Originally Posted by
FBinNY
First of all consider that any differences are going to be small. BITD when we were using large and small flange hubs there would be endless debates about wheels stiffness, and also about 3x vs 4x. Some rider swore they could feel the difference, and while I believed there were differences I never felt they were enough to be felt except maybe at the extremes.
Also, consider that there's lots of apples vs. oranges going on, because we were using 15g spokes in the era of LF hubs, vs. 14g as we moved to SF hubs.
Thanks for clarifying. So even for someone who has likely built at least an order of magnitude more wheels than me it still comes down to 'feeling' as to whether interlaced spokes makes a difference in stiffness.
Originally Posted by
FBinNY
Likewise, it's hard to make direct comparisons about weaving because most of us wove when we could, and when we didn't we were also building 1 or 2x vs 3 or 4x.
Can you give a specific example of when you wouldn't interlace spokes? On my 2X wheels I just finished, there was ~3mm between the spokes when fully tensioned and prior to interlacing. I was hesitant to interlace for that reason thinking the resultant deflection would be too extreme. I changed my mind after seeing some AX Lightness wheels that looked far worse (in terms of deflected spokes) than mine do now with interlacing.
Originally Posted by
FBinNY
On the track, I build reduced crosses in the front because that does improve lateral stiffness, and couldn't weave those even if I wanted. I don't weave the rears, and riders have reported that they felt more snappy when they broke into a sprint. I don't know if they really felt anything, or if it was some kind of Placebo Effect, but it didn't matter because the Placebo Effect is a real thing and if a rider thought it was faster it would be. (or at least I wouldn't be blamed if it weren't).
I firmly believe in the Placebo Effect. The whole nutritional supplement industry is built upon it as well
Originally Posted by
FBinNY
So, all I'll argue seriously is that weaving improves the fatigue life of wheels, and leave folks to believe what they will about not weaving. (BTW- I never argue this points unless asked)
Now we're getting somewhere. Why do you believe this? And please, don't take this as me arguing anything. I truly want to learn here. I'm hoping to even get a chance to test some of these beliefs just to more firmly prove (or disprove) them to myself. I have a few non-urgent wheel (re)builds to do that I can mess around with and hopefully my curiosity wins out over my desire to complete them 'correctly.'