Heavy Duty Spoke Source and fitment?

[two spot]

I know people have posted spoke sources in the past but I am hoping one of you experts out there can help me out by streamlining my search for a specific gauge of spoke. I am looking for a source for heavy duty spokes in the 13 - 12 gauge range. These would be approximately 2.5 - 2.6mm in diameter. The length I need is 250mm, black stainless steel preferred. I am in the process of making custom wheels for my Felt MP project and I would like to use spokes of the same heavy gauge as the factory wheels. Of course Felt won't supply spokes so I am trying to find them from a supplier but it seems finding spokes that are heavier than 14 gauge is a bit difficult so any advice is appreciated.

Now a slightly more technical question. This may be a long shot but has anyone out there ever laced a Sturmey Archer X-FD front drum brake hub into a wheel with heavy gauge spokes before? I was looking at the clearance between the brake arm that fixes to the fork, and the hub flange that has the spoke holes in it, and there is very little clearance between them. Just curious If I can even get away with using 12 gauge spokes on a hub like this?

A huge thanks in advance for any assistance!

Regards,

 

[arty dave]

I laced sturmey hubs with 13g black stainless spokes I bought from an ebay seller, I have an x-fdd on the front and an x-rd8 on the back. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of quality but these have been all good. The only thing is that the black finish is paint so be careful when you lace your wheels, but it is powdercoat, so apart from some scratches from my unco lacing they havn't lost any more paint. The spokes are straight gauge (supposedly easier to lace for a wheel building noob like me ) and I ordered nickle plated brass nipples to have a bit of bling between the black spokes and the green rims. I've been riding this for about 6 months, it stops beautifully, I really love the sturmey hub brakes.

This is the link for the ones I bought, the sellers tag is laloma, just ask for black and a quote including nipples - a couple of emails got my order sorted - 72 spokes + nips for less than au$50 including postage. They do sell 12g and thicker.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CUSTOM-L...926?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27cd75efce

I saw these 13g wheelsmith spokes in black stainless but dang they pricey!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/WHEELSMI...Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item56497873f0

Good luck! From memory the spoke holes in the hubs could probably take 12g, but I don't think you really need them that thick, 13g (2.3mm) is surprisingly beefy for 1 extra guage fatter than the standard 14g.

 

[two spot]

Thanks arty dave,

That bike looks awesome. I love the color combo.

Since I posted this I have done some poking around myself including actually getting in touch with Sturmey Archer USA directly. They said that the X-FD is meant to be laced with 13-14g spokes, not larger. I did find a picture of an X-FD that was laced with 12g spokes but this setup is not recommended by the manufacturer due to the tight tolerance between the brake arm and the hub flange. Here is the picture I found:

My findings are consistent with your recommendations so I am lacing my wheels the exact way you did, with 13g black spokes, and coincidentally, green rims (they match the color of the MP). The only reason I was considering 12g was for a more heavy duty, motorcycle-like appearance.

Thanks also for the source info. I will file that away for future reference. Fortunately for me I found a local company here in Nor-Cal that will cut custom length Sapim spokes and roll threads onto them. 13g black stainless spokes and nickel plated brass nipples will come out at $1.06 per and I am cool with that. I also get to support an LBS which is cool. The shop I am using for the custom spokes is eBikes SF. Here is the spoke section of their website: http://www.ebikessf.com/catalog/41

I got scared off from lacing and truing the wheels myself so I decided to have my LBS do it for me because I have a pretty good relationship with their mechanic and I trust he is a conscientious wheel builder. He has promised to be extra careful of my custom painted/powdercoated rims/hubs. I'll go ahead and give them a plug too: http://www.suburbanbikes.com/

Once I get the wheels back from the bike shop I'll resume updating my build thread here: http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=62205

Thanks again for the info!
Regards,

 

[c.p.odom]

This does not help for heavy gauge spokes but the best source for 14g high quality spokes is the Wheel Fanatyk website:
http://www.wheelfanatyk.bigcartel.com/p ... gth-spokes

 

[freddyfingaz]

Good information! I was obsess to try modify 8g spokes on 24x1.75 rim. Lol 13 or 14g stainless look good enough. But can I use them on cassette gears hub?

 

[two spot]

The Shimano Nexus 8 speed is a cassette gear hub isn't it? (I think). Well anyways, that hub worked with the 13g spokes. I'm sure compatibility is specific to the hub make and model though because the spoke holes on the hub itself may be to small for heavy spokes.

I picked up the finished wheels from the LBS yesterday and WOW do they look awesome. The wide rims look sick. 12g or thicker would have looked nice but I also discovered that I would have had to drill all the nipple holes if I wanted to go to larger spokes. That combined with the fact that Sturmey Archer doesn't recommend the use of 12g+ helped me decide that 13g was adequate. Here are a couple quick and dirty pics I took of the finished wheels:

Dog approved!

In the first pic the whole wheel almost looks black but the second pic with my pup more accurately shows the color match to the MP.

I will now resume updates in the build thread:
http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=62205

Regards,

 

[Beau]

http://www.jbimporters.com/web/advanced ... spokes+12g

Take the part number for what you want to your LBS.

I think they can order cut to size too.

Never underestimate the power of your local bike shop.

Drill everything out to fit an you will be fine.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I know this is an older post, and the problem was sorted but just wanted to add this for anyone else considering thicker spokes...

On OneHorsePowers widening rims thread he used black heatshrink tube over the spokes after they were inserted through the hub, made them look 2 or 3 sizes thicker... Looked pretty good in my opinion and you would not have to drill out your hub...

Going to try it one of these days...

Luke.