Chas. Colerich wrote: <snip>
"High flange hubs were for track bikes used on smooth surfaces" so the argument for small flange hubs went. The sales pitch for low flange hubs was they used longer spokes especially if they were 4x and thus provided a smoother ride. <snip> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I think that the first time I ever noticed 4-cross with small flange was on one of Richard Sachs's impeccably restored '71 Masis, at an early Cirque. I was sitting during a talk, and it was next to me, and I looked at it, and had trouble getting that fact out of my mind. When Chas. brought it up just now, I went out to the garage and looked at my buddy's early American Masi, with the original Martano rims and small-flange Record hubs. Sure enough: 4x.
This bothers me a bit. With 4x on small flange, the outside spokes lie against the head of the adjacent inside spoke, so any movement there will cause wear. And the bending between that and the flange edge is small, but just a bit wierd. For those reasons, I've always prefered 3x, or fewer, for small flange wheels.
Does it make a difference, or just a distinction? I really don't know, but it has better karma for me.
harvey sachs
mcLean va.