Vehicle wheel spoke connection

A vehicle wheel, comprising:

• a peripheral wheel rim;
• a central hub with an outer flange;
• a plurality of spokes extending between said rim and said hub, wherein at least one of said spokes has a first end portion thereof connected to said hub and a second end portion thereof opposed to said first portion and connected to said rim, and a longitudinal axis along said spoke, a span portion between said rim and said hub, and a tensile axis of applied tensile load along said span portion;
• a bracing element including at least a portion of one of said rim and said hub;
• wherein said bracing element includes a spoke bed wall having:
• a longitudinally outboard bed surface;
• a longitudinally inboard bed surface;
• and a spoke hole therethrough having a first entrance adjacent said inboard bed surface and a second entrance longitudinally outboard of said first entrance;
• wherein said spoke includes:
• a first spoke portion having a first sidewall surface and a first lateral dimension across said first sidewall surface;
• a second spoke portion longitudinally inboard of said first spoke portion and having a second sidewall surface and a second lateral dimension across said second sidewall surface;
• wherein said second sidewall surface projects laterally outwardly of said first sidewall surface to include a laterally outwardly projecting transition surface therebetween;
• wherein said spoke extends through said spoke hole and at least a portion of said transition surface is longitudinally outboard of said first entrance;
• and
• wherein said spoke is connected to said bracing element at said first spoke portion.