Best value for spokes and nipples?
 

I'm looking at building a set of 650b's for my new project if i can't secure a used set.
I don't have a lot of money and am curious what you guys think are the best value in terms of spokes and nipples. I don't want something cheap that will easily break or weigh a ton but i don't want to break the bank either.

Recommendations?

Thanks

My local bike shop made me a good price when I bought DT Competitions from them, close enough to Internet that I was happy to give them my business.
That said, DT spokes are good, but not the cheapest by any means. I think I remember seeing Sapim spokes for fairly reasonable prices at a few Internet sites, and they have a good rep as far as I know. Twenty five cents a piece, if I remember correctly.

I would like to find Sapim spokes for 25 cents each. I approve of them even at a higher price for vintage stuff. I would use DT's for newer wider thicker flanged hubs.

Dan's Competition is primarily a BMX shop, but also seems to have by far the best price around on spokes. 14ga Sapim @ 25c US, 14/15 DB @ 40c US. http://www.danscomp.com/

I haven't bought anything from them in over a decade, but back then they were primo for customer service, too. I'll probably be ordering some pedals and shoes soon, because I'm one of those Grant Petersen weirdos with platforms on a road bike. :D

childhood_dreams on eBay. He's awesome. He has a $4,000 Phil Wood spoke cutter. He doesn't play around. He has what you need when you need it. Send him an email via eBay for specific requests.

Thanks Colonel!

I keep forgetting to send off your cable stop. Will do it soon.

The Sapims from DansComp are by far the best deal around...they carry pretty much any length you will need, and include brass nipples.

Generic stainless steel of which 99% o all riders will never have a problem with.

Buy the ones in CJL's link and your good to go....

Second this one. Great prices and fast shipping.

Aaron :)

Any recommendations for rims?

Just built a set of wheels with Childhood Dream's spokes last night. It was 35 bux for 75 double butted spokes. No complaints.

I dont think you'll find a wide range of prices on rims...Maybe 5-7 bux difference per rim depending on where you go. eBikestop.com has been good to me in the past, as has aebike.com and longleafcycles.com

I find em on ebay if you know the length you need. Just got a box of 14 guage, straight, stainless for 22 bucks. But they're for high-flange 3-cross, what I typically build. Not much demand I guess...

Early in this thread you stated you were going 650b. There are choices out there, but the market for individual lose rims in that size is the higher end.

you're playing my song.

If I were building a 650B wheelset (and I plan to soon), I'd choose the VO Diagonale, Velocity Synergy or Sun CR-18 depending on my budget. I'd love to pickup a pair of really nice vintage rims for a song, but I'm not holding my breath.

It's my opinion that the extra money invested in swaged spokes is well spent.

Danscomp is limited to about 297mm in the DB spokes. I needed 300+ for a 4x high flange build and they couldn't provide them. Nice folks though. Length shouldn't be a problem with your 650c rims.


+1, my last three or four builds have been with Sapim spokes from Lee. Great guy. AND he CAN get Sapim Laser spokes which are DT Revolution equivalents.

See above, long lengths in the DB might be an issue. But yes, the price (nipple included) is great.

I wish this posted 2 days and 75 dollars ago!

Those VO rims are sexy!!

I wish the owner would write me an apology so i could justify lifting my boycott. So many beautiful products that I find it hard to stick to my word.

Anyone know where to get 40h boxed section rims. Been searching for months.

I haven't built a wheel in years (I simply do not have a truing stand and I refuse to do it with a micky mouse one) but other than trying a get a decent price on the 64 or 72 spokes for a pair of wheels I never look for bargin spokes. I perfer DT or WheelSmith DB over most anything else. plain nipples too none of that spline drive or alloy for me.

What size? Sun CR18 comes in a EA3/590mm 40-hole.

Neal

Someplace that caters to tandems might have them...

now I'm curious, does he own the OKC Thunder too?

If you don't have a lot money the DT Competitions the first answer gave are the best value for the money. Sapims are great spokes but they cost almost twice as much and you gain very little in weight savings. Sapims spokes cost around $2.50 each not 25 cents, you may find them a tad cheaper doing a web search looking for the lowest price, but those prices are an average. The DT Competition are about a $1 each with nipples, again doing some searching will turn up lower prices.

I've never used Sapims but I have three bikes with the DT's and their a great spoke.

Also Wheelsmith makes a great spoke, they have the same dble butted spoke that DT makes and Wheelsmith cost 79 cents. These spokes must be pretty good because one of the best wheel builders in the world swears by them and builds all of his wheels with these and I have a set built by this guy with those spokes and they work great. That guy is Peter White; see: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/ Do the Wheelsmith spokes work better then DT? Probably the same, I can't tell the difference.

And don't use alloy nipples to save a tad of weight, the alloy won't last as long as brass when you put the spoke tool on it to adjust the rim. Brass also stronger.

630 or 622

width 21/23/25