Another day of wheel building (etc.).
I built the rear wheel for Nomu Lab Wheel No. 5.
Evo Lite hub, 24H, half-competition four-cross pattern with red aluminum nipples.
I'll do the lacing later.
DT Competition spokes are available in 1mm increments.
Sapim CX-RAY is available in 2mm increments for even millimeter lengths.
So when you need odd millimeter length CX-RAY,
you cut spokes that are 1mm or 3mm longer (5mm works in a pinch, 7mm is too much)
to make them.
Since the non-drive side of Nomu Lab Wheel No. 5's rear wheel needs an even length,
I can get CX-RAY spokes without cutting them at the correct length.
So normally, as long as the wholesaler has stock,
I use spokes in factory-shipped condition without cutting from either side.
DT is fine, but Sapim—or rather, CX-RAY—
frequently has spokes that are up to about 1mm shorter than the stated length,
so when I temporarily assemble and align the spoke threads and nipple positions,
I tend to get slight radial runout.
With CX-RAY spokes cut with a spoke cutter,
there's zero variation in length,
so the radial runout during temporary assembly isn't quite zero, but
it's far better than off-the-shelf CX-RAY,
and this affects the time for the rest of the wheel building.
That said, if I deliberately cut out 2mm from a 2mm-longer spoke,
that work itself takes time.
I still haven't figured out which approach actually builds faster.
I think the length variation comes from the flattening process,
so CX Sprint should have similar variation too, but
CX Sprint uses threadless spokes cut to any desired length,
so except when using the standard off-the-shelf lengths of 310mm or 270mm
with only thread rolling applied, you won't get length variation.
I built the rear wheel for Nomu Lab Wheel No. 5.
Evo Lite hub, 24H, half-competition four-cross pattern with red aluminum nipples.
I'll do the lacing later.
DT Competition spokes are available in 1mm increments.
Sapim CX-RAY is available in 2mm increments for even millimeter lengths.
So when you need odd millimeter length CX-RAY,
you cut spokes that are 1mm or 3mm longer (5mm works in a pinch, 7mm is too much)
to make them.
Since the non-drive side of Nomu Lab Wheel No. 5's rear wheel needs an even length,
I can get CX-RAY spokes without cutting them at the correct length.
So normally, as long as the wholesaler has stock,
I use spokes in factory-shipped condition without cutting from either side.
DT is fine, but Sapim—or rather, CX-RAY—
frequently has spokes that are up to about 1mm shorter than the stated length,
so when I temporarily assemble and align the spoke threads and nipple positions,
I tend to get slight radial runout.
With CX-RAY spokes cut with a spoke cutter,
there's zero variation in length,
so the radial runout during temporary assembly isn't quite zero, but
it's far better than off-the-shelf CX-RAY,
and this affects the time for the rest of the wheel building.
That said, if I deliberately cut out 2mm from a 2mm-longer spoke,
that work itself takes time.
I still haven't figured out which approach actually builds faster.
I think the length variation comes from the flattening process,
so CX Sprint should have similar variation too, but
CX Sprint uses threadless spokes cut to any desired length,
so except when using the standard off-the-shelf lengths of 310mm or 270mm
with only thread rolling applied, you won't get length variation.