hey all,

looking for some advice…building up some wheel to go touring with front and rear paniers.
shimano xt on A719
shimano dynamo on A719

just like some feed back on the benefits of the different lacing patterns ive read a few different article some say 3 some say 4.so would just like to see what other like minded riders think?

any feed back greatfull

cheers

LLL

3x more rigid
4x more flexible……..good for a loaded bike. flex rather than snap

3 x here, no problems, have heard arguments against 4 x like too flexy etc.

Also unlikely to work on high-cflange hub.

Never had a problem with 3x as long as the build’s good. Presumably the dynamo hub has larger flanges in which case you’d tend not to use higher-cross builds (eg I built my huge-flanged Rohloff using the recommended 2x, and that happily supports two people and a full set of panniers).

I’d stick with 3x – aside from anything, should you have problems while touring, shops are more likely to stock the length of spokes you need. (top touring tip – get a few extra spokes, wrap them in bubble wrap and wedge them in your handlebar (if flat bar) or seatpost)

Bez- yeah the dynamo has larger flanges quite substantilly actually.
what about running odd lace paterns 4x rear 3x front?

I’d just forget 4x.

Few times I’ve worked on it I didn’t like it. Toured plenty on 3x (inc off road).

what about running odd lace paterns 4x rear 3x front?

Well there’s no problem with that, I’ve used 0x to 3x in various combinations, though I’d never use daft ones like crow’s foot or snowflake.

Rather than thinking “what patterns are best?”, ask yourself “is anything about 3x going to make it unsuitable for my uses?” Reason being that the former will just cause lots of beardy people to start arguing on the Internet, and the latter will result in “probably not, let’s do that then.”

What’s the flange height on the dynamo hub? If it’s huge you may want 2x, otherwise 3x all the way. Use good spokes (DT Comps are my preference if you’re not spending boutique money) and brass nipples.

i am heavier than most on here.
i always use 4x rear on my tourer.
never had a broken rear spoke on my tourer.
a bit of spring in a rear wheel is a good thing.