Quote:
Originally Posted by smontanaro
A friend of mine locally with far more experience building wheels than I will ever have. Sorry, no online reference.
That's a large part of the reason I'm asking if the tension ratio can be easily calculated or if there is a spoke length calculator which can take different crossings into account.
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Lacing pattern can change tension balance, but only by a small amount. With only one exception, it's probably not worth changing the lacing pattern to change the tension balance. Varying the number of crossings might change the tension balance by about 1% at most. The singular exception is if all the spokes are laced to the inside or outside of the flanges (which can change tension balance ratio by about +/- 5%), rather than alternating sides of the flange as is usually done.. Note here that it is only practical to lace spokes to one side of the flange for small numbers of spoke crossings - depending on the number of spokes, that might only be 0 (radial) or 1 cross. Also note that on many hubs, lacing the drive side spokes all on the outside of the flange might result in the derailleur contacting the spokes.
Like bikinchris said, the most meaningful way to change the spoke tension balance for given flange offsets is to change the number of spokes on each side. This doesn't always require a special hub or rim. For example, you can lace a 32 hole rim to a 32 hole rim by using 16 spokes on the right and 8 on the left, in a quasi "G3" lacing pattern. Or you could use a 24 spoke rim with a 32 hole hub if the rim is center drilled. I've done this several times, and it can work quite well when a stiff rim is used.
Out of curiosity, what are the flange offsets of the hub in question?