I’ve been calculating the spoke length for a road bike wheel build.

Two different calculators have given slightly different numbers.

Front:287 and 287.6
Rear:NDS 289 and 290.3, DS 285 and 286.3

Which numbers should I go with or between the two, e.g. 290 and 286 for the rear?

Thanks
Matt

It really won’t matter.

290 and 286 for the rear?

Yes.
I normally round to the nearest even number, if in doubt go a tad longer.

Which spoke calculators were you using? I find them all generally identical. But I always measure my own hubs and I’ll double check any given ERD. I’ve seen 2 different ERDs printed on 2 identical (Stans) rims. I emailed tham and they knew about it – Printing error if I recall correctly…..
I only trust my own numbers, the only time I’ve ever got it wrong was with internet sourced dimensions.

Why longer? I always round down – because spoke calculators take no account of spoke stretch (which is a bit over half a mm at typical spoke tension).

Because too long is adjustable. Too short isn’t.

Thanks for the replies.

The results came from the DT Swiss and Prowheelbuilder websites. Each has a couple of measurements which are taken from slightly different points, the hub and flange lengths.

Matt

I think I may have some spokes around those lengths as I had to buy packs of 100 if you are interested. They are Alpine DB in black (stocked by cyclebasket in S.Wales). 2.0-1.7-2.0 so a little bit more robust than DT revs but much cheaper.