Just bought a pair of nearly new wheels off a friend. On close inspection I’ve noticed that the spokes with the head inside the flange are pointing backwards on the rotor sides of both the front and back wheels. My understanding is that these spokes should be facing forward, but since he had the wheels professionally built then I just wanted to check before I relace them.

I’ve built lots of my own road and cross wheels with a high success rate, but I’m not used to building disc brake wheels.

I’ve checked out shimano instructions, which seem to recommend lacing as above, but some other sites conflict.

Can anyone give me the copper-bottomed answer?

Thanks

Rich

Can anyone give me the copper-bottomed answer

No – does it make that much difference that it is worth considering rebuilding?

Thanks. I wondered the same myself, mainly prompted by the fairly clear Shimano instructions. That said, Chris King guidance seems to be the opposite.

I’m mainly curious because I’m planning some major touring on these wheels.

This got me wondering, so I’ve looked at my wheels, as I don’t think I’d even thought about it before.

On 3 sets of my wheels they go backwards, on one wheelset they go forwards. The forward facing set are on my Peregrine, and that’s the bike I ride the furthest / hardest – it gets ridden on tarmac, bridle-paths, green lanes, stony ole’ farm-tracks, etc, and almost always on 700 x 35 slicks.

Built using my preferred / usual component choice – XT hubs, with 2.0/1.8/2.0 spokes and Mavic A719’s (which are pretty tough rims anyway I guess), and I’ve not touched them since building them, maybe … late 2009?

Thinking about the forces generated when one brakes … instinctively, I think that forward facing spokes would be better at handling the load, but that’s just a finger in the wind kinda thought – not in anyway empirically / evidentially based (so it must be true! (perhaps)). 😉

Dunno that’s going to be of any use whatsoever, but my experience of forward facing spokes is that mine have been fine (and to me … indistinguishable from rearward facing spokes).

The old arguement for non disc wheels was that the pulling spokes would be rearward facing on the outside of the hub, but I’m not sure that I have ever seen any technical advantage demonstrated as to why they would be any worse if on the inside – apart from some of the stress being shouldered by the spoke mating with the outside of the hub. Best advice would be to go with whatever the particular hub manufacturer recomends for their hubs & make sure you the spokes are good & tight & even all round.