Wire wheels some more

[Will Owen <nashwill912@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim Steck says:

> Maybe I didn't make my point clear.  The strength of a wire wheel is not inherently inferior to a cast wheel.  The main "fault" of a wire wheel is it's cost...
> It can be made as strong and nearly as light as a cast aluminum wheel, but not in the same "package". 

Are we saying that a wire wheel can be EITHER strong OR light? If by
"nearly as light" we mean a wheel so flimsy that it couldn't hold a car
up, I could agree. I have to admit that my personal hands-on experience
with wire wheels (in car applications, that is) has been limited to 48-
and 60-spoke Dunlops, the latter having been the most ungodly heavy
things I ever had to wrestle around. The upside was rigidity; when in a
pinch I had to borrow a 48-spoke wheel for one corner of my Daimler
SP250, it felt downright floppy, even though it had just been rebuilt.
I've admired the heck out of Borranis, but never had the chance to try
picking one up. Still, those steel spokes (72, I think the Ferraris'
wheels had) represent an awful lot of metal all by themselves, and I
can't imagine that simply rendering the rim in alloy could save more
than a few pounds.

Speaking of Alfas on wires, those of you who got the Superflow article
might notice that it was running on those pretty Borranis, too.

Will Owen
Still running wires on his bicycle...
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