A Sapim distributor
recently started carrying the CX-RAY Pro,
and while the product itself isn't bad,
there are elements in wheel building where
you're forced to make compromises depending on the situation,
so I'll write about that.
First, the CX-RAY (left in the diagram above).
Both ends are 14-gauge round section,
with the center being a flattened butted profile.
Since thickness and shape change,
there are two butted transition points,
so it's classified as double-butted.
The Strong I've drawn on the right has
a 13-gauge 2.3mm round section at the neck,
and a 14-gauge 2.0mm round section
from the butted section onward—
that's a spoke with a single butted section.
In the case of Strong,
you can treat the 2.0mm section as a 14-gauge plain spoke,
cut it to any desired length,
and thread it.
Steel spokes for general-use bikes (mama-chari)
also come in 13-14 gauge single-butted versions,
but these have 13-gauge as the majority of the spoke,
and while 13-gauge nipples
don't exactly not exist,
they're not standard in the bicycle world,
so the threaded section only is made 14-gauge
to accommodate 14-gauge nipples.
Due to this structure,
length changes using spoke cutters aren't possible.
DT's Comp and Sapim's Race spokes—
that's 14-15-14 gauge or
2.0-1.8-2.0mm round-butted spokes—
the nominally 1.8mm section isn't exactly 1.8mm with
significant figures to the hundredths place, apparently,
so you can't cut away all the threaded-end 2.0mm section
and treat it as a 2.0-1.8mm single-butted spoke
to build a wheel with 15-gauge nipples.
Removing the Strong from the previous diagram,
I've added the CX-RAY Pro.
First, the neck is 2.2mm instead of 2.0mm,
making it more resistant to spoke breakage,
but 2.2mm is a dimension that doesn't exist
in the 14-gauge or 14G gauge system.
Before transitioning to the flattened shape,
there's a 2.0mm round section,
and where the flattened shape transitions back to round,
only the threaded section is 2.0mm,
with the section between being narrowed to 1.7mm—
quite an elaborate specification.
Counting the butted sections, there are four,
so it's called quadruple-butted or quad-butted.
From here, I'll examine the actual product.
The area below the neck of the CX-RAY Pro.
The transition line from 2.2mm to 2.0mm butting
is visibly distinct.
Even when you touch the flattened butted section with your finger,
it's hard to tell if it's a CX-RAY or CX-RAY Pro,
so the butted line at the neck
becomes the visual identification point.
Next, the butting on the threaded end.
It's hard to see in a bundle,
so I'll photograph one spoke compared to a CX-RAY.
↑CX-RAY Pro
↑CX-RAY
With the CX-RAY Pro, you can see it gets thinner
right after the threads end.
The CX-RAY, or really all of Sapim's double-butted spokes,
can be cut by 6mm.
If absolutely necessary, 7mm cuts are possible too,
but for aero spokes like the CX-RAY and CX,
if cutting 6mm or more,
the nipple needs to be 12mm in length.
With a 14mm nipple, the flattened butted section
would catch on the inner edge of the nipple.
Since 6mm cuts are possible,
even if the distributor only stocks CX-RAY
in even-mm lengths in 2mm increments,
there's basically no problem.
If you need 291mm,
you can cut it from 292mm,
and if there's no 292mm in stock,
you can cut from 294mm or 296mm.
In that case, I make sure to cut all the spokes
on one flange of the rear wheel
from the same original length.
For example, if I need twelve 291mm spokes,
I don't mix originally-292mm and originally-294mm.
Thanks to this specification (6mm cutting possible),
even if the distributor sometimes runs out of stock
of a particular CX-RAY length, I've hardly ever been inconvenienced.
But with the CX-RAY Pro,
clearly you can't cut even 1mm from it.
There's no nipple gauge equivalent to 1.7mm either,
so you can't cut away the original threaded section
and treat it as 1.7mm plain.
The steel spokes for mama-chari bikes I mentioned earlier,
which are essentially plain 13-gauge single-butted spokes,
get thicker immediately after the threads,
so they're uncuttable that way,
but with the CX-RAY Pro, it's the opposite—
they get thinner immediately after the threads,
so they're uncuttable that way.
Yet currently, the CX-RAY Pro is stocked
by the distributor only in even-mm lengths in 2mm increments,
just like the CX-RAY.
So if you end up needing an odd-mm length spoke,
you're forced into the compromise
of building the wheel with spokes that are ±1mm
from the desired length.
So I'm telling the distributor:
if you're serious about carrying the CX-RAY Pro,
please start stocking it in 1mm increments
and also begin carrying straight spokes.
↑People who say things like this probably seem
to just be loud without actually buying much... but...
No, I'm buying.
The spoke weight distribution difference
between the rear wheel flanges
is a bit thin compared to the half-comp,
which is Comp/CX-RAY,
with the half-CX Sprint, that's CX Sprint/CX-RAY,
so CX Sprint/CX-RAY Pro
might be a good option... or so
it's not me saying it,
but some of my customers
actually tell me this.
recently started carrying the CX-RAY Pro,
and while the product itself isn't bad,
there are elements in wheel building where
you're forced to make compromises depending on the situation,
so I'll write about that.
First, the CX-RAY (left in the diagram above).
Both ends are 14-gauge round section,
with the center being a flattened butted profile.
Since thickness and shape change,
there are two butted transition points,
so it's classified as double-butted.
The Strong I've drawn on the right has
a 13-gauge 2.3mm round section at the neck,
and a 14-gauge 2.0mm round section
from the butted section onward—
that's a spoke with a single butted section.
In the case of Strong,
you can treat the 2.0mm section as a 14-gauge plain spoke,
cut it to any desired length,
and thread it.
Steel spokes for general-use bikes (mama-chari)
also come in 13-14 gauge single-butted versions,
but these have 13-gauge as the majority of the spoke,
and while 13-gauge nipples
don't exactly not exist,
they're not standard in the bicycle world,
so the threaded section only is made 14-gauge
to accommodate 14-gauge nipples.
Due to this structure,
length changes using spoke cutters aren't possible.
DT's Comp and Sapim's Race spokes—
that's 14-15-14 gauge or
2.0-1.8-2.0mm round-butted spokes—
the nominally 1.8mm section isn't exactly 1.8mm with
significant figures to the hundredths place, apparently,
so you can't cut away all the threaded-end 2.0mm section
and treat it as a 2.0-1.8mm single-butted spoke
to build a wheel with 15-gauge nipples.
Removing the Strong from the previous diagram,
I've added the CX-RAY Pro.
First, the neck is 2.2mm instead of 2.0mm,
making it more resistant to spoke breakage,
but 2.2mm is a dimension that doesn't exist
in the 14-gauge or 14G gauge system.
Before transitioning to the flattened shape,
there's a 2.0mm round section,
and where the flattened shape transitions back to round,
only the threaded section is 2.0mm,
with the section between being narrowed to 1.7mm—
quite an elaborate specification.
Counting the butted sections, there are four,
so it's called quadruple-butted or quad-butted.
From here, I'll examine the actual product.
The area below the neck of the CX-RAY Pro.
The transition line from 2.2mm to 2.0mm butting
is visibly distinct.
Even when you touch the flattened butted section with your finger,
it's hard to tell if it's a CX-RAY or CX-RAY Pro,
so the butted line at the neck
becomes the visual identification point.
Next, the butting on the threaded end.
It's hard to see in a bundle,
so I'll photograph one spoke compared to a CX-RAY.
↑CX-RAY Pro
↑CX-RAY
With the CX-RAY Pro, you can see it gets thinner
right after the threads end.
The CX-RAY, or really all of Sapim's double-butted spokes,
can be cut by 6mm.
If absolutely necessary, 7mm cuts are possible too,
but for aero spokes like the CX-RAY and CX,
if cutting 6mm or more,
the nipple needs to be 12mm in length.
With a 14mm nipple, the flattened butted section
would catch on the inner edge of the nipple.
Since 6mm cuts are possible,
even if the distributor only stocks CX-RAY
in even-mm lengths in 2mm increments,
there's basically no problem.
If you need 291mm,
you can cut it from 292mm,
and if there's no 292mm in stock,
you can cut from 294mm or 296mm.
In that case, I make sure to cut all the spokes
on one flange of the rear wheel
from the same original length.
For example, if I need twelve 291mm spokes,
I don't mix originally-292mm and originally-294mm.
Thanks to this specification (6mm cutting possible),
even if the distributor sometimes runs out of stock
of a particular CX-RAY length, I've hardly ever been inconvenienced.
But with the CX-RAY Pro,
clearly you can't cut even 1mm from it.
There's no nipple gauge equivalent to 1.7mm either,
so you can't cut away the original threaded section
and treat it as 1.7mm plain.
The steel spokes for mama-chari bikes I mentioned earlier,
which are essentially plain 13-gauge single-butted spokes,
get thicker immediately after the threads,
so they're uncuttable that way,
but with the CX-RAY Pro, it's the opposite—
they get thinner immediately after the threads,
so they're uncuttable that way.
Yet currently, the CX-RAY Pro is stocked
by the distributor only in even-mm lengths in 2mm increments,
just like the CX-RAY.
So if you end up needing an odd-mm length spoke,
you're forced into the compromise
of building the wheel with spokes that are ±1mm
from the desired length.
So I'm telling the distributor:
if you're serious about carrying the CX-RAY Pro,
please start stocking it in 1mm increments
and also begin carrying straight spokes.
↑People who say things like this probably seem
to just be loud without actually buying much... but...
No, I'm buying.
The spoke weight distribution difference
between the rear wheel flanges
is a bit thin compared to the half-comp,
which is Comp/CX-RAY,
with the half-CX Sprint, that's CX Sprint/CX-RAY,
so CX Sprint/CX-RAY Pro
might be a good option... or so
it's not me saying it,
but some of my customers
actually tell me this.