Hayes has acquired Reynolds Cycling
- Thread starter jonKranked
- Start date
TIL....Hayes still exists!
they also own manitou, wheelsmith, answer, and sun ringle
make ALL the companies irrelevant!
There's 3 spoke manufacturers I buy from regularly (like every week) Sapim, DTSwiss & Wheelsmith.
Wheelsmith is the normal choice for low to mid range wheels which is the biggest chunk of the market for replacement spokes.
I've built wheels with Wheelsmith over DT cause DT has no DH spokes. I can't recall breaking a Wheelsmith spoke ever. Sapim is who I've used on my last two builds. Strong's on the DH bike, Leaders on the Spartan and the new hardtail. No broken spokes there either. DT though? Enough over the years. But spokes will break cause they're a fatigued item, despite brand.
You mean like the DT Apline IIIs? They've had those forever. I used them back in the day.
I just went to their website and I didn't see the scale anymore. But I'd probably run the Alpine before the 3's just cause of the 15g in the middle. I'm all for strength over replacing stuff. Lol!
The Alpine III would be a better spoke to use, butted spokes>straight gauge spokes. The Apline III was designed specifically for the stresses of tandem cycles and shortly thereafter (back in the 90s) they said it's also good for DH. That is my go-to for a super-strong spoke, assuming the spoke-holes support it at the hub. The lack of "give" in straight spokes IMO leads to more breakages.
I've broken butted spokes, but haven't broken a Champion yet.
Most wheebuilders I've ever run into swear by double butted for the elasticity and resistance to breaking, reporting more breakages with straight. I've used that for a long time now and had great results. I can't think of any good reason to use straight gauge except to save a bunch of money on something that isn't going to be used hard.
I use straight gauge because they build a stiffer wheel that holds tension longer, not for cost. Even with butted spokes breakages were a rare occurrence for me.
The most recent wheel building theory I’ve seen is that the stiffness comes mainly from the rim, but even some of the recent Alu rims like Spank are decently stiff (instead of having to go to carbon).
this is largely one of the reasons i use straight gauge. I tension the hell out of them, and rarely have to true them once they're built. plus i'm a bigger dude (210 not geared up).
Why is that? Limited wind-up during tensioning? I don't believe any of the spokes stretch during their lifetime.
I am a CX-Rays believer and would rather build a 36 spoke wheels with DB/aero spokes than 32/straight gauge ones.
Also, #spokemonkey.com
Wind-up is what I was taught back in my shop days.
That's the biggest advantage of bladed spokes - zero wind-up.
baloney. they still wind up, its just easier to detect (and correct) since you can visually see it.
You would have to be really dumb to let that happen. Plus, I use a DIY tool that holds the end of the blade in the correct position while tensioning so it does not have a slightest chance to get wound up.
you're right, it's extremely easy to prevent and there's no reason you should allow it to happen, but they absolutely are prone to wind up. congratulations on proving yourself wrong.
Fwiw, the Alpine is also butted.
When I've broken spokes or buddies break them, it varies where the spoke breaks. But I've seen plenty of them break from the middle on down to the hub. Generally speaking, where the 15g is. I've rarely seen the head pop off though despite what straight spoke advocates tell us.
i've busted a couple this way. most of them were on old wheels so i suspect aged was a factor. a handful were on wheels that got totally trashed.