Spokes & Nipples

[Scilly Suffolk]

Can anyone recommend good suppliers?

Thanks in advance.

 

[HLaB]

Spandex of the forum runs a business now and the folk here give him good reviews. http://www.yourspokes.co.uk/

 

[PpPete]

Lowest price for DT Swiss Comp is Rose
Cyclebasket are cheaper still if you are happy with Alpina
I think (but not sure) that Spa are as cheap as anyone for Sapim Race.

 

[I like Skol]

Wow! just had a look at the Rose site and stumbled across my ideal spoke - The Swiss DT Alpine III. Not seen this before but it is 2.34mm-1.8mm-2.0mm and presumably the thicker 2.34mm section is at the shoulder where spokes are most likely to snap?

How does it work out ordering from Rose in Germany? Do you get stung for duty and VAT once your order arrives or does it sail through as it is from an EU country?

 

[PpPete]

They have a UK website and once you've placed your first order with them you'll default to that, see prices in £ rather than €, and it's just like buying fron a UK online vendor. I have to say too that they have a fabulous returns system too, they once made a mess of one of my orders, but sending the wrong item back pre-paid to Germany could not have been simpler, and replacement arrived promptly.
Any significant purchase I always check their price against the usual UK suspects. Apart from spokes they are significantly lower price on dynamo lighting too.

 

[ushills]

How does it work out ordering from Rose in Germany? Do you get stung for duty and VAT once your order arrives or does it sail through as it is from an EU country?

Not brought spokes yet, although I have a list ready for my forthcoming wheel build. I brought my dynamo stuff from them and bike24 and both being EU based no additional VAT or customs duty and quick as well. You can't go wrong.

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

Lowest price for DT Swiss Comp is Rose
Cyclebasket are cheaper still if you are happy with Alpina
I think (but not sure) that Spa are as cheap as anyone for Sapim Race.

In the wheelbuilding book I have, Roger Musson writes that he uses DT Swiss (so they are obviously good spokes) and also states that Sapim Race & Laser are excellent; other than that he doesn't make any specific recommendations.

From what you wrote I assume that Alpina are lower quality: are there other brands I should consider (or avoid)?

 

[PpPete]

Alpina are often thought as being of lower quality - but I've yet to break one, and I wouldn't have any hesitation in using them again....and this is with bike and rider combined on the high side of 100 kg.

Subjectively, from ease of building point of view, Sapim Race are the nicest. The threads on nipples and spokes are very consistent, whereas with both Alpina and DT Swiss you seem to get some that are tight and some that are loose, and if you do your inital tensioning by the feel of how hard it is to wind them up you can end up being a little bit out, and spend longer on the truing stage as a result.

 

[gwhite]

Regarding ordering from Rose, I have just received what they term a Spoke bolt i.e. a small centre-punch type tool for setting spoke heads, about 3 and a half inches in size and a few grams i weight. This cost me £5 in postage costs and was delivered by carrier. OUCH!

 

[spandex]

In the wheelbuilding book I have, Roger Musson writes that he uses DT Swiss (so they are obviously good spokes) and also states that Sapim Race & Laser are excellent; other than that he doesn't make any specific recommendations.

From what you wrote I assume that Alpina are lower quality: are there other brands I should consider (or avoid)?

DT Swiss are like Mavic and Schwalbe they do a lot of PR and have adverts all over the place but there are over brands out there like Sapim, Rigida and Panaracer which make a lot more Spokes, rims and tyres then there counter parts.

A lot of wheel builders like me don't use a lot of DT spokes because they changed the length of the elbow some years ago so now they don't sit right in a lot of the hubs. They did this because of the hi demand from the big companies that use machines to true and dish wheels so they can run faster.
A lot of the wheel builders I know and supply all over the world use Sapim as the the end result it a lot better.
Just to put a 4th name out there, There is CN spokes which companies like Giant, Ridegback and Trek use for there wheels.

I do my best to keep in stock most types of spokes but I have a high turn over of them so from time to time I do run out.


I also give CC members 15% off all spokes and nipples.

 

[I like Skol]

Interesting comments on the DT choice Spandex. What options have you got that match my requirements as above and do you want to throw a price in the ring (on this thread or by PM) to supply the spokes.

My wheel build has suddenly become more urgent after snapping another spoke on the commute last night so I have just used the spare spoke I bought after the last incident and don't really want to repair this wheel again.

EDIT: sorry, just realised I discussed my proposed wheel build in another thread HERE

 

[spandex]

Skol if you can send me a email at yourspokes@hotmail.co.uk listing what you are looking for I will be able to give you a quote and maybe give you some over choices .

 

[andrew_s]

How does it work out ordering from Rose in Germany? Do you get stung for duty and VAT once your order arrives or does it sail through as it is from an EU country?

It just sails through because it's EU.
The only thing to check is that postage from Germany is more than postage from within the UK, so compare on a price + postage basis.

From outside the EU, it's a bit of a lottery. You should get charged on everything over a fairly low limit, but stuff often does get through without any charge.
If you do get charged, it works like this...
Cost + shipping =£100
Import duty @ 5% = £105 ...... (rate of import duty depends on both what and where from, 5% is just an average guess)
VAT @ 20% = £126 .......... (you get charged VAT on the duty )
plus a "handling charge", generally somewhere in the £8-£15 range.

Paying the duty & VAT is also variable - you may get a demand for payment before the goods are delivered, you may be asked to pay at the door, or you may get a bill in the post just when you think you aren't getting charged. It mostly depends on who does the delivering.

 

[PatrickPending]

i bought spokes from here a while back.....

http://www.sdeals.com/oscommerce/index.php/cPath/35_54