Senqi spokes????
06-15-23, 05:38 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
Senqi spokes????
I have been building several wheelsets every year for about 7 years now and have always used either Wheelmaster or Wheelsmith spokes. I have a project coming up and need to purchase some 288mm spokes. I see Amazon sells a "Senqi" brand spoke....minimal reviews listed but most were positive. Have any of you used these spokes with good results? Thanks in advance.
06-15-23, 08:42 AM
#2
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I haven’t built with them but I’d be dubious of the quality and long term durability. Wire quality is important when it comes to spokes and these look like knockoffs of dubious parentage. Yes, they are cheap at about $0.35 each but if they are made of typical Slagesium they will pop enough to make Orville Redenbacher proud. You can get DT Swiss 2.0mm spokes for about twice the price but they are probably 10 times the reliability.
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06-15-23, 09:18 AM
#3
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good one. That branch of the periodic table also contains Bolonium (Bo) and Unobtanium (Ut)
/markp
/markp
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06-15-23, 09:59 AM
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DT Swiss, Sapim, WheelSmith and Phil Wood! Why do you need other spokes of a no-name random origin? Just stick with a good known quantity unless I am the purchaser for Magna or Huffy I am going to go with a known quantity and quality that is well known and trusted by wheel builders the world over. Heck aside from Sapim all those others are made in the U.S. or at least in DTs case have a potential to be made in the U.S. (they have many factories) and Sapim in Hencho en Belgium since 1918 and are excellent quality. I have used their spokes for years in various builds and will continue to use them.
06-15-23, 10:13 AM
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Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
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Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Last edited by cyccommute; 06-15-23 at 10:17 AM.
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06-15-23, 10:16 AM
#7
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A few years ago I built up a rear wheel from an old XT hub and a DTSwiss R460 rim with 32 of cheap no-name (but stainless steel) spokes I got off Aliexpress. The rim & all spokes are still going strong despite getting an absolute shellacking on my Gravel bike. My guess is these Senqi spokes and the ones I bought came out of one of the same Chinese factories that build the wheels for the millions of mid-range bikes you buy from the big brands.
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06-15-23, 10:24 AM
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A few years ago I built up a rear wheel from an old XT hub and a DTSwiss R460 rim with 32 of cheap no-name (but stainless steel) spokes I got off Aliexpress. The rim & all spokes are still going strong despite getting an absolute shellacking on my Gravel bike. My guess is these Senqi spokes and the ones I bought came out of one of the same Chinese factories that build the wheels for the millions of mid-range bikes you buy from the big brands.
Why build a wheel?
So you want to build a wheel. Why? Let me start by saying that if you are planning on building a wheel to beat the price the “Man” charges for a new wheel, stop right there. Just as with building up a bicycle, don’t do it to save money. You won’t. Machine built wheels are available at less cost than any hand built wheel. If you just need a wheel at a reasonable price, talk a bike shop. They can find you really good wheels for very reasonable prices.
If you are planning on building a Wonder Wheel®, learn how to build a “normal” wheel first…the ones with regular spokes and J-bend spokes. Then build several “normal” wheels before you attempt a Wonder Wheel®.
Wonder Wheel® have straight spokes, bladed spokes, weird spoke configurations, odd rim materials and odd spoke tensions on the rim that are best addressed by someone who has some (or even a lot of) knowledge of how to build a wheel. You might be able to build a Wonder Wheel® on your first try but you more likely to end up with a pile of expensive scrap. And, again, you will find that even at the exorbitant cost of Wonder Wheel®, you aren’t likely to be able to buy a wheel for less than the price of the components.
Now that I’ve turned you off to the whole idea of building wheels, I’ll address some of the reasons that you should build a wheel.
There are certain wheel combinations that you just won’t find in a prebuilt wheel. Seldom are you going to find butted spokes or boutique hubs. Perhaps you want wider rims or even narrower rims. Perhaps you want some combination of wheel components that will be lighter and stronger than what you can get in a prebuilt wheel. You might tour and want stronger wheels so that you don’t have to replace broken spokes. Maybe you like the idea of riding on something that you built. The list is endless.
Just don’t go building wheels to “stick it to the Man”. The House always wins.
So you want to build a wheel. Why? Let me start by saying that if you are planning on building a wheel to beat the price the “Man” charges for a new wheel, stop right there. Just as with building up a bicycle, don’t do it to save money. You won’t. Machine built wheels are available at less cost than any hand built wheel. If you just need a wheel at a reasonable price, talk a bike shop. They can find you really good wheels for very reasonable prices.
If you are planning on building a Wonder Wheel®, learn how to build a “normal” wheel first…the ones with regular spokes and J-bend spokes. Then build several “normal” wheels before you attempt a Wonder Wheel®.
Wonder Wheel® have straight spokes, bladed spokes, weird spoke configurations, odd rim materials and odd spoke tensions on the rim that are best addressed by someone who has some (or even a lot of) knowledge of how to build a wheel. You might be able to build a Wonder Wheel® on your first try but you more likely to end up with a pile of expensive scrap. And, again, you will find that even at the exorbitant cost of Wonder Wheel®, you aren’t likely to be able to buy a wheel for less than the price of the components.
Now that I’ve turned you off to the whole idea of building wheels, I’ll address some of the reasons that you should build a wheel.
There are certain wheel combinations that you just won’t find in a prebuilt wheel. Seldom are you going to find butted spokes or boutique hubs. Perhaps you want wider rims or even narrower rims. Perhaps you want some combination of wheel components that will be lighter and stronger than what you can get in a prebuilt wheel. You might tour and want stronger wheels so that you don’t have to replace broken spokes. Maybe you like the idea of riding on something that you built. The list is endless.
Just don’t go building wheels to “stick it to the Man”. The House always wins.
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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06-15-23, 11:32 AM
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06-15-23, 08:07 PM
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Heh... I built my first wheel because the mechanic who replaced the rear rim for my folding bike had spokes crossing over the valve hole. I discovered this when I started mounting the tire at home. I took the wheel back to the (rather high-end) shop and was told that the mechanic had left the shop and that I would have to pay for the wheel to be re-rebuilt. Obviously that was a non-starter.
But at least it didn't cost me any more money! And I never went back to that shop.
But at least it didn't cost me any more money! And I never went back to that shop.
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06-17-23, 10:10 AM
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Same here: went through one awful, expensive experience at a bike shop, which gave me the courage to buy tools and do it all myself. I should thank that hack.
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06-18-23, 09:02 AM
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As it happens I built a wheel only yesterday with cheap DBSS spokes of uncertain origin but "made in Europe" - it's a scruffy 1980's wheel on an "eBay bargain" bike, I fully expect to break the axle or the rim on the third pothole I hit but I thought I might as well give it a chance before paying more for a better wheel than I did for the whole bike.
06-20-23, 09:43 AM
#13
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Thread Starter
Thanks everyone for your comments. I did order some DT Swiss spokes over the weekend so I will be able to finish my project.
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