Anyone know a good online retailer for fairly large numbers of spokes, ie a wheelset’s worth? ideally Sapim as I believe they’re cheaper than DTS. I know CRC do DT swiss. Google hasn’t come up with much. Think I want “D-light”

Thanks!

Have a look for ACI as well as Sapim for budget spokes. Can be had cheaper than than DT – quality probably isn’t as good, but the last set I had we under 1/3rd the price of equiv DT DB spokes and have lasted fine.

Having said that, it’s worth a trawl on Ebay, esp if you need an ‘ofdd length. Had 64 new DT Competitions, with nipples. off Ebay a few weeks ago for £25 plus P+P….. and these were 292mm, so not especially obscure for 700c.

Rosebikes are worth checking – they were significantly cheaper than CRC for DTS last time I looked, but not sure what (if any) other spoke brands they stock.

Rose bikes look like good prices for DTS. Postage is £5 so that may be an issue

“Like” Rose Bikes on Facebook for a €10 voucher, should sort the postage for you

Rose worked out the cheepest when I built my last set. Chuck in a couple of XTR BB’s to make it worth the postage. CRC are about the same price if bought by the box, but that means lots of spare spokes.

Also CRC include 14mm nipples, most builders and calculators use 12mm asa default so remmeber to round them down 2mm.

ahh Rose! forgot about them! Otherwise someone on ebay is selling 32 sapim for about £14 posted which seems reasonable

Also CRC include 14mm nipples, most builders and calculators use 12mm asa default so remmeber to round them down 2mm.

Whatever you do, don’t do that. The nipple length has no bearing on the required spoke length

It does if you use DT Swiss spoke calc?

If i’m building one wheel i get ACI http://www.cyclebasket.com/brands/aci.php . Quality-wise they are 100% completely fine i’d be impressed if you could tell any difference between them and DT. They are actually used as an example of a good spoke in the “Touring bikes” book…
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?p=140861

sdeals.co.uk

“a wheelset’s worth” is not bulk BTW.

Whatever you do, don’t do that. The nipple length has no bearing on the required spoke length

Yes it does? Correct me if I’m wrong but if you use the correct length spokes and 12mm nipples then the end of the spoke should be arround the end of the nipple and the threads wont bottom out. If you use 14mm nipples and the same length spokes the threads might bottom out.

How does that effect the length of the spoke required? Longer nipples simply shroud the spoke by a little more, they have no bearing on where the end of the spoke should end up relative to the rim. If you’ve measured up correctly bottoming-out won’t be a problem.

mike p – the DT Swiss calculator gives different results for different nipple lengths so there must be some difference in requirement?

Google “sdeals spokes” – they do ACIs for really good prices and I’ve found them just as good as Sapim or DT

(the site seems to be down at the mo though)

some nipples are threaded all the way down, some nipples have the same length of thread regardless of length of nipple…i think. i cant remember which brand is which.

How does that effect the length of the spoke required? Longer nipples simply shroud the spoke by a little more, they have no bearing on where the end of the spoke should end up relative to the rim. If you’ve measured up correctly bottoming-out won’t be a problem.

Relative to the rim they might end up in the same place, but if the threads are 2mm further towards the hub then they’ll bottom out on the spokes thread before they get tight. I’m pretty sure DT nipples have the threads cut in diffferent places on 12/14/16mm nipples as they give different answers in the calculator.

Don’t use the DT spoke calc then! You guys need to read the Wheelpro book… a spoke should completely fill the nipple, ideally ending flush with the flanged end.

a spoke should completely fill the nipple

I think a spoke shoudl completely fill the thread on the nipple – if the threaded portion is the same length on a 14mm and 12mm nipple but in different places relative to the rim then that might need different length spokes to compensate.

I have read the wheelpro book. However I can’t remember how he suggests you account for the fact that you can’t get spokes exactly correct, only to the closest 2mm or 1mm at absolute best, so there must be some variation and the nipples must take this up.

I think the wheelpro book says something about the spoke filling the nipple to stop it from deforming and therefore failing. Might be more relavent with aluminium than brass but I’ve never had a problem. Somewhere else I read a recomendation to buy 14mm nipples and spokes 2mm shorter when building with Rev’s as they stretch more than comps so if you run out of thread you can always swap to 12mm nipples without having to buy more spokes.

Spa Cycles do ACI & Sapim at good prices but silver only. I’ve used both brands with no problems.

OO/PX had a load of Sapim at good prices including black.

Thanks chaps. For the record, I checked the book and it says that the nipple length does make a difference, though how much depends on the nipple design

Quality-wise they are 100% completely fine i’d be impressed if you could tell any difference between them and DT. They are actually used as an example of a good spoke in the “Touring bikes” book…

Just to clarify, structurally, as I noted, I have had no issue – though I’ve not done anything super-gnarr on my road commute 😉 OTOH, I have found that the black anodising on the ACI spokes is not particularly hard wearing. After a relitively short time my black spokes had turned into something approaching gun-metal. Never had this with many sets of DT. Could be a bad batch/not a problem with silver/etc/etc, and overall I’m still happy considering the price.

I got D-light spokes from here for my last build;-

http://www.bike24.com/p229362.html