Triple butted spokes?

[Jpfler]

I'd like to know if anyone can give me some feedback on the durability/quality of DT Alpine III
triple butted spokes. I'm thinking of replacing my present rear wheel spokes (double butted) on my
road bike with triple butted when my rear wheel is rebuilt. I'm beginning to get a lot of broken
spokes with less than 3000 miles on the wheel. My thought is that the triple butted spokes will hold
up longer. I weigh 170 pounds. Thanks.

Jim

 

[S. Anderson]

"Jpfler" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I'd like to know if anyone can give me some feedback on the
durability/quality
> of DT Alpine III triple butted spokes. I'm thinking of replacing my
present
> rear wheel spokes (double butted) on my road bike with triple butted when
my
> rear wheel is rebuilt. I'm beginning to get a lot of broken spokes with
less
> than 3000 miles on the wheel. My thought is that the triple butted spokes
will
> hold up longer. I weigh 170 pounds. Thanks.
>
> Jim
>
>

I think you need a better wheel builder. 3000 miles is very little for a well-built wheel.
Double-butted 2.0/1.8 or 1.8/1.6 should work fine on any 32 hole wheel for wel over 3000 miles.
Triple-butted is great if you want to spend for it, but it's not necessary IMHO.

Cheers,

Scott..

 

[Mike Jacoubowsk]

> I think you need a better wheel builder. 3000 miles is very little for a well-built wheel.
> Double-butted 2.0/1.8 or 1.8/1.6 should work fine on
any
> 32 hole wheel for wel over 3000 miles. Triple-butted is great if you want to spend for it, but
> it's not necessary IMHO.

Isn't "triple butted" just a marketing term for spokes that have different-thickness butted sections
at each end? As in 1.8/1.6/1.7 or similar?

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

 

[GearóId Ó Laoi/]

What you need is simply to stress relieve your spokes. This will stop them breaking if the wheel is
built properly. Look up the newsgroups about this. It works.

 

[David Kunz]

Jpfler wrote:
> I'd like to know if anyone can give me some feedback on the durability/quality of DT Alpine III
> triple butted spokes. I'm thinking of replacing my present rear wheel spokes (double butted) on my
> road bike with triple butted when my rear wheel is rebuilt. I'm beginning to get a lot of broken
> spokes with less than 3000 miles on the wheel. My thought is that the triple butted spokes will
> hold up longer. I weigh 170 pounds. Thanks.

I agree with the rest: Get a new wheel builder. You shouldn't be breaking spokes. Stress relieve the
spokes! Make sure that the wheel's evenly tensioned!

I was breaking spokes on a regular basis until I started stress relieving the my wheels when I got
them / built them. (I'm about 230 right now, but I was 300 when I started riding).

As to the tripple butted spokes: I'm running the DT supercomp
(2./1.7/1.8) and they are working quite well. Are they worth the money? Who knows .

David

 

[Qui Si Parla Ca]

jpfler-<< I'd like to know if anyone can give me some feedback on the durability/quality of DT
Alpine III triple butted spokes. I'm thinking of replacing my present rear wheel spokes (double
butted) on my road bike with triple butted when my rear wheel is rebuilt << I'm beginning to get a
lot of broken spokes with less than 3000 miles on the wheel. My thought is that the triple butted
spokes will hold up longer. I weigh 170 pounds.

Problem isn't the sopkes but the build...with proper tension and stress relieving, you should not
break spokes at all...particularly with a rider weight of only 170 pounds.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[David Ornee]

"Jpfler" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I'd like to know if anyone can give me some feedback on the
durability/quality
> of DT Alpine III triple butted spokes. I'm thinking of replacing my
present
> rear wheel spokes (double butted) on my road bike with triple butted when
my
> rear wheel is rebuilt. I'm beginning to get a lot of broken spokes with
less
> than 3000 miles on the wheel. My thought is that the triple butted spokes
will
> hold up longer. I weigh 170 pounds. Thanks.
>
> Jim
>
I used the DT Alpine III is builds for tandem and touring. They work great, especially with Phil
Wood hubs. I agree with the others that they may be more than needed in your application. You need
to read "the Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst Brandt. A good builder will not only stress relieve, but also
make sure the spokes are properly seated at the hubs, properly tensioned, and tension balanced. A
good builder using good double butted spokes is your best value. David Ornee, Western Springs, IL

 

[Bill Putnam]

[email protected] (Jpfler) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I'd like to know if anyone can give me some feedback on the durability/quality of DT Alpine III
> triple butted spokes. I'm thinking of replacing my present rear wheel spokes (double butted) on my
> road bike with triple butted when my rear wheel is rebuilt. I'm beginning to get a lot of broken
> spokes with less than 3000 miles on the wheel.

I use the DT Alpine III spokes on my commuting bike. I use them on this bike as I have a steel
Sturmey Archer hub which doesn't support the spoke head as well as a good alloy hub would. I have
8,000 miles on this wheel, am on my second rim with no spoke breakage. I weigh 155 lbs but usually
carry 10-15 pounds of stuff in my panniers.

As other posters have mentioned, however, your spoke failures are more likely due to improper wheel
building (no stress relieving or possibly inadequate tension, though inadequate tension would also
likely result in the wheel going out of true) than to incorrect spoke selection. Jobst Brandt's book
The Bicycle Wheel explains stress relieving and how a spoked wheel works.

DT Alpine III spokes are very good spokes, but probably not needed. A
14/15/14 swaged quality spoke with proper wheel build would likely serve your needs.

Bill Putnam

 

[S. Anderson]

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
>
> Isn't "triple butted" just a marketing term for spokes that have different-thickness butted
> sections at each end? As in 1.8/1.6/1.7 or similar?
>
> --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
>
>

Yup, that's about the extent of it. I'm not sure what the price difference is, but I'm sure they
cost more and I'm not sure they're worth it. Much like my experience with black spokes that were 60%
more than stainless.

Cheers,

Scott..

 

[Sheldon Brown]

Someone wrote:

>> Triple-butted is great if you want to spend for it, but it's not necessary IMHO.

They're not expensive. We sell them for the same price as double-butted, though they cost us a tiny
bit more. Not "necessary," but a good choice for some applications.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

> Isn't "triple butted" just a marketing term for spokes that have different-thickness butted
> sections at each end? As in 1.8/1.6/1.7 or similar?

Yes and no. It's no more of a "marketing" term than "double butted."

The only triple butted spokes I know of are the DT Alpine III. They're
2.34/1.8/2.. These are my favorite spokes for high-stress applications: tandems, loaded touring
and the like.

Spokes have rolled threads, so the thread diameter is larger than the base diameter of the wire.
This means that hub flanges have to have holes large enough to accept the threaded parts. These
spoke holes are then slightly oversized for the elbow, and don't always support the elbow as well as
might be wished.

The 2.34 end of the Alpine III spokes is a nice snug fit in the spoke holes of any hub that's
designed for 2.0 mm spokes. I've The 1.8 middle section provides resiliency, and saves weight (these
spokes are lighter than 2.0 straight-gauge.)

Sheldon "Alpiniste" Brown +--------------------------------------------------------------+
| I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. | -- Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM,
| 1943 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton,
Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts
shipped Worldwide http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com