I'm looking for a new road bike... my first. And the guy at the shop was trying to tell me the benefits of radial spoked wheels (I think that's right, the ones that don't overlap... theyre supposed to be stronger.) The ones he showed me were all mavic brand from the hub out.
Any opinions?

The guy at the shop is largely full of it. The key advantage to radial spoking is that it makes it easier to clean the spokes and hub (exterior cleaning). There are essentially no performance advantages to radial spoking, including aerodynamics or wheel stiffness.

While I agree with Kerry Irons, I think there aren't any disadvantages either. My front Campy Neutron has over 16,000 miles on it and it's never needed any work at all. No truing, nothing. I ride in NYC, unintentionally pound the hell out of my wheels (the rear wheel has been trued twice, both times by me; I'd never done it before), and weigh 160-170 depending on time of year.

So, although I don't think radial wheels are selling points, I wouldn't shy away from them.


I'm looking for a new road bike... my first. And the guy at the shop was trying to tell me the benefits of radial spoked wheels (I think that's right, the ones that don't overlap... theyre supposed to be stronger.) The ones he showed me were all mavic brand from the hub out.
Any opinions?

Thanks! We dont have the best roads around here in the mountains and sometimes I find myself doing some off-roading on my road bike! So, stronger wheels would be good! Do you know anything about Mavic brand?

Mavic is probably the most popular wheel manufacturer in the world. If any wheel can be considered a standard, it's Mavic.

What do you weigh? For 150 and under, you can ride just about anything without fear.


Thanks! We dont have the best roads around here in the mountains and sometimes I find myself doing some off-roading on my road bike! So, stronger wheels would be good! Do you know anything about Mavic brand?

cool, i'm about 130, and hoping to drop a few lbs to help my climbing ~ Thanks for your input!!

The guy at the shop is largely full of it. The key advantage to radial spoking is that it makes it easier to clean the spokes and hub (exterior cleaning). There are essentially no performance advantages to radial spoking, including aerodynamics or wheel stiffness.

Radial spoking (on a typical flanged hub) is easier to build, weighs a tiny bit less, and results in a slightly stiffer ride while offering slightly less lateral stiffness. In short, aside from asthetic or weight concerns, it's not as good a wheel as a typical 2x or 3x wheel.

The only place where radial spoking does offer a clear advantage is on the non-drive side of a highly dished rear wheel. These spokes are typically under much less stress than the drive spokes are, and when really cranking hard, the leading spokes on a typical cross-spoke pattern can easily go slack, thereby leaving those spokes heavily cyclically stressed, and the trailing spokes possibly over stressed in the cyclical system. As a result, the non-drive spokes fatigue and break. If they are spoked radial on that side only, though, all the spokes will take the stress, and thereby reducing the cyclical fatigue problems considerably.

Radial spoking (on a typical flanged hub) is easier to build, weighs a tiny bit less, and results in a slightly stiffer ride while offering slightly less lateral stiffness. In short, aside from asthetic or weight concerns, it's not as good a wheel as a typical 2x or 3x wheel.

The only place where radial spoking does offer a clear advantage is on the non-drive side of a highly dished rear wheel. These spokes are typically under much less stress than the drive spokes are, and when really cranking hard, the leading spokes on a typical cross-spoke pattern can easily go slack, thereby leaving those spokes heavily cyclically stressed, and the trailing spokes possibly over stressed in the cyclical system. As a result, the non-drive spokes fatigue and break. If they are spoked radial on that side only, though, all the spokes will take the stress, and thereby reducing the cyclical fatigue problems considerably.
Would you apply this to a disc brake front wheel also? Should the non-braking side be radial? I would think the brake would put far more stress on the system than any rider could accelerating. - TF

have a wheel that's half and half for the back?

Some wheelsets come stock with radial up front and radial on the non-drive side rear. You really don't have to worry at all about the wheels you get as, at your weight, you're not going to push the materials to their limits.

Someone weighing over 200 would need to consider how many spokes each wheel had, lacing pattern, materials, etc. But I think you simply need a well built wheel, something that any shop should be able to provide. There are many here who would recommend a Mavic rim paired with Shimano or Campy hubs as the ultimate durable, inexpensive wheel. You can get fancier if you want, of course.


have a wheel that's half and half for the back?

I do not like radial spokes on low profile rims like Open Pro. I found they get 'wishy-washy' when I get up on top of them during a sprint and effects the bikes handling to some degree.

I also have radial spokes on the front wheels of a couple of different deep aero wheels. One set is an older AL Campy Shamal. And the other is the Carbon Reynolds Stratus. Both are as solid as a rock, and do not suffer from the wishy-washy feel during the sprints. My guess is the rims add a lot of stability to the wheels, plus the spokes on these wheels are under some fairly high tensions.

I'm looking for a new road bike... my first. And the guy at the shop was trying to tell me the benefits of radial spoked wheels (I think that's right, the ones that don't overlap... theyre supposed to be stronger.) The ones he showed me were all mavic brand from the hub out.
Any opinions?

Thanks! I obviously need to keep on shopping and look at more options... I was a little leery that this guy at the shop seemed more bent on selling than necessicarily helping me get what i NEED... :-p it seems my intuition was right, from the replies i've been getting...

so many options! I guess ultimately i just have to go with something and see what works for me... oooh i cant wait to get something smaller that fits ::happy dance:: !!!!

amyfromnc, you make me smile.


::happy dance:: !!!!

I have two Bontrager 20 spoke, radial front wheels as part of two wheel sets. I'm 210 lbs, riding a Trek 1500 with a carbon fork. No problems in miles and miles. But then I don't get flats either because I pay attention to the road surface -- a skill set derived from years of racing on tubular sew ups.

Would you apply this to a disc brake front wheel also? Should the non-braking side be radial? I would think the brake would put far more stress on the system than any rider could accelerating. - TF

No. because front wheels aren't heavily dished. You are missing the point here-the non-drive spokes on a drive wheel are under less tension because the wheel is heavily dished. Semi-radial spoking only solves this particular problem. Doing a semi-radial spoking on a non-dished front wheel would result in a wheel that reacts differently to lateral inputs from one side than from the other, and would handle like crap.

Also, the kind of torque from braking is much less than from climbing, so I doubt that it would offer any benefit. Furthermore, the stresses on a non-dished wheel would be similar on bith sides. Full radial spoking might offer a tiny advantage if you do a lot of heavy, heavy braking.

No. because front wheels aren't heavily dished. You are missing the point here-the non-drive spokes on a drive wheel are under less tension because the wheel is heavily dished. Semi-radial spoking only solves this particular problem. Doing a semi-radial spoking on a non-dished front wheel would result in a wheel that reacts differently to lateral inputs from one side than from the other, and would handle like crap.

Also, the kind of torque from braking is much less than from climbing, so I doubt that it would offer any benefit. Furthermore, the stresses on a non-dished wheel would be similar on bith sides. Full radial spoking might offer a tiny advantage if you do a lot of heavy, heavy braking.

Front disc brake wheels ARE dished to make room for the rotor (rear disc wheels are nearly non-dished). I would also think that pedalling would never have anywhere near the torque of a front wheel under braking. - TF

welcome, amy!

now, to geek out:
disc wheels are dished, but not nearly as dished as a rear wheel with a cassette. plus, while you do brake, sometimes hard and sudden, you are pretty much ALWAYS putting torque on the rear wheel. radial lacing helps keep the tension closer to equal on both sides of the rear wheel; in theory giving you a stronger wheel. plus, with crossed spokes on a dished wheel some non-drive side spokes will go a tad slack while under heavy torque. over time this takes its toll on true and wheel integrity.

i built up a front disc wheel about a year and a half ago. when i did, i cruised the boards and found people discussing whether to build wheels with the spoke head on the opposite side for trailing and leading spokes as you would find on a non-disc wheel. if you hop over to the wheel building section on mtbr i am sure they are still arguing. at the time of the build, sheldon brown had nothing to say on the matter...
cant recall what i did, but the wheel is still strong and true. however, i do pray everytime i get on that bike...the last thing i wanna do is go OTB and only have my idiot self to blame.

now to really show my ignorance... but what is dished? mtbr? and who is sheldon brown? i'm embarassed to ask, but not too embarassed to ask;-) Bear with me....

Dished refers to the angle of the spokes on the rear wheel.

Front wheels, when looked at head on will have a spoke profile that is symmetrical, like this <>

Read wheels, when looked at from head on will look unsymmetrical, like this l>

because the rear sprokets take up the space between the frame and the hub.

Sheldon Brown is a cycling guru. He's wacky. Here's his website: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/home.html

MTBR stands for mountain biker, I believe.

Edit: Oops, in context, MTBR refers to RBR's sister site, MTBReview. There's a link at the bottom of the page.


now to really show my ignorance... but what is dished? mtbr? and who is sheldon brown? i'm embarassed to ask, but not too embarassed to ask;-) Bear with me....

Yay! goal completed=)

I feel so enlightened! Thank you and happy riding:D

dishing is pretty tricky. the rim needs to be centered over the axle, not just the hub. my first rear wheel build i measured from the center of the hub, not the center of the entire axle length. i struggled lacing the wheel and even then it was off center.

sorry for throwing jargon around. check out sheldon brown's site. that dude knows way more about bikes than anyone should.

welcome to the road group. you will know you have arrived when you get your first object thrown at you.
me?
rock.
from a guy in a red pickup.
on my first ride.

dishing is pretty tricky. the rim needs to be centered over the axle, not just the hub. my first rear wheel build i measured from the center of the hub, not the center of the entire axle length. i struggled lacing the wheel and even then it was off center.

sorry for throwing jargon around. check out sheldon brown's site. that dude knows way more about bikes than anyone should.

welcome to the road group. you will know you have arrived when you get your first object thrown at you.
me?
rock.
from a guy in a red pickup.
on my first ride.
It has to be centered to the outside of the lock nuts, not the axle. How would you center one by measuring it???? A dishing tool is the best. Flipping it in the truing stand works if you are careful. Flipping it in your frame is a pain, but can work. - TF