bmcer

For the last few years, I've been in the habit of lacing my front wheel builds radially (0 cross). This has worked well for me, but idle curiosity prompts me to ask would there be and advantage to going 1 cross or maybe 2 cross? Any weight difference would be meaningless to me.

Bill Kapaun

Probably less likely to rip out a spoke hole on cheaper hubs.
Disc brakes would probably be a bad idea with radial spoking.
Sounds like you haven't had any problems. (probably)

fietsbob

4 cross, like on 36 hole combination between holes, the hub flange is in compression,
as nearest spoke, 1st cross, is 1st passing the one headed to the opposite side of the rim..

bmcer

I won't be looking to go to disc brakes any time in the foreseeable future so my front wheels needn't handle much in the way of torgue. I've always used quality hubs, White Industries, DT Swiss, Chris King and the like. So hub flange strength has not been an issue.

cpach

It makes a small difference either way, with the (hopefully) obvious exception of disc hubs. This kind of radial lacing used to cause flange failures semi regularly, but given the popularity of radial front lacing nearly all modern hubs will be fine.

tFUnK

I go 1x (rim brake wheel) because in theory it should provide better torque transfer when braking.

noglider 

Crossed spokes make a more durable wheel. With a front wheel using rim brakes, the difference is small so it doesn't matter much. Lately, given that it makes little difference, people say why not go radial because it harms virtually nothing. Since I'm old and from the days when we would never use radial spoking I say why ever bother with radial spoking since crossed spoking is never worse and the weight penalty is negligible. So it's up to you.

bmcer

noglider,

When I started building wheels 40 something years ago, everything was 32 hole, 3 cross and no one would consider radial spoking. Times and materials change and I started doing radial front wheels mainly because I could lace them up quickly. And of course, it's what all the "cool" guys did. As I've, uh, matured, those sorts of things have become less meaningful to me. I'm building this wheel set up primarily to get away from the deep profile carbon fiber rims that hold little advantage for the kind of riding I do now and to make cross winds, which we get a lot of here, a little less annoying. I'm primarily using components of hand, but the shortest spoke I've got are just a bit too long to use for radial lacing but just about perfect for 1 cross. Given the input I've received here, think I'll won't bother to buy shorter spokes.

dabac

I like radial, heads-in.
It makes the wheel a tiny bit stiffer sideways compared to both crossed patterns and heads-out. While not hugely important, it does allow me to run the brake pads a tiny bit closer w/o rubbing when out of saddle.

Fissile

To cross or not to cross? It's a trade off between wheel rigidity and durability. A radial spoke wheel will provide max stiffness at the expense of ride quality and durability. If you're racing and looking to shave seconds off your time, go with a radial wheel. If just riding for fun go with a cross pattern. I'm too old to race...56. My mountain bike is 36-3X front and back. I have a 'utility' bike which is the same. My 'fast' road bike is 36-3X in back and 32 spoke up front.

fietsbob

These are the last wheels I bought, they were designed to be radial & straight pull ..



Schmidt Dynamo hub. for Bromptons,..

fietsbob

Then they changed the design. direct radial had a ringing resonance, as reported by some riders .. so the semi radial came out.