Originally Posted by
Happy Feet
No. The folks with broken spokes on 1120 28h rims would disagree.
And who exactly with + size tires and/or suspension on off road bikes thinks 32h wheels are too "stiff". How would they note that? Predictably, wheels that have flex already with low spoke counts are that much more likely to go out of true when you break a spoke.
You can't argue both at once - a rim so stiff it supports low spoke counts yet more flexible than higher spoke count rims.
Take the same quality components, rim and spokes, and the higher spoke count wheel is stronger. Why build an intentionally weaker wheel when you don't have to. Roadies argue weight but for adventure genre bikes that's a non issue. It's just Trek and other manufacturers trying to appeal to trend and "looks". Form over function.
Plenty of mountain bikers riding 28 spoke wheels with zero problems. Including those that do drops and jumps. Spoke count is a function of your height, weight, trails ridden, riding style and maybe a little luck. It has absolutely nothing to do with trend and looks. That's your own head movie.
I sometimes feel from your posts that your biking knowledge is still stuck in the 80's and 90's and that you haven't accepted that there are better materials and designs available right now to allow lower spoke counts.
The standard wheel from the manufacturer is always overbuilt with heavy spokes because they don't know the weight of the rider that will buy the bike. Custom wheelset allows the rider to adjust that.
Here is an example right here of 28 spoke riders...
https://www.mtbr.com/threads/28-spok...l-bike.981060/
Now if you are approaching the 300 lb mark I would probably not recommend that someone use 28 spoke wheels.