Spoke wheels... Why are they better?

[Hyades]

Hey Guys,

Not sure if this has been discussed before or not. If so, please point me in the direction of that thread.

I'm looking at the new BMW G650GS. I see that one can have it with spoke wheels (optional extra) and was wondering why exactly is it, that when venturing off-road a spoke wheel is that much better? Is it purely better because you have a tube on the inside?

A lot of the new bikes don't come out with spoke wheels now (V-Strom, I'm also looking at them). How hard-core off-road must one go before the benefits of spoke wheels outweigh (and out price) normal mag wheels?

Please enlighten me...

Cheers

 

[chicco]

 

[subie]

 

[Gerard]

 

[Lommies]

 

[Welsh]

 

[The TRANSPORTER]

 

[2StrokeDan]