Built my 3rd wheel today. Went well, laced it in about 20 mins, fully tensioned in about an hour. Just wondered about spoke tensions. For a 29er build, to be run rigid. Would a slightly slacker tension give a better ride ? I know for a fully laden tourer they say a skacker spoke is better, just wondered if its possible to tune in a tiny bit of give…?
Cheers.

No, not unless you want your spokes to snap. Give leads to flex, flex leads to fatigue, fatigue leads to fractures.

Slacker is never better, who told you that guff?

I agree with Al. End use might influence what parts are used but the build is always the same, nice and tight.

Slack is not good. Sounds like the sort of thing a merchant of BSOs would say to cover his inability to true a wheel.

I’ve never heard of that theory in all the years I’ve been on bikes, and I’ve built a few wheels in my time.

Tight is always good, no one likes slack wheels.

Tesnion on a front wheel need to about 1000N- no less. On the rear look drive side tension needs to be 1100N. Non drive side tension will be whatever it needs to be to get the wheel dished correctly.