Spokes ? Sizes ?

vrbuzard

Hey there

I am just starting out on doing my own repairs, next one my list is replacing spokes. I have been tightening my own for years but till now I have not bought my own to replace.

I was just at www.performancebike.com and I see they are sold buy "size" one example is 14/15/14g or 14/17/14g and then they are listed by size from 306 to 260

can someone tell me what these numbers mean?

Thanks

eric_the_red

The 14/15/14 is the thickness of the spokes, using the American Wire Gauge, lower numbers are thicker. Spokes come in butted and non-butted flavours. Butted are thicker at the ends and thinner in the middle. The idea is most breaks occur at the elbow so the middle can be thinner and save a few grams. You should be able to look at yours and see if they are butted or not. As for the thickness I think 14 gauge is 2.0 mm, and 15 gauge is 1.8 mm. I would stay away from the 17 gauge unless you're racing.

The 306 to 260 is the length, in mm, measured from the elbow to the very end, including the threaded part. You have to replace spokes with the same length, Either measure yours old ones or you can try the calculator at this site.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/spocalc.htm

If you can find your hubs and rims listed it will give you the spoke length. Don't forget most rear wheels use different sizes on the drive and non-drive side.