Buying spokes
 

Where do folks get odd-sized spokes? I'm faced with buying $150 of spokes (if I have to buy whole boxes of 50 of each size) to build a 650c wheel set and I'm sure there's a more cost-effective way to do that.

Well, some shops can cut them and roll threads from larger stock, or just carry a better inventory. Call around, I guess.

Try www.wheelbuilder.com. I use a shop that has a Phil Wood spoke cutter mostly, though.

I have the ability to buy bike parts at wholesale. Even with that advantage for several of my most recent wheelbuilds it's been advantageous to buy spokes from wheelbuilder.com. They have a minimum purchase size but, that aside, they'll sell you the exact number of spokes that you need. Service is pretty quick too.

The local shop, Ben's Bicycle Shop, has a Phil Wood (iirc) spoke cutting and threading machine. They made me 36+ spokes & the charge was reasonable.

Yeah, no one in the area has a spoke roller. Wheelbuilder's awesome! Thanks, folks!

Cambria is my first choice. Wheelbuilder second.

cambria bike has a whole bunch of different spoke lengths in stock (not all however), best of all, they allow single spoke purchases.

ah, boo, I was beat by rydaddy :p

;)

So how's Cambria about online selection and shopping for unique lengths and quantities? (I didn't try, just never noticed them having what I've needed online).

I've had pretty good luck with eBikestop
I've found that many online shops will list a ton of sizes, but when it comes to ordering, they aren't in stock.

in 1mm increments for popular rim/hub combos like 32h shimano/mavic and can buy single to as many as you want. 2mm increments for some sections of lengths

some lengths are not in stock and they don't seem to stock 14mm nipples. only 12mm and 16mm.

One thing about Cambiria is the same spoke can have different prices for a given length. Some can be had for really cheap. When shopping for a certain length, be sure to check all options before giving up.

I once ordered 32 DT revs at 293mm. Turns out, they only had 3 in stock. That's when wheelbuilder came into play.

I've bought spokes from IcyclesUSA. They cut them on a Phil Wood spoke machine, so you can buy any quantity of any length. I've built a couple sets of wheels, including one laced "crows-foot" and I've only had one problem: they sent my the wrong size nipples once. I called 'em and they sent me the correct size without argument.

How does cutting a double-butted spoke work?

The same way as with straight, you just have to watch that you're not cutting at the transition. Typically you stock intermediate sizes instead of all long spokes if you're cutting them down, like 310, 270, 250 or so.