Where to buy spokes?
 

Trying out wheelbuilding and I have all of my measurements.
Where do I buy threaded spokes? I looked around and have not
found a good place to buy them.
It would be cool to send my spokecalc spreadsheet to them

George

I have the ability to buy parts at wholesale. None-the-less, for my last few wheelbuilds, I've ordered spokes from Wheelbuilder.com. I doubt he's the cheapest but, if you want to buy 16 spokes of a certain length, he'll sell you 16 spokes. Service has been pretty good too.

Your LBS doesn't have spokes? If they're good they might even check your calculations/measurements and give you some tips on your build!

Here's at least one place:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/wheels.html#spokes

Harris Cyclery is a little bit cheaper than wheelbuilder.com and they'll compute the spoke length for you. They too will sell you any number of spokes.

Assuming you desire common spoke lengths, many on line store sell them, such as:

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/sub/3...d+Nipples.aspx
http://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...p?category=779

Buy them from the people you are buying the hub and rim from. They will usually guarantee (confirm it) that the lengths are correct if they sell you the whole package as a kit.

I have bought spokes from a guy on ebay. They were Ok.

If a local LBS can do it talk to them. One sign of a good mech shop is the ability to cut spokes. Make sure a the price quote is for a full set, not a single spoke

+1 to the LBS. They'll be able to double check everything and will probably help you if, for some reason, things go haywire.

I wouldn't bet on a typical LBS having exactly the spoke that you want. There are so many possibilities today and it gets harder every year - gauges, lengths, colors, bladed or not, straight pull or not. I have a larger stock of spokes at home than the shop that I work at has.

My LBS carries a wide variety, I buy all of my wheel parts there. He'll even dip the threads in Spoke Prep at no cost if I ask for it.
The head mechanic is more than happy to check my calculations and offer advice if asked.

Al

Yeah, I never thought about fancy stuff, but if you're just looking for "spokes" in a certain length, chances are you'll find something suitable locally...

DT Alpine III for a buck??! That's expensive, even for me, and I live in freakin' Finland! Even my LBS wil sell them for less (0.5 EUR). In fact, that's how much I paid for 32 Alpine III 6 months ago. Later I discovered an eBay dude from Germany who sells them even cheaper (but in larger quantities, say, 100).