Sapim CX-Ray or DT Aerolite Spoke ? - Page 2

When I broke the aerolite in the 28 rear the wheel was perfectly ridable. In fact it happened around the corner from my wheel builders factory, so I dropped in to have it fixed. He wasn't there (at 9am on a Saturday morning), so I did about 50km on a training loop before returning to his shop and having it replaced after he had gotten in.

Personally I think 250g, or a half pound is a fairly significant amount of weight to shed, for a relatively small cost, without any real demonstrated difference in reliability. From memory my wheel builder charges $2AU per spoke premium using Aerolites, CX Rays are a bit cheaper. So 24+28=52 > $104$AU (~$80US)

If you don't like them, you're completely entitled to that opinion, but my question is Peter, are you basing that opinion on having had a bad run with these types of spokes, or are you in theory thinking a light spoke isn't going to make a strong / reliable wheel and saying "nope we aren't building wheels with them".

There's a lot of mythology "built" into wheels. Take radial spokes, for example. I forget the guy's name, but a British wheel builder who's legend over there, built a set of track wheels for a big track cyclist with radially laced spokes everywhere: front, rear NDS, AND rear DS. Apparently it worked and was durable. Guys like Troy Watson and Eric Gottesman build lots of wheels with Aerolites or CX-Rays without problem. From sprinters to rec riders, those work and last.

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[QUOTE=Meek One]Umm just went to the DT site and the spokes you mention aren't there and do you prefer them simply because you sell them (went to your site), only asking cuz I know a guy that owns a bike store and he ONLY thinks the bikes he sells are 'worth' the money (okay ):

Aerolites and Aerospeeds..we do sell them, have built wheels with them. 'Worth' is something customer has to decide, not me. BUT I design a wheel that is going to do what the customer needs, to the best of my experience. If the customer agrees, we build it. If they want something I think may not be reliable, they may go somewhere else. No great worry but if we stand behind our wheels, and they are in need of constant attention, because they are too light for the application, that costs money, our money.

Never said I didn't 'like' them. They have their place. They can make a strong reliable wheel for certain riders. We have built with them, for light riders, for racing type wheels, again, with light riders. BUT if the rim, hub and build quality are the same and you use a DT aerolite or CX-ray instead of a 14/15, the wheel isn't as strong. Can it be reliable, sure but for a 175 pound rider, and a 17 pound bike, it isn't going to be as reliable as the one with 14/15 spokes. Is it worth the less relaibility, slightly lower weight(28 14/15 aren't 250 grams heavier than 28 Aerolites) and increased cost? Donno, that has to be answered by the customer BUT we aren't going to design a wheel that we suspect we are going to see a lot, that costs us time and money.

250 grams, about 1/2 pound, a teeny % of the total weight of a pretty light bike and rider(175 pounds again, plus all the stuff, clothes, shoes, bike, water, etc), I don't describe that as 'significant'. BUT again, your money, your rig. I see heavy riders with light, light stuff have no problems and I see light, like 140 pound riders kill stuff left and right. As a business, in biz to stay in biz, it makes sense to be more conservative when it comes to wheels designed and built.