GlenBandit

Hey guys. I have an early 90's C-Record Shamal wheelset (16 spoke), and I love them very much. I push my vintage rig pretty hard and haven't had a single problem. The other day I broke a spoke on my rear wheel. I called Branford bikes in Seattle as they seem to be Campy specialists, no luck. I email CampyOnly but havent heard back from them. My LBS was not much help either.

Does anyone know what I could use as a potential replacement spoke? They are bladed and steel (?). My LBS tried to fit a 'regular' bladed spoke but said it wouldnt fit through the hub. Please help...

I scoured the internet with no luck. The only advice I've found is that I could potentially use Sapim CX bladed spokes. Is that accurate? Will I have to rebuild the whole wheel?

Michael Angelo 

If the Sapim spoke fits and is the correct length, use it. That may be the only way to save that wheel.

RubberLegs

Rare beasties....seeing them available on EBay, bound to be a shop somewhere that has them. It seems that Cambria has SOME (but some backordered as well)
https://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?id=139300
Full kits on Amazon too....NOT cheap kits....
https://www.amazon.com/Shamal-2006-20.../dp/B003RLEC62
Through Amazon, it lists a number of dealers, Exelcycle, Niagra Cycle Works, Thunder Valley Cycle, Bikewagon, Xtreme Bike, and BCMultisport

Mark Kelly 

These are not the correct spokes for the OP's wheels, they're for a later iteration under the same name.

The OEM spokes for the OP's wheels were DT Swiss "New Aero" which are no longer made and have not been available for some years.

You can't use CXRays, they won't take the extreme stress of these wheels.

I was also in this situation recently so I developed a solution. I can provide a good substitute spoke but it's NOT OEM. I can also provide the correct OEM nipples and the special Campagnolo 5.5mm spanner if needed. I'm currently working on getting some of the spoke load spreaders (the little rectangular bits under the nipples) made in stainless but prices so far are extremely high.

PM me if you want any of the above.

Mods: I figured since I can answer the OP's need directly that a bit of advertising would be acceptable. Please delete this if I've crossed the line.

RubberLegs

Grrr....unobtanium!!!

T-Mar

Despite the claims, it would seem that Campagnolo is no better than anybody else when it come to parts availabilty on discontinued product lines.

Barchettaman

I would suggest buying a complete wheelset for spares. My LBS has a Shamal sat in the back with a broken spoke for just this purpose, when the local fixed/courier crowd need a spare part.

Mark Kelly 

It's not their fault that DT swiss stopped making those spokes.

Having said that, you are right, Campag's parts policy has gone to the dogs. There's now little to separate them from SramaNO except sentiment. They're lucky so many of us are sentimental.

T-Mar

I agree that companies cannot keeping supplying replacement parts ad infinitum. However, they do have a moral repeonsibilty to supply parts for a reasonable period after the product has been discontinued. This varies from industry to industry. Some have a policy of decades. Most calculate a historical usage rate and then do an LTB (last time buy) that would theoretically supply the extant customer base for the desired period. For something like spokes, the cost and storage space would be a drop in the bucket, even if we were talking decades. Unfortunately, the bicycle industry is trending towards zero parts availability after product termination. IMO, a company offering an extended parts availability program has a big advantage over the competition with respect to building a loyal customer base.

Personally, I 've never been that convinced that Campagnolo was much better than anybody else at small parts availability. It just seemed they were better because they were the dominant force in high end cycling at a time when dealers still stocked small parts and repaired individual components. You could get small parts from Shimano at that time but most large shops stocked Campagnolo parts because there were so many Campagnolo equipped bicycles in the marketplace. Shimano you generally had to order, except for the most common of replacement parts.

Pars 

^ Yes, assuming the shimano part was rebuildable

Don't forget that Campagnolo is a much smaller company than Shimano, and smaller than SRAM as well.

shoota 

There's a De Rosa here at a pawn shop with Shamal wheels (cracked rims no less) that you can buy for $1000 :/

T-Mar

Up until the late 1980s, Shimano components had the same degree of rebuildability as Campagnolo.

The other thing that favoured repairing Campagnolo components was the cost of a replacement component, which was almost always far higher than Shimano.

GlenBandit

Thanks for posting everyone, though the discussion got a bit derailed. I might or might not need the above parts, time will tell. I have to look at the nipple. I think I got extremely lucky as I went on eBay today and found some Shamal Spokes in Germany. I think they are the right kind. I'm sure they are coveted by many since they are in low supply so I went ahead and bout them.

Can anyone comment if they are what I need?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/141010034192...84.m1423.l2648

GlenBandit

Shoot, I dont think these work... 26" not 700c. Nightmare continues.

GlenBandit

Would these work: https://www.ebay.com/itm/DT-SWISS-AER...item2c71958772

LongSheeep

Used to ride my 90s Vento wheelset HARD, until I discovered many spokes were bent in various degrees... and the rim was starting to crack.
Binned the rim and spokes and sold the hub.

snafuboy90814

I am not sure if this would work for the road wheels... But, when I have broken spokes in my Shamal track wheels I've used a spare spoke ordered from my local Campy shop from the current Campagnolo pista wheel set as they are essentially late model original shamals, albeit with a higher spoke count.

GlenBandit

Yeah I hear ya' but I cant get rid of them. My bike is just too dam beautiful

I'm in the process of building my first carbon race machine so that this bike can be saved for cruising around town. It was exciting at first to push vintage steel/aluminum to the max but these high end italian vintage bikes should be hanging on walls and ridden sparingly, ie not being a psycho listening to TOOL mashing through Big Sur

GlenBandit

The current shamals use a completely different spoke... not sure what you mean. Maybe the new spokes fit the HPW12 shamals but not the C-record where the spoke has the traditional 'hook into the hub' system.

snafuboy90814

this is the C-Record Era Shamal hub, correct? And I am aware the photo is of the front and not the rear, with the rear being what you need spoke wise.

snafuboy90814

And there is the last generation Shamal Track wheel (the hub on all track Shamals were C-Record era hubs), which to my knowledge used the same spokes as the first generation Shamal road wheels.

And the current generation of Campagnolo Pista wheel with still the C-Record style hubset. Since the Pista Spokes fit the track Shamals, and the C-Record road Shamal spokes fit the track Shamal, I feel this may work (and will work for the front), but since I cannot find technical data on the exact spoke length for the rear I am not entirely sure on whether it works for the rear. Maybe someone has that technical data on here?

GlenBandit

Yeah this seems accurate. Can you buy replacement spokes for these current Shamal (C-record) track wheels? I'll have to find out the length of the spoke and see if I can match the track spoke with just added length. I hope they have the same stiffness, although perhaps not as important in the early 16 shamals as opposed to 12 HPW, at 180 I need my wheel sturdy

I email Campy directly, hopefully they'll be able to provide the technical data I need to find the right spoke... There's a new set for c-record front on ebay going for 222...

Italuminium

Big thumbs up!

GlenBandit

Thumbs up to you for your "Big thumbs up!" i.e. BUMP!

SoreFeet

Why don't you splurge for some Record Ti hubs? I sooo regret selling mine on ebay for only 115$...I can't believe nobody bid them up higher...Those Shamal Wheels are stupid junk. Campy ought to be ashamed.

The reason DT stopped making spokes is because they knew the spokes weren't going to be a reliable product with the DT name...Adding mass to the rims and tweaking up the tension higher was a stupid fad. It still is. A double 32 spoke rear and a 28 spoke front is a time tested proven build for weight and reliability. A couple hundred grams is a small price to pay for an unfixable trip to the LBS.

The Shamal wheels can't even be trued. You break a spoke...the wheel is darn near toast.