Wanted: Spokes for Shamal build

Hi,

Trying to build up a Shamal front wheel. Have the 12HPW rim (tub) and original shamal straight pull hub (from a shamal 9 speed wheelset) but struggling to find spokes to suit.

I believe they need to be 281mm in length.

I found this campagnolo spares info online:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7/k4drd/Bicycles/Wheels/1998ShamalSpares.jpg

if anyone could help or advise i'd appreciate it.

thanks

Mark

Sapim CX-Ray might do the job

Watch out for nipples, you might need special Shamal specific ones... There are Shamal spoke kits including the nipples around but they can be hard to find...
#ime

Not sure CX-Ray are a good idea. Substitute nipples and nipple inserts are mentioned. Also the last post tells a cautionary tale...

the Shamal used standard bladed spokes (typically 3.2mm x 1mm) , not the super-butted bladed spokes like the CX-Ray (2.3mm x 0.9). Standard bladed spokes are the same weight and stiffness (and strength) as 2.0 straight spokes, but they require hubs with slotted spoke holes to thread the spokes through. Plenty of track racers used the original 16 spoke Shamal track wheels, so I'm sure it would be fine if built with proper spokes and hub.

The modern super-butted bladed spokes can be used with hubs with standard spoke hold drilling, but these spokes have only about 1/2 the stiffness of standard bladed spokes, so the wheel may not be as stiff as you might like. In addition, because they are so thin and twisty, it may be difficult to get the super-butted spokes up to the same tensions as standard bladed spokes. If you can't get standard bladed spokes or can't get hubs for them, I would probably recommend using straight 2.0 spokes (or maybe 2.0/1.8 butted spokes) instead of super-butted spokes for reasons of stiffness.

...

The nipples are actually standard 2.0mm (14 gauge) hex headed nipples (which are made by several manufacturers)

...

If you are missing the nipple inserts, you can glue some wave washers together and they can be used in place of the originals.

-- http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=83445

The shop I work for got hold of 28 pair of Shamal wheelsets from a defunct Italian racing team 3 years ago - they still had these in a closet from the mid 1990's. All of them had some kind of a problem, the good ones were probably sold before. So our job was to make as many reliable, usable pairs as possible.

Since the most common damage was to spokes and rims, we replaced them from donor wheelsets from the 28 pairs, and had a lot of 16 and 12 hole hubsets, a few rims as leftovers. Then we started to experiment...

First tried substituting DT aero spokes for an original Shamal hub/Shamal rim setup. The result was a flexible, unstable wheelset which we managed to sell to a 160 cm tall, 58 kg male hobby rider. He was happy with it and still runs them. So far, so good!

Next we took some NOS Gimpiemme Shamal/FIR copy 16H rims with no stiffening wall inside, so outside placed nipples. Now this wheelset was even worse, and found a 47 kg lady rider who manages to push the rim into the brakepads on the climbs. It's just like an old 8-spoke Spinergy!

Then we tried paired spoke Araya/Rolf rims again with DT spokes, this wheelset turned out a little bit better, but still nowhere as good as an original Shamal - even in 12 spoke version!

THe moral: the Fluid Dynamic wheelsets were well engineered and defy the laws of physics. It's near a perfect structure - and this inludes the special spokes as well, beside the cross section they have special butting at the ends as well!

-- http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=83445&start=15