The much forgotten practice of tying and soldering was most certainly done with the intention of strengthing particuarly the rear wheel. My Supra Lightweight which is dated at 1939/40 has a rear wheel with a four crossover lacing with the outside crossover tied and soldered. The front whell has a three crossover lacing and not soldered. The reason being. The rear wheel does not only have to contend with the riders weight but also the irregular driving forces placed upon it. Which in turn has the effect of working the spoke elbows in the spoke holes. Resulting in enlarging the spoke hole. Tying and soldering certainly adds stability to the spokes. Which do not then move against each other and form a solid unit with the hub. I think tying and soldering was common practice and probably as engineers thought the structure of wheels had improved, or even just commercial concerns. It was not felt needed and remained mainly with track racing. Fritz Bruhlmann re-invented the method for road and mountain bike and that is where we are today. John Cutting
50% off Norton Security 2009 - http://www.tiscali.co.uk/