Michael Hanslip Coaching

If you want to go faster, you have to pedal harder

Le roi (de rayons) est mort, vive le roi?

06/07/25 14:49 Filed in: Gear
For a good number of years now the ultimate spoke used in the ultimate wheel builds is the Sapim CX-Ray. The DT Swiss Aerolite is approximately the same spoke, and it seems like DT started making these to offer a DT alternative to the Sapim option. These spokes are expensive - but the price is probably worth it to achieve one of the lightest spokes you can get and also one of the strongest spokes you can buy - the extensive working of the steel wire to achieve the blade shape makes them really strong (and they use the best steel, but I don't actually know how this is any different from the steel in more mundane spokes; perhaps it is all down to the manipulations).
 
Back in 2011 I bought some carbon wheels for my hardtail that were built with Pillar bladed spokes. These spokes actually look a lot like the CX-Ray, but don't seem to have the "pedigree" that the Sapim spokes have (Pillar is Taiwanese, but lots of great bike components come out of Taiwan - compared to DT Swiss which is obviously Swiss and Sapim which is Belgian). Enter Pillar's new Wing spoke. These bladed spokes not only use the same Sandvik steel wire as the other two brands, but they have a new shape that makes them allegedly more aero, slightly more stiff and the breaking load is almost double that for the CX-Ray according to what I found online.
 
My ENVE wheels were built using CX-Ray spokes (28 per wheel) on Industry Nine Hydra hubs. If I was going to pick the weak spot in this trio of parts, I'd have picked the rear axle in the Hydra hub. But, as the bike is my single speed, it seems that not having a low gear nor having a gear right at the inside of the freehub body (where the bending load on the axle would be highest) and despite being heavier than your average cyclist - I've not experienced any axle issues to date. I have, however, broken at least 3 Sapim spokes to date.
 
The broken spokes are always in the same place - the non-drive side "pushing" spoke when I push on the pedal to deal with a technical terrain feature. This unloading of the spoke breaks it off at the start of the threads. I really hate this because it means disassembling the tubeless tyre system, removing the rim tape and coaxing the nipple out of the rim cavity. The section of spoke left in the nipple precludes getting the spoke out of the nipple - hence needing another nipple. The spokes are expensive (around $11 each), the nipples are expensive (ENVE nipples are $5 each), and I hate the down time on the bike. I think all replacement spokes in my wheel are actually Aerolites because no one seems to have the CX-Ray in my needed length in singles (they sell them in packs of 8 or more).
 
I've decided to rebuild the non-drive side of the wheel with Wing spokes. I ordered 14 spokes, 14 new nipples and a nipple tool so I can carefully re-do the off side when the parts arrive. I'll be taking the long road of replacing each spoke one at a time so as not to de-tension the wheel as a whole. Which will leave me with 13 spare spokes and nipples - I'm counting on not ever requiring them. The Wing spokes have a slightly thicker elbow section because this is where spokes break most often. That hasn't been the case for me - all have snapped off where they enter the nipple right at the start of the thread. But a stronger spoke with a thicker elbow - maybe it will deal with loads better overall? Fingers crossed.
 
I will also do an extensive destressing of the spokes after building as this is the most critical element of the wheelbuild for longevity. I have done this each time I replaced a spoke, so either 28 spokes is insufficient for my rear wheel or the CX-Ray is insufficient for my mass or the damage was done in the first few months of use prior to the initial spoke breakage.
 
Incidentally, these wheels came on a new bike. The bike brand told me to deal with ENVE. ENVE told me to deal with their importer in Australia. The importer told me they weren't interested because they didn't sell me the wheels. Great run-around there. Amusingly (not really!) the importer insisted I could purchase single CX-Ray spokes from my preferred bike shop, but the bike shop said the spoke importer's order desk offered them only large packets of the spokes. More run-around.
 
Back to my entry title - if the CX-Ray is no longer the king of spokes, is the new Wing the new King?

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