[Closed] Hope RS4 straight pull or J bend

Straight pull spokes elimanete the bend in a normal J bend, so should be stronger

Less likely to walk into a shop and get a straight pull spare compared to j bend.  Straight pull can be annoying to true if the spoke starts turning.

J

j bend simply for the fact replacements are easy to come by.

Any strength benefits of straight pull are meaningless given they still break and are an utter PITA to obtain and work with.

J bend - I’ve straight and j bend and the straight pull are constantly coming loose and needing attention.

The only advantage I've found with straight pull is that you don;t need to take the cassette or disk off to change one. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be any advantage.

Oh, and people always seem to build straight pull wheels with alloy nipples (*looks at Reynolds*), presumably to save another few grammes per wheel, so you end up with a rim full of spoke heads when the owner eventually gets fed up with broken nipples, asks for a rebuild with brass ones and you find the nipples are all corroded to the spokes so the heads snap off as you turn them.

J bends all the way, because what cynic-al and Blazin-saddles said.

I went straight pull because they look well trick and more like the Mavic Allroads that I couldn't afford, but are the same weight.

Glad I went for the Hope wheels. The RS4 free hub sounds so much nicer than their MTB free hubs. Less clackety clack and more of a purr.

I would buy again and would recommend.

EDIT - The Hope wheels come with spare spokes, I got 4 with my set.

Nice to see you disregarded all the advice in favour of J, for looks.

J bend, without a doubt, straight pull are a pain in the arse to find but also the hubs usually have smaller flanges which means less triangulation. I don't think this matters at all, but it's the entire point of Boost hubs and all that shite so it's on trend anyway.

It does remove the "risk" of breaking spokes at the J, which basically never happens ever.

I had a straight pull spoke snap the hub anchor point. Not only are the spokes hard to come by the hubs more so. Replacement costs effectively wrote the wheelset off. J bend only for me now.

@reggiegasket.

I didn't ask for advice. I was merely chipping in for a little balance.

My Mavic Kysium are straight pull and 12 years old. Never had an issue with those.

I bought the Hopes last month. Yeah, they look and sound lovely.

Nice to see you disregarded all the advice in favour of J, for looks.

Nice to see that you chided someone giving their own opinion that disagreed with your own preconceptions.

I've had both straight and J wheels over the years and it's definitely easier to get spokes for a J wheel. When I ripped out half a dozen on a Hope back wheel once, it dawned on me that buying the spokes alone would cost more than getting a shop to fix it...which they did. The downside was that I lost that bike for a weekend, because I had to wait for a repair that I could normally have done myself.

In the garage I have a mix now, but have tended to opt for J spokes purely based on repairability. That said, I love a bling looking wheel as much as the next man 🙂

Does seem a bit harsh;

"I love straight pull spokes for the looks and you get spare spokes with Hope wheels."
"BURN HIM!!!!!!"

And the noise. I love the noise too.

I love the noise too.

NOISE? ON A ROAD BIKE?

BURN HIM!

Ha, you will have to catch me first, on my super quick light weight and super cool looking Hope straight pull wheels of doom!

NOISE? ON A ROAD BIKE?

FREEWHEELING? ON A ROAD BIKE?

BURN HIM!

ON A ROAD BIKE?

BURN HIM!

I’ve just swapped trusty old j bend Hopes with some straight pull DTs. I’ll let you know if they snap and I die.

Thanks all - a variety of opinion!

Spoke to LBS and +1 for J so I went for J

Also the RS4s only come with centrelock so I went for Pro4 hubs with J and 6 bolt

Worried that the Pro4 hub may be too noisy and a little heavier but I'm commited now

I just got a set of Hope Five20 on pro4 and a couple of rides in they feel great, tubeless with Schwalbe Pro-Ones.

I clicked send too early there:

I’m sure the noisy freehub makes you pedal more, as you don’t want other roadies to hear you coasting.

I have ordered Schwalbe G One Speed

I do coast...sometimes