ahultin

The time has come to build a new front wheel. I have gathered the parts slowly as funds are available and finally received the last component, the spokes. I have a 32 hole velocity deep V, Ultegra hub and were the question lies, DT alpine III spokes.
I ordered the spokes from SJS cycles in the UK and received them yesterday. As I was building the wheel I realized that they sent 30 Alpine III's and 6 Standard DT 14g leaving me 2 short for the build. They sell them in bundles of 6 and all 6 bundles where labeled as Alpine III's. SJS will replace them but it will take a few weeks to get her.
Would it be ill-advised to finish building it with two of the straight spokes and replace them when the alpine III's come in?

Nightshade

Unless you are in desperate times do the job right with matching spokes.

This really is a time when "haste makes waste".

nfmisso

ditto

motobecane69

it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. IF you absolutely need the wheel, go ahead and build it and swap them after. but if you can afford to wait, go ahead and wait. Of course you can try to souce them elsewhere but i know my lbs's don't stock a lot of spokes and certainly wouldn't stock alpines.

motobecane69

btw, the alpine 3's are probably overkill on that wheel, unless you are putting it on a bike with front racks and loading it up. you would have probably been more than fine with DT comps all around.

ahultin

I don't absolutely need the wheel right now as I have requisitioned the front wheel off of my sons bike temporarily and he is right between being too big for his 24" road bike and too small for his (sisters hand me down) 700c road bike. Its just that new toy on Christmas morning that you forgot to buy batteries for kind of feeling

I am hoping to have the replacements in enough time for me to ride it a couple hundred miles and re-tension it before my first century attempt October 1

I am fully aware that the alpine III's are overkill on the front wheel but since I could not get the DT comps locally (in less than box quantity) the price difference was negligible.

CliftonGK1

Just wait and do it right the first time. If not, you'll build it with mismatched spokes and replace. When you replace, you're altering the tension profile of the wheel through the de-tension and replacement. Why phrack it up from the get-go when you can do it right from the start?

I like the Comp 2.0 spokes for all my builds, BTW. Just my opinion.

wfournier

I dunno I don't have a ton of experience but I know I have seen shops replace a busted spoke with any old spoke they have that's the right size. I don't see an issue with building it up and then replacing it later. The spoke provides tension between the rim and the hub, as long as you can provide the same amount of tension I don't see it being an issue form that standpoint. The only slight issue might be if the straight spoke seats itself in the hub differently than the larger alpine III would.

motobecane69

buy spokes on ebay. there are a lot of sellers that buy them in boxes of 500 then they break them up and let you buy them in minimums of 18 which works out great. I usually pay about $15 for 18 dt comp spokes, $20 for dt revolutions and then $5 for shipping. each bunch of 18 after the initial bunch don't get charged extra shipping so it's a pretty good deal and lets you get only what you need.

CliftonGK1

The real issue (IMO) is that you're doing unnecessary repeated de-tensionings on the wheel which will screw up your overall tension profile. Dunno if I'm the only one here retentive enough to graph all my wheelbuilds at initial tension and 300 mile tune up, but I like to see an even profile all around instead of one with a pronounced wave or big peak/trough. More spoke removal/replacements == more out of whack that overall tension profile gets. It's why you (well, I do,) de/re-tension a wheel fully if it's going on a 3rd spoke replacement.

Mr. Beanz

Good practice is to count spokes, nipples and check that the spokes are all the correct/same lengths before starting .

I myself would wait till I had the correct parts, tools and other necessities for the job. Doing things half arsed is what causes wheels to fail and I build my own for a reason, quality!