So im sitting looking through ebay, online shops, even a wholesale catalogue and all I see is everything wheel wise being 32 friggin holes!!! Why? I mean even the DH mountain hubs are 32 hole, BMX hubs are 32h... Have we come that far in new spoke materials that someone busting down a hill and hitting some pretty good jumps on the way, only needs 32 spokes? The only consistant 36h+ hubs and or rims I see are for bike polo... Why that and not mountain biking? Just really annoying, I'm not small and am rough on wheels so I look towards 36 spokes for my wheels... Or am I just missing something? Even sheldon brown says 36 rear is best... anyway...

buy these...





144 spokes of sheer awesomeness...

Hmmm...Industry standards, perhaps. You know, save money by deleting four spokes.

Though, I thought the mountain side had a bunch of rad, straight-pull offerings.

well, for BMX and MTB, which can be harder on wheels, have smaller wheels, which are stronger than bigger ones.
That's why you don't see higher spoke counts for MTB and BMX.

For road applications, there's really no need for more than 36h because the spokes, rims and hubs are that good, even for tandems.
If you're that concerned, go for a 26" MTB conversion.

Is this real? [I have a hunch that some low rider fixie some where has these.....]

Must have been a pain to lace.

I'm betting it's machine laced.

the new fixie trend: instead of color matching your bike, match your spokes to your BCD

I believe Harris Cycles has 36 hole stuff

anyway,is it such a big deal on wheels that are evenly dished?

not really... they're just straight spokes nothing special...



this is the new hotness...

Between my wife and I, we have 4 wheelsets that are 36.

You may not be looking hard enough. VeloMine and Bell's Bike Shop both sell plenty of 36-hole sets.

When you read Sheldon Brown, you have to consider his age and his retro-perspective. Spokes and rims are much better now than they used to be. 36 spoke wheels, though still available, are basically unnecessary for most people. In fact, it sort of rediculous that most SSFG hubs and wheelsets have so many spokes. Given the high flange hubs, deep profile rims and the lack of dish the characterize many track wheels, most people could get away with 20-28 spoke wheels with no problem. There are some advantages to having fewer spokes, but the problem with fewer spokes is that you need a better build. With 32-36 spokes you have enough redundancy that the wheel is robust to uneven and improper tension levels. This is why so many low-end wheelsets have 32 or more spokes...the factories can cheap out on building it properly with less risk of the wheel failing. When you get into fewer spokes, the wheel will only be strong, stiff, and resilient when it is built with care and attention. A 20-28 spoke wheel that is well-built with quality DB spokes is going to be stronger and stay true longer than a poorly built 36 spoke wheel with ****ty SG spokes.

I want 3 up front and 20 in the rear.

20/24 no problem.

+1.

not a (road) bike in house with more than 28h drilling, most 20/24. 175-180lbs and 6-8k miles/yr. that said, XC bikes are all 32h.

The left one has 48 spokes, the middle one and the right one have 36. I laced all three wheels. You can definitely find 36H, and even 40H and 48H components, without any major trouble. I assume you are able to lace your own wheels.

Here we go again..

A few examples:
36H Miche Primato rear hub
36H Shimano Deore XT front hub (nicely discbrake compatible) and a nice Alex TD17 disc-specific rim to go with it.
Surly's new singlespeed 36H rear hub

etc. etc. etc. and this only in one online store (albeit, my favorite online store ) I really have not even nearly scratched the surface of 36H parts available at JensonUSA. Same goes for any better equipped bikeparts store, such as cambriabike or Harris Cyclery.

Here's another excellent online store, with a full page of 36H rear hubs

and a full page of 36H front hubs

etc. etc.

Hey Scrod, did you finish high school?

Dude, shut up. You know damn well I'm just messing around.

Upset much?

Not at all.

How did you get that I was "upset" by me saying very simply that I'm just joking around with you? I think you may have trouble with comprehension.

Have you noticed how many threads whose primary concern is cheap on this board? "I need a cheap wheelset." "I need a cheap bike." "I need cheap women." cheap, cheap, cheap.

Thus the preoccupation with 36 spoke wheels.