing radial spokes.

there is a small difference.....If you like that kind of work, do it.
Biggest benefit is that the tying keeps the spoke in place if it brakes.

That was of course a bigger problem back in the days when spokes could be a meter long

And..J.B. didn't say it did nothing to the stiffness....He actually measured that it did, but he called it not mentionable.

I do not do it on any of my wheels...Not because it wouldn't improve the wheel, it's just not worth the hassle

It seems like very week I see a post that makes me feel older when you whippersnappers don't know things like this.

As for J.B., do a search and see the stuff he has written. Lot of it is complete garbage, or outdated (but not all). And thank goodness, otherwise I would be a bloody crumpled mess on the road side for riding on my wheels. Basically he has a lot of strong opinions that most of us violate everyday with no consequences or increased problems. He's a bit of a grumpy geezer for new materials and innovation. That being said, there are some nuggets of wise experience tossed in his work.

tyeing and soldering basically lessens the tendency for the spoke to go 'slack' when there is torque applied.
which is not very necessary with modern wheels where the spokes use a better steel and the rims and hubs have gotten much stronger.

if the wheel is built properly, there's really no need to do it. And by that you can do overkill, like: DT RR585 (formerly RR1.2), DT comp 2.0/1.8 DB spokes -or- DT triple butted spokes and shimano hubs.