Originally Posted by
Happy Feet
I don't know the physics either but I would wonder if the 26" design specs are also more robust in general because of the intended use (mtb vs paved road). Things like spoke diameter, rim thickness et al. I'm pretty curious what such a thinner road spec'd rim/spokes would do using a narrow road sized tire. I don't even think they make a 25c 26" tubular but if one could put that together one could throw both on a road frame and see the speed difference. Even typing that though I feel the 26" would lose some inherant strength that way.
i also ride tandem bicycles where wheels matter more. it seems the solution may be going with more spokes for this pro wheel builder.
Wheelsets for moderately loaded touring.
Phil Wood tandem cassette 40 hole hubset, 145mm rear axle, Wheelsmith DB14 spokes in front, DH13 spokes in back, Mavic A719 (was T520) rims
Wheelsets for heavily loaded touring.
Phil Wood tandem cassette 48 hole hubset, 145mm rear axle, Wheelsmith DH13 or DB14 spokes, 14-15 butted front, Velocity Dyad rims:
in just visually comparing wheels between my lite road bikes and mtb/tandem/touring bikes, the differences are quite noticeable. my trek has so few spokes on the road bike that it would not be my choice at all for touring. many are questioning going away from 32/36 spoke wheels to low spoke count as not being the answer to longevity. it would seem that breaking a spoke on these low spoke count wheels would be more of a problem, hafta wait and see.