Brian, Eddie and all: Happy New Year and the Best to All! I've watched the evolution of the wheels and spokes for a long time B&E have good memory and I would like to add a little. Low spoke count wheels go back to the 1890's. Many companies made rims and hubs with all the the lower spoke counts. During the '50's and most of the '60's most racers used 36H. Also common was 32x40, and 36x40 Few ventured into the lower spoke regions. After I came back from Europe and started open racing again, I used Campy HF 28H with Super Champion Arc en Ceil 345gm rims. In Europe I used 36 H but the racing conditions are not as severe here so that in 15 plus years those wheels held up beautifully without hardly a touch up whether in criteriums or road races. The low spoke count wheels were very prevalent on the track for pursuits and time trials but not in sprints, mass start, or team races. On the road only a few guys dared the lower spoke counts because the building was critical and failures were to common. Great care had to be used because the old metallurgy wasn't quite there yet so a higher spoke count or heavier rim were necessary. Otherwise, one ended up with lumpy rims and loose spokes. As the rims got stronger the Europeans figured out that the strength was the same on 36H as on the new tougher 32H, with 4 less spokes, turbulence, weight, so it was a no brainer and soon became the norm. Along came the Aero rims and with the new shape strength spoke count could come down again. As the new age and a lot of out of time line materials appeared we had the same or more strength with carbon and big wide cross section gave us spoke counts of 16 / 18 / 20, etc with no problems. Now the computer analysis, wind testing, and material improvements have given us a whole new generation of pre-built wheels that are as good as any that were hand done years ago.
> Hi list
>
> I was there when Eddie Albert started racing in Canada. I was one of the
> guys that mostly rode and raced on fewer spoked wheels. Typically I would
> use 28's and yes I would get razed a bit for it.. but I never had a
> problem with the wheels failing - as they were built by Seigi Koch.
>
> Still in my fleet of wheels.. and hubsets that date to the mid 70s and
> early 80s... are 24o Campy high flange, 24o Mavics and a few sets of 28s
> Campys.
>
> My favorite set has always been the Campy high flange 24o's.
>
> Brian Frank
> Toronto Ontario Canada
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