# Spoke weight comparison



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

For those of you who didn't spot this yesterday, November Dave at November Bicycles: Race smart. - Home provided these weights for Sapim spokes -

Spokes comparison weights (all per 14 spokes at 282mm length). All Sapim -
Race - 86g (2.0x1.8x2.0mm)
D-Light -75g (2.0x1.65x2.0mm)
Laser - 67g (2.0x1.5x2.0mm)
CX-Sprint - 78g (aero 1.2 x 2.2mm)
CX-Ray - 66g (aero 0.9 x 2.2mm)


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

Mike T. said:


> For those of you who didn't spot this yesterday, November Dave at November Bicycles: Race smart. - Home provided these weights for Sapim spokes -
> 
> Spokes comparison weights (all per 14 spokes at 282mm length). All Sapim -
> Race - 86g (2.0x1.8x2.0mm)
> ...



Interesting. Thanks Mike and Dave!

Mike, it looks like the CX Sprint is listed as just the CX on Sapim's website. Is the Aero Comp the DT Swiss equivalent?


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Lombard said:


> Mike, it looks like the CX Sprint is listed as just the CX on Sapim's website. Is the Aero Comp the DT Swiss equivalent?


Nope the CX is NOT the CX-Sprint. The CX is 2.8mm wide and you will have to slot (file) your hubs to install them. The CX-Sprint isn't advertised on Sapim's site (I've no idea why). 

Sapim's site says this - "Specially designed hub holes are required for CX spokes." CX-Ray and Sprint (at 2.3mm wide) fit normal spoke holes just fine.

I've no idea about comparable DT spokes as I know too many people in Sapim's importer/distributor/retail chain to ever bother with another make.


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

Mike T. said:


> I've no idea about comparable DT spokes as I know too many people in Sapim's importer/distributor/retail chain to ever bother with another make.



OK, no problem Mike. I have nothing against Sapim, but since my bike shop deals with DT Swiss, I prefer to stick with them.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Lombard said:


> OK, no problem Mike. I have nothing against Sapim, but since my bike shop deals with DT Swiss, I prefer to stick with them.


I used DT exclusively <<16 years ago and they did as good a job as Sapim. I'm just not up on their current offerings.


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## November Dave (Dec 7, 2011)

I happened to have some 269mm silver DT Revolutions on hand, so I added a portion of a 15th spoke to make up the difference between 14 x 269 and 14 x 282. Between that and that these spokes are silver it's not science lab precise, but the DTs weighed 66g. 

DT Aerolites should be within a whisker of the same weight as CX Rays. Revolutions are obviously quite similar to Lasers and CX Rays. DT Competition Race should be within a gram or 3 of Sapim D-Light per wheel's worth, and DT Competition should be near exact with Sapim Race. I've never used or even seen the thicker DT bladed spoke, so I have no idea how it relates to a CX Sprint.


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## Enoch562 (May 13, 2010)

Might want to add Sapim Strong to that list


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## November Dave (Dec 7, 2011)

I'd encourage anyone to add any spoke to the list. Just weigh 14 282mm spokes. 

All the spokes we use (and some we don't) are on that list so that's our contribution.


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## dgaddis1 (Sep 27, 2008)

The AeroComps from DT are more equivalent to the Race/Competition spokes. The CX-Sprint (from what I've read, haven't used them yet) are a bit lighter, more like a 1.7mm middle-section-diameter spoke similar to Wheelsmith DB14's.

Hey Dave - the spokes you measured, are these all 'factory' 282mm lengths or were any cut down from a longer spoke?

DT Revolutions have *very* short 2mm butted ends at the threads, you can only trim 1-2mm. Lasers are a bit longer and can be trimmed ~6mm.

I buy (almost) all my spokes in the 'long barrel' format, where they have longer 2mm ends so I can trim them down, since I build such a big variety of wheels and use so many different lengths, this makes my life a whole lot easier for keeping the right spokes in stock and whatnot. Instead of buying lots of different lengths, I can buy just two (310mm which can be trimmed down to 270mm, and 270mm that can be trimmed down to 240mm), and they'll cover everything I need to do. Of course, if I'm not trimming them much, they'll have longer 2mm sections on the end and weigh a bit more than a 'factory' length spoke, but the weight difference isn't significant.


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## November Dave (Dec 7, 2011)

The ones I measured were all factory cut, although we almost exclusively buy raw length unthreaded spokes and cut and roll the threads here. We have a pretty vast collection of odds and ends that needs to stop taking up space, though.

With all the spokes we use in aluminum rim builds falling between 287mm and 274mm, the large diameter near the nipple never gets very long at all. If we used a lot of 295s or whatever it might start to look a little goofy.

I wouldn't consider the weight ramifications from using raw blanks to be even worth thinking about. At about .01g per mm of spoke length for the whole spoke, you'd need thousands of spokes to register a difference in spokes with butt lengths a few mms different to one another.


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## nsfbr (May 23, 2014)

I just have to ask, how on earth do you cut a CX-Ray to length? Just wondering if you mean _non-bladed _​spokes. Thanks Dave.


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## November Dave (Dec 7, 2011)

It's pretty easy if you have one of these. 

In both round and bladed spokes, you are cutting the 2.0mm (14 ga) round end. The butted or bladed section doesn't get cut.


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## Mackers (Dec 29, 2009)

Pillar PSR 1423 - 99 gr.


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## dgaddis1 (Sep 27, 2008)

nsfbr said:


> I just have to ask, how on earth do you cut a CX-Ray to length? Just wondering if you mean _non-bladed _​spokes. Thanks Dave.


Like Dave said, you cut the round 2.0mm end. I've got a Morizumi spoke machine, there's a video on my site showing how it works: 

New Tool Tuesday :: Morizumi Spoke Machine










Since moving into my new shop I built myself a dedicated spoke cutting station w/the machine bolted down, no longer on the movable base like in the pic above.


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