COOLWALL TIME! Were snowflaked wheels COOL?

[gump]

Crows foot just seems a lot of hassle for what benefit?
Different spoke lengths needed and fiddly lacing.

2x is pretty good for a front. Looks a little cleaner than 3x, but more strength than a radial.

Not sure how to quantify 'strength' in any of these builds though... :?

 

[hollister]

last time i built a bike with twist laced spokes somebody stole it. never again.


i guess they thought it was cool :roll:

 

[andrewl]

Definately the coolest of the cool.

Strong & looks ace too (especially in purple):

Very cool in purple, but I'm worried about the birds nest you have attached to your brakes there. Looks like it hasn't been out in a while

 

[JS1500]

^^^Very true. The bike had been sitting in the shed for a few years...

Rest assured that since that pic was taken the bike has been cleaned up a bit and the XT Vs in the pic are now all shiney and on my Clockwork.

 

[Corduroyboy]

So, coolness aside, what is the definitive answer to the question of strength? :?

I remember reading somewhere that snowflake was originally designed for tandems where, presumably, strength is paramount. Myth or truth? Who knows! All I know is that I had to have one BITD and taco'd it quicksmart!

Cool? Hell, yes - on a retro steed that gets an occasional insignificant outing. But on a serious MTB - wouldn't trust it, I'm afraid. But then again how many of us would trust most of the retro kit seen on many bikes here for serious use?

 

[mamadirt]

Always wanted a snowflake front but by the time I could afford one the sceptics had started talking about strength and couldn't find a wheelbuilder who'd recommend one.

I know a few companies made hubs for radial spoked wheels (? Hope) but will any front hub do the job? Tempted to have a go having built a few BMX wheelsets.

 

[LardLover]

I love the look of them, so much so that I had a pair of wheels built for my wife's bike got them snowflaked. Now just need to drop me hubs and rims off at Steel Cycles and get Joe to build them up, snowflaked. MMmm.

 

[cannondale king]

dont bother with snow flaking them its bad looks so wrong isnt as stong a b***ard to true and you get the gist 3cross only front and rear any less is just tempting fate trust me been there done that and build my own wheels

 

[monsterfatuk]

snowflake

only ever built one, Mine was strong enough and looked cool, did creak a little though


C.O.O.L

 

[kase1983]

cool cool from me, got one for sale if anyone wants one? lol