Broken Spoke... How to size replacement?

[[email protected]]

All,

Last week I broke a spoke (Sapim CXRays bladed) on the head and luckily
I was near a bike shop. They did not have the exact model but something
similar (DT's bladed). Anyway I would like to get some replacements to
not only replace this DT spoke but for the next time this may occur.
So, to my question, how do I go about measuring the size of the spoke
needed ? Can I do it without having to removing a spoke? Also, anyone
know where I could purchase several Sapim CXRays bladed?

Thanks,

Ian in San Diego

 

[MykalCrooks]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> All,
>
> Last week I broke a spoke (Sapim CXRays bladed) on the head and luckily
> I was near a bike shop. They did not have the exact model but something
> similar (DT's bladed). Anyway I would like to get some replacements to
> not only replace this DT spoke but for the next time this may occur.
> So, to my question, how do I go about measuring the size of the spoke
> needed ? Can I do it without having to removing a spoke? Also, anyone
> know where I could purchase several Sapim CXRays bladed?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ian in San Diego
>


If you've already replaced a broken spoke, then measuring is a done deal.
For replacements:

SpinliteCycling, a wheelbuilder in Georgia, offers the ridiculously
expensive, bladed, CXRay spoke:
http://www.spinlitecycling.com/spokes.htm

Also, fwiw, I buy the Sapim Laser spokes at a good price by the package at
BikeToolsEtc, located in Oregon:
http://biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?i...c=Wheel and Rim&tc=Spokes/14/17/Double Butted

WheelBuilder.com also has the CXRay, as well as other quality spokes::
http://www.wheelbuilder.com/thumbnail.asp?offset=0&deep=1&cid=15

mC

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

[email protected] wrote:
> All,
>
> Last week I broke a spoke (Sapim CXRays bladed) on the head and luckily
> I was near a bike shop. They did not have the exact model but something
> similar (DT's bladed). Anyway I would like to get some replacements to
> not only replace this DT spoke but for the next time this may occur.
> So, to my question, how do I go about measuring the size of the spoke
> needed ? Can I do it without having to removing a spoke? Also, anyone
> know where I could purchase several Sapim CXRays bladed?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ian in San Diego

Go to a bike shop that has the 'WS' spoke calc system...with rim, hub
and lacing data, can calculate the length...Pretty thin spoke,
BTW-breaking them can mean the wheel is ill, or the design is bad, not
up to the task...

 

[D'ohBoy]

[email protected] wrote:
> All,
>
> Last week I broke a spoke (Sapim CXRays bladed) on the head and luckily
> I was near a bike shop. They did not have the exact model but something
> similar (DT's bladed). Anyway I would like to get some replacements to
> not only replace this DT spoke but for the next time this may occur.
> So, to my question, how do I go about measuring the size of the spoke
> needed ? Can I do it without having to removing a spoke? Also, anyone
> know where I could purchase several Sapim CXRays bladed?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ian in San Diego

Use spocalc to determine spoke length. google "spocalc".

Get the spokes at thorusa.com. Don't know how their CXRay pricing
stacks up but the Sapim 14, 14/15, and 14/17 prices are significantly
better than any I have seen anywhere else.

D'ohBoy

 

[Earl Bollinger]

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> All,
>
> Last week I broke a spoke (Sapim CXRays bladed) on the head and luckily
> I was near a bike shop. They did not have the exact model but something
> similar (DT's bladed). Anyway I would like to get some replacements to
> not only replace this DT spoke but for the next time this may occur.
> So, to my question, how do I go about measuring the size of the spoke
> needed ? Can I do it without having to removing a spoke? Also, anyone
> know where I could purchase several Sapim CXRays bladed?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ian in San Diego
>

I use a metric ruler and carefully measure a number of spokes on the wheel
itself, both drive and non drive side, not all the wheels use the same
length spoke for all the spokes either.
If you have a wheel where all the spokes are the same length so much the
better.
Anyway it works for me. Don't forget that the spokes thread into the spoke
nipples some too.

 

[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote:
> All,
>
> Last week I broke a spoke (Sapim CXRays bladed) on the head and luckily
> I was near a bike shop. They did not have the exact model but something
> similar (DT's bladed). Anyway I would like to get some replacements to
> not only replace this DT spoke but for the next time this may occur.
> So, to my question, how do I go about measuring the size of the spoke
> needed ? Can I do it without having to removing a spoke? Also, anyone
> know where I could purchase several Sapim CXRays bladed?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ian in San Diego

Dear Ian,

You can use computer calculators (if you know the details of the hub
and rim, which you probably don't) or try to measure spokes still in
the wheel (if you want to guess how much is buried in the nipples.

But the simplest and surest method is to remove a spoke and hang it in
a spoke ruler.

You need to know how to remove a spoke. (Trivial, if you know how, and
well worth learning if you don't, since you want to do replacements in
the future.)

And you need a spoke ruler, which has a convenient hole to hang the
spoke in and is marked in millimeters. Here's a nice one, the $8 DT
Swiss spoke ruler:

http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.c...Wheel and Rim&tc=Spoke Rulers&item_id=DT-RULE
or http://tinyurl.com/l64nn

The DT Swiss ruler has notches on the side that let you gauge round
spokes.

The Park Spoke ruler is a buck cheaper and has holes to size bolts and
bearings:

http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.c...Wheel and Rim&tc=Spoke Rulers&item_id=PA-SBC1
or http://tinyurl.com/kr9z3

The site sells other spoke rulers for two to four times as much. While
you're there, you might order a spoke wrench or two if you haven't got
them:

http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=327716570658&c=Tools&sc=Wheel and Rim&tc=Spoke Wrenches
or http://tinyurl.com/ehdyx

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

 

[Phil Lee, Squid]

[email protected] wrote:
> All,
>
> Last week I broke a spoke (Sapim CXRays bladed) on the head and
> luckily I was near a bike shop. They did not have the exact model but
> something similar (DT's bladed). Anyway I would like to get some
> replacements to not only replace this DT spoke but for the next time
> this may occur. So, to my question, how do I go about measuring the
> size of the spoke needed ? Can I do it without having to removing a
> spoke? Also, anyone know where I could purchase several Sapim CXRays
> bladed?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ian in San Diego

If you broke it at the head, then great! The broken spoke's elbow should be
somewhat intact, or you should have a general idea of where it bends. Using
a ruler, measure from that bend to the very end, and you have your length.
--
Phil Lee, Squid