Spokes

Sorry to start a new thread for this:

Does anyone know of an online shop that sells, halfway decent quality black spokes at a reasonable price?

Cycle basket would've been perfect, but i'm looking for 284mm, or 286mm and they dont have any that length.

I would prefer if they came with black nipples, but will settle for buying a box of black nipples separately if the spokes come with silver.

Please help!

Cheers,

Jamie.

Evans Sapim Race black 50p each @ The Cut

I don't know if they have black spokes but the other shops I use for spoke other than cycle basket are

total cycling
spa cycles
parkers international
cyclesportsuk (no s is a BMX shop)

off the top of my head.

Cheers, i'll have a look at all the above.

London Bicycle Repair Company does (don't know about black though?) DT swiss double butted in various lengths cheaper than I've found them on line. Forget exactly how much but cheaper than the 60p from chain reaction and a few other places. Might be worth dropping in if you're going to visit Evans on the cut anyway (they're on Hatfields).

Evans Sapim Race black 50p each @ The Cut

Well, I just checked out all Tommy's suggestions, and no joy there (cheers anyway).

If Evans have what you say they do (and they come with nipples) - it's a done deal!

Black DT spokes are crap, apparently.
Sapim FTW.

If it's only apparently, then why bother posting?

They're not crap but the black will wear off... Sapims won't do that...

Black spokes are just wrong.

Only white spokes are wronger.

Well, I am told that DTs are heat treated, and that this makes them brittle and if laced on the cross they can snap where the two spokes rub together. Which sounds pretty crap to me.

Not to whinge but if you type "black spokes" into search the 1st thread is this one

Also remember you can use slightly longer nipples and shorter spokes if you can't find the right length.

I brought my Black DT's from petra cycles, but do be aware that where they list their spokes in boxes of 100, but they dont actually come in boxes of 100, they come in boxes of 72. I was more than a little displeased, when they just said "oh yeah, sorry, the websites just wrong"...

Nothing the matter with DT spokes- quality has been top notch in my experience.

Also, because the thread is in the same place (relative to the rim) on long and short nipples, you can't use shorter spokes with longer nipples, unless the short nips would have been OK anyway- you'll land up with too little thread engaged. This may, or may not cause catastrophic failure of your wheel. Not a good place to gamble, IMHO.

^ I was wondering about mixing nipple lengths on road wheels; getting spokes (CX-Ray) that come with 14mm length and just using some 12mm on driveside to get the dish on rear. Would that work?

http://www.totalcycling.com/index.php/product/parts_accessories/spokes/dt_comp_black.html

^ I was wondering about mixing nipple lengths on road wheels; getting spokes (CX-Ray) that come with 14mm length and just using some 12mm on driveside to get the dish on rear. Would that work?

No.

The difference would likely be more than two mm regardless.

Anyone know where I can source straight pull bladed spokes from?
Like rocking horse shite, they are.

.... because the thread is in the same place (relative to the rim) on long and short nipples, you can't use shorter spokes with longer nipples, unless the short nips would have been OK anyway- you'll land up with too little thread engaged. This may, or may not cause catastrophic failure of your wheel. Not a good place to gamble, IMHO.

Not really sure this is true.

Your only talking about a max of 6mm difference between nipples. And by the time you've trued and tensioned the wheel you'll pretty much always be using most of the thread up any way... so I don't think you would end up with not enough thread engaged.

No.

The difference would likely be more than two mm regardless.

Anyone know where I can source straight pull bladed spokes from?
Like rocking horse shite, they are.

Left 295.9 right 294.3 ?

Evans Sapim Race black 50p each @ The Cut

Cheers for this gem of knowledge, I just picked some up!

If you really want black nipples as well. it is worth spending the extra money and matching up with DT pro locks.

STAY AWAY FROM ALUMINIUM NIPPLES
especially if riding on the road

Cheers for the info, but I have done this before...

I wouldn't buy alloy nipples for any wheels - And, I'm not 100% about the pro-locks, they advise against lubing when you use them because it messes with the locktite type stuff in them.

I may go for pro locks, but i'm not sure. I've got black, machined cxp33's, black gran compes, and black spokes - the Evans nipples I got were silver, and I'm toying with the idea of using them. Think they might look good with the machined surface... Not sure though.

If you really want black nipples as well. it is worth spending the extra money and matching up with DT pro locks.

STAY AWAY FROM ALUMINIUM NIPPLES
especially if riding on the road

why's that?

Left 295.9 right 294.3 ?

OK. It depends on pattern :)
Personally I round down to the nearest availible size, which is often in 2mm increments. So in this case 294 and 294 will be fine, (although usually I'd round the 295.9 up obviously) if you want to buy bulk to save some pennys.

If you really want black nipples as well. it is worth spending the extra money and matching up with DT pro locks.
STAY AWAY FROM ALUMINIUM NIPPLES
especially if riding on the road

why's that?

I use alu nipples all the time.

Aluminium nipples can seize to the rim, not allowing them to destress properly. More importantly the threads are far weaker than that of brass nipples.

Personally I just grease the nipple shoulders, and coat the spoke threads in spoke prep before building. I've snapped spokes, in various situations but I've never had an issue with my nipples (ahem).

Thanks SF, I've been speccing up some new wheels and, due to being a tart, had wanted to match certain colour schemes. I hadn't previously come across any mention of issues with alu nipples, just got me a bit worried.