Originally Posted by
spectastic
I'm contemplating a wheel build. pillar (taiwanese) is about half the price of sapim (swiss). same weight, appearance, material. it would appear to me that the only difference between these two spokes are 1. durability and 2. marketing. I've seen some say they're the same spoke, and I've seen some say cx ray is stronger. I did notice that the ones who say cx ray is stronger also happen to be the ones selling the spokes, so.... objectively, what is the actual difference between pillar 1420 and sapim cx ray? anyone seen enough broken spokes to know this?
First, Sapim is from Belgium. Similar neutrality ideas as Switzerland but they just happen to be flatter which makes them a convenient through way on the way from Germany to France
That said, I have some experience with Pillar spokes but not that particular model. I've used the triple butted spokes from Pillar that are comparable to the actual Swiss company, DT Swiss. They are as strong and durable for slightly less money than their Swiss counter parts. I've used them because finding silver Alpine III here in the US is difficult.
I can't speak to the Sapim spokes as I've not built anything with them but they seem to be as good as the DT Swiss spokes from what I have gathered.