Spoke Count Counts
Verum exists as an expression of the frustration we experienced over the years building custom wheels, and constantly having to compromise because of rim designs. Among the most galling was the lack of premium carbon rims available in “high” spoke counts. For road, there are precious few that offer more than 24 spokes. For gravel and MTB, the limitations weren’t quite as bad, but still… we’re wheel builders; we like spokes!
More Spokes Means
- Fewer wheel failures
- Truer, rounder wheels
- Improved lateral stiffness
24 spokes aren’t enough for a disc brake wheel. It’s a ridiculous statement, as 24 spoke road disc wheels are the industry standard. True, 24 spoke wheels work just fine for most people… for a while. If you’re under 200lbs and your wheels will never see more than 5000 miles before you retire them, this rant isn’t for you. If you’re slight in stature and ride a ton of miles, please consider a pair of our 28 spoke wheels… more if you like. You’re approaching or surpassing Clydesdale class? Think about 32 or even 36 spoke wheels.
Premium spokes are expensive, and four of them combined with nipples weigh about 20g. Without evidence, but with some intuition, we accuse Big Wheel (the global wheel manufacturing cabal) of conspiring to foist low spoke count wheels on John Q Cycling Public, and making you like them. We surmise that Big Wheel does this for two reasons, to SAVE MONEY and for MARKETING. Convince folks that 24 spokes are just as good as, nay… better than 28 spokes, and you’ve just carved eight very expensive spokes out of your BOM (bean counters rejoice!). The marketing department dances a little jig too. Now they can make the one quantifiable claim that cyclists always fall for: “they're lighter!”
Look, we know that Big Wheel’s also going to tell you that their low spoke count wheels are more aero… and they’re not wrong. But they can’t quantify it in the way that they can weigh, and the value of both of these “features” is relatively small. Don’t get us wrong on this point; we highly value marginal gains, it’s practically our entire value proposition, but we simply believe that there are other important gains to be had from a few more spokes.
Higher spoke count wheels have better lateral stiffness; a marginal performance attribute. They offer fewer spoke failures, and are far more likely to be rideable to the finish if there is a failure; that’s well beyond the margins. Really, how fast are you going if your wheel is so far out of true that it won’t turn in your frame? More spokes also result in wheels that are and remain truer both laterally and radially, another important gain at the margin (think of a car tire out of balance… now speed that car up… faster, faster).
We’re not here to swim upstream. If you prefer 24 spoke Verum wheels, we are going to build you the best wheels you’ve ever ridden. If you want a few more spokes, we're going to dance a little jig of our own… and we won’t charge you a penny more.