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I have been trying tog et hold of ~100 376mm spokes for some time now (roughly a year) and am having a lot of difficulty. I have tried PIM cycles (yourspokes) who quoted a ludicrous £2.35 a spoke, also spoken to unicycling.com (60 pence each) but they are having difficulty as well as have not been able to stock this size for some time.
I have also looked at their penny farthing spokes (again at unicycling.com) and would have to buy the £1.50 blanks with the 50 pence custom size cutting, but at that price it still seems a bit steep in my eyes.
It is for a 4x 36" wheel build and I have chosen both the hubs and the nipples based around this one spoke length (just to make things a bit easier for spares) and the one rim ERD that I can get.
Any ideas other than what I have tried? I have considered a custom motorcycle wheel builder but they do 12G and bigger where as I dont want to be charged for the whole spool of 14G wire.
Thanks in advance.
I can cut and roll spokes if you can get blanks Max 🙂
what about these? they claim they'll do any size so should be worth a shot!
[url=www.aliexpress.com/item/Customize-the-spokes-of-bicycle/2032345792.html]HERE[/url]
EDIT: link doesn't seem to work so www.aliexpress.com/item/Customize-the-spokes-of-bicycle/2032345792.html
Was going to suggest UDC (have used their penny blanks), but why 4x? How many spokes in the wheel? 3x is standard for 32 or 36 even on a 36er, any more and you run into issues of spokes overlapping spoke heads at the hub. I'm also not seeing the supposed advantage of easier spares here!
...if you need 376 for 4x, then probably 367 for 3x, which is in stock at UDC
Mike, I am tempted as I said on the ride today. Oli, you dont trust a FRAME from ali-express, so why would you trust spokes?!
aracer, 36 holes, I hoped that having one spoke length throughout the bike would mean carrying any spares would be simpler. I was going to use 4x to just make the wheel as strong as possible, the front wheel will have a dual disc system implemented so really didnt want to over stress the wheel. I can indeed get away with 367mm spokes if I go to 3 cross.
hasnt bencooper treated himself to a spoke roller cutter? Might be worth asking him to quote.
http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/
EDIT: Here we are, cutting edge tech too! https://www.flickr.com/photos/cycleologist/14371473124/
Thanks for that - I do have a nice antique spoke making setup now, but getting the blanks is the tricky bit - I normally go the other way, I made some 65mm spokes recently 😉
4x isn't necessarily stronger than 3x, by the way. It's to do with the length of the effective lever arm.
65mm spokes
hamster wheels!
Ben, what the hell were 65mm spokes for?! not the suspended wheel was it? I am aware that its not always the way, but considering I was going for a twin BB7 brake on the front wheel, I wanted something a bit... more likely to survive.
Pretty much 😉
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7579/15962007257_b1f41a69c1_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/cycleologist/15962007257/ ]Heinzmann DirectDrive Brompton[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/cycleologist/ ]Ben Cooper[/url], on Flickr
[quote=maximusmountain ]aracer, 36 holes, I hoped that having one spoke length throughout the bike would mean carrying any spares would be simpler.
Is there something else you need spokes that length for, or would 367 be a suitable single spoke length 3x? As ben suggests, there's not a huge advantage to 4x (by my back of the envelope calcs, about 10% difference to the lever arm). You also have to bear in mind that the brake can't put more torque through the wheel than the lower of the amount required to skid the tyre or to pitch you over the bars, which can generally be achieved by any single disc brake, so you won't actually be putting any more stress through the spokes.
Your choice I guess if you think it's worth an extra £50 per wheel to have 4x.