I've stocked in some Sapim CX-RAY spokes.
Quite a substantial order.
Usually I restock in smaller batches,
but this time I ordered more because the wholesaler had been out of stock on certain lengths for a while and I needed to replenish those.
The wholesaler carries CX-RAY in even-numbered 2mm increments,
but I keep twelve different lengths in stock in both silver and black:
6mm increments from 252-276mm (252, 258, 264, 270, 276),
then 4mm increments from 280-300mm (280, 284, 288, 292, 296, 300),
and then 306mm with a 6mm gap after that.
The theoretical cutting limit is around 8mm, but I've set my house rule at 6mm.
This means I can provide any spoke length from 246-306mm,
but since 300mm had been out of stock for a long time,
I'd been handling 299mm requests irregularly by stocking 302mm instead.
I never mix 299mm nipples made from 300mm stock with those from 302mm stock.
That's because the ratio of butted to plain sections changes, which I don't like.
Among the black spokes, some came in yellow bags with nipples.
I'd previously written that silver nipples in yellow bags were 12mm long (→here),
but these black nipples in the yellow bag this time are definitely 14mm long,
the same as the traditional ones.
This is confusing. So the yellow bag isn't 12mm after all?
Though I've only seen this with silver nipples,
up until now it was 100% "yellow bag = 12mm."
Since they were 14mm nipples, I mixed them into the container for those.
I don't want to put anything other than 14mm nipples in this container.
If we're talking purely about the spherical ball-joint shape at the root,
it's superior to DT, but I don't feel like using it.
What makes it even more confusing is that among the silver spokes I stocked this time,
there was also a yellow bag,
but this one was also, for some reason, 14mm as before.
Different from the previous case.
So going forward, I'll determine the length myself regardless of bag color.
Quite a substantial order.
Usually I restock in smaller batches,
but this time I ordered more because the wholesaler had been out of stock on certain lengths for a while and I needed to replenish those.
The wholesaler carries CX-RAY in even-numbered 2mm increments,
but I keep twelve different lengths in stock in both silver and black:
6mm increments from 252-276mm (252, 258, 264, 270, 276),
then 4mm increments from 280-300mm (280, 284, 288, 292, 296, 300),
and then 306mm with a 6mm gap after that.
The theoretical cutting limit is around 8mm, but I've set my house rule at 6mm.
This means I can provide any spoke length from 246-306mm,
but since 300mm had been out of stock for a long time,
I'd been handling 299mm requests irregularly by stocking 302mm instead.
I never mix 299mm nipples made from 300mm stock with those from 302mm stock.
That's because the ratio of butted to plain sections changes, which I don't like.
Among the black spokes, some came in yellow bags with nipples.
I'd previously written that silver nipples in yellow bags were 12mm long (→here),
but these black nipples in the yellow bag this time are definitely 14mm long,
the same as the traditional ones.
This is confusing. So the yellow bag isn't 12mm after all?
Though I've only seen this with silver nipples,
up until now it was 100% "yellow bag = 12mm."
Since they were 14mm nipples, I mixed them into the container for those.
I don't want to put anything other than 14mm nipples in this container.
If we're talking purely about the spherical ball-joint shape at the root,
it's superior to DT, but I don't feel like using it.
What makes it even more confusing is that among the silver spokes I stocked this time,
there was also a yellow bag,
but this one was also, for some reason, 14mm as before.
Different from the previous case.
So going forward, I'll determine the length myself regardless of bag color.