Here’s a more detailed video about my truing stand. To answer the number one FAQ: I didn’t build it for commercial purposes. Regardless, summer days aren’t long enough to run SpokeService and crank out new products. Maybe something for the off season if there’s interest. What do you think?
If you like, future videos and updates can be found using this bookmark.
If you bought spokes here but need shorter ones, I can help depending on the situation. I can cut them shorter and roll new threads so you end up with the length(s) you need. Maybe you realize your hub/rim dimensions were wrong, calculated incorrectly, abandon a project and start another, etc. The catch is you need to identify the issue before using them. Once spokes have been laced into the wheel, even without tension, the spoke cutting machine is liable to reject them. Send me an email with the details and we’ll go from there. I do this a few times a year but it’s not meant to be a secret handshake kind of thing.
Here’s a teaser of the science fiction truing stand I built recently. In January I broke my leg resulting in unplanned downtime. I came up with this. The video is just a teaser — I plan to make longer one that demonstrates all the features and shows its integration with the wheelbuilding process.
The typical spoke decision is between straight gauge and some double-butted model. For conditions outside the bell curve, there are two specialty models.
Sapim Force is a triple-butted spoke with a 2.18/1.8/2.0mm profile. They are similar to Sapim Race with a little more meat on the vulnerable elbow section. There is a cost penalty but weight and stiffness are about the same. Fatigue life is better — if you’ve been burned by broken elbows, Force might be the ticket. I often use Force on touring and bikepacking wheels to work with 32 spoke wheels when 36 might be more conventional (opening up more choices for hubs and rims).
Sapim Strong is a single-butted spoke with a 2.3/2.0mm profile. These are the biggest bicycle spokes I sell and I stop at this gauge because it’s the biggest spoke that works with regular nipples. Strong shares the massive stiffness of Sapim Leader but has a serious amount of extra material on the elbow. People use Strong for e-bikes, cargo bikes and the heaviest touring applications. For regular day-to-day use they’re overkill though I’ve used them for riders >400 pounds.
Hope hubs don’t have the tightest geometry or the lowest weight, but they’re solid kit for the money. I don’t sell them but they’re easy to find and I don’t mind building yours. Here are a couple of Hope wheelsets built this month — you might see them on the road in different parts of Alberta.
