A while back I rebuilt a wheel using Stans ZTR Alpha 340 rims,
and found a round (non-flattened) butted spoke mixed in with a bundle of CX-RAY spokes, so I rejected it.
Based on the spoke weight and the diameter of the butted section,
it corresponds to a Sapim Laser,
but since it was mixed in with the CX-RAY bundle,
it might be a semi-finished CX-RAY with forgotten processing
rather than an actual Laser.
↑SAPIM stamp
Since this sort of thing happens occasionally,
I almost never order CX-RAY in exactly the quantity I need for a particular wheel build.
CX-RAY comes in bags of 20 spokes,
but I mean I wouldn't order just 12 spokes for one side of a 24-spoke rear wheel, for example.
However, for reasons beyond my control,
I often end up ordering less than 20 spokes.
In 2019, CX-RAY switched from selling by the 20-spoke bag
to selling individual spokes (→here).
And when a particular spoke length of CX-RAY at the distributor gets down to low stock, my buying mode kicks in—
I'll say things like "give me all 17 remaining" or "give me all 9 remaining"
for example.
At those times, even though the inventory sheet says there should be 17 spokes,
quite often only 16 can actually be found
(which makes sense when you're managing stainless steel wire one spoke at a time),
and the distributor's caution kicks in—they might think
"this customer might not want them if there's one short"—
so they stop shipping until they hear back from us.
As for me, I'm totally fine with a response like "we came up one short but shipped anyway,"
but the distributor doesn't have absolute confidence that's the right move,
so I understand why they don't just ship on their own.
When this happens on a Friday, the distributor is closed over the weekend,
so it becomes a Monday shipment and Tuesday arrival,
which has often caused the order of wheel builds to shift.
Well, starting in 2024,
I was told at the end of last year that
neck-threaded CX-RAY spokes would return to
selling by the 20-spoke bag unit only.
This is good news for me.
As I've written in the linked article above,
I collect CX-RAY bags for no particular reason.
It's like those bars that line their windows with wine corks.
The probability of getting bags in good condition like the one on the right in the image above
has dropped dramatically since individual spoke selling started,
and most of them now have their tops cut with scissors for single-spoke sales.
Going forward, the "good bag ratio" should increase considerably.
And I've decided to buy up all the
neck-threaded CX-RAY with 270mm or longer lengths
that are at the distributor's in quantities less than 20 due to individual spoke sales.
They're not especially discounted items,
but I thought it would be better for the distributor's shelf space to be clean.
Some shops that prefer having loose inventory at the distributor
so they can use them as a warehouse might have problems,
but that's not my concern.
Spokes fewer than 10 arrived inserted into the flutes of corrugated cardboard.
One end is neck-threaded, the other has a nipple attached,
so they don't fall out.
When putting them into my shop stock, I won't manage them in this form,
but as a shipping method for small quantities it's fine.
Most quantities around 10 to under 20 spokes came in their original bags,
but not a single bag was in collector-grade condition.
↑You can see what a difficult inventory management job they had.
Some arrived in boxes.
In Excel filename terms, it looks like:
Sapim_CX-RAY_20231215.xlsx
Sapim_CX-RAY_20231215-copy.xlsx
Sapim_CX-RAY_latest.xlsx
Sapim_CX-RAY_20231209corrected.xlsx
Sapim_CX-RAY_20231213revised.xlsx
That sort of thing.
Unless the length is unusually short, loose CX-RAY spokes
mysteriously fit together like puzzle pieces—
the situations where I need them seem to work out in a predetermined way,
so for me they're less like dead stock
and more like insurance I'm glad to have on hand.
and found a round (non-flattened) butted spoke mixed in with a bundle of CX-RAY spokes, so I rejected it.
Based on the spoke weight and the diameter of the butted section,
it corresponds to a Sapim Laser,
but since it was mixed in with the CX-RAY bundle,
it might be a semi-finished CX-RAY with forgotten processing
rather than an actual Laser.
↑SAPIM stamp
Since this sort of thing happens occasionally,
I almost never order CX-RAY in exactly the quantity I need for a particular wheel build.
CX-RAY comes in bags of 20 spokes,
but I mean I wouldn't order just 12 spokes for one side of a 24-spoke rear wheel, for example.
However, for reasons beyond my control,
I often end up ordering less than 20 spokes.
In 2019, CX-RAY switched from selling by the 20-spoke bag
to selling individual spokes (→here).
And when a particular spoke length of CX-RAY at the distributor gets down to low stock, my buying mode kicks in—
I'll say things like "give me all 17 remaining" or "give me all 9 remaining"
for example.
At those times, even though the inventory sheet says there should be 17 spokes,
quite often only 16 can actually be found
(which makes sense when you're managing stainless steel wire one spoke at a time),
and the distributor's caution kicks in—they might think
"this customer might not want them if there's one short"—
so they stop shipping until they hear back from us.
As for me, I'm totally fine with a response like "we came up one short but shipped anyway,"
but the distributor doesn't have absolute confidence that's the right move,
so I understand why they don't just ship on their own.
When this happens on a Friday, the distributor is closed over the weekend,
so it becomes a Monday shipment and Tuesday arrival,
which has often caused the order of wheel builds to shift.
Well, starting in 2024,
I was told at the end of last year that
neck-threaded CX-RAY spokes would return to
selling by the 20-spoke bag unit only.
This is good news for me.
As I've written in the linked article above,
I collect CX-RAY bags for no particular reason.
It's like those bars that line their windows with wine corks.
The probability of getting bags in good condition like the one on the right in the image above
has dropped dramatically since individual spoke selling started,
and most of them now have their tops cut with scissors for single-spoke sales.
Going forward, the "good bag ratio" should increase considerably.
And I've decided to buy up all the
neck-threaded CX-RAY with 270mm or longer lengths
that are at the distributor's in quantities less than 20 due to individual spoke sales.
They're not especially discounted items,
but I thought it would be better for the distributor's shelf space to be clean.
Some shops that prefer having loose inventory at the distributor
so they can use them as a warehouse might have problems,
but that's not my concern.
Spokes fewer than 10 arrived inserted into the flutes of corrugated cardboard.
One end is neck-threaded, the other has a nipple attached,
so they don't fall out.
When putting them into my shop stock, I won't manage them in this form,
but as a shipping method for small quantities it's fine.
Most quantities around 10 to under 20 spokes came in their original bags,
but not a single bag was in collector-grade condition.
↑You can see what a difficult inventory management job they had.
Some arrived in boxes.
In Excel filename terms, it looks like:
Sapim_CX-RAY_20231215.xlsx
Sapim_CX-RAY_20231215-copy.xlsx
Sapim_CX-RAY_latest.xlsx
Sapim_CX-RAY_20231209corrected.xlsx
Sapim_CX-RAY_20231213revised.xlsx
That sort of thing.
Unless the length is unusually short, loose CX-RAY spokes
mysteriously fit together like puzzle pieces—
the situations where I need them seem to work out in a predetermined way,
so for me they're less like dead stock
and more like insurance I'm glad to have on hand.