Submitted by
simon
a Cross Country Rider
from san francisco, ca, usa
Date Reviewed: 1/29/2003 9:53:45 PM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
miwok |
| Duration Product Used: |
6 months |
| Price Paid: |
$60 |
| Purchased At: |
biketoolsetc.com |
| Strengths: |
great production engineering. as a materials guy, i was blown away the first time i got to compare sapim spokes to d.t.'s or wheelsmith.
first, the #1 thing in spoke fatigue is how well the spoke elbow is formed. any scarring, no matter how apparently irrelevant to the naked eye, is a fatigue nucleation point. sapim manage to form their spoke elbows flawlessly where others leave mandrel bending marks that are clearly visible. to me, this is a mark of a manufacturer that really knows what they're doing. sapim even publish fatigue tables for their product! to me, that is evidence of real confidence - i don't see anyone else prepared to stick their neck out like that!
the second is that the spokes are butted by drawing, not hammering or grinding. not enough space to go into it here, but drawing is metallurgically superior.
lastly, sapim polyax nipples are easily the best design - bar none. with a hemispheric seat that sit's properly at any angle in the rim, full contact is maintained with the rim and the nipple the whole way around thereby reducing stress concentrations which in turn means rims/nipples are less prone to distortion and therefore retruing. |
| Weaknesses: |
not as shiny as wheelsmith or d.t. |
| Similar Products Tried: |
d.t., wheelsmith. |
| Bike Setup: |
custom steel, xt, 517 rim front, x618 rim rear, xt disks. |
| Bottom Line: |
great spokes. i'd never build another wheel with anything else from now on. just got back from riding with a friend tonight. i rebuilt his wheels with sapim's a couple of weeks ago and this is a direct quote:
"wow, these wheels are great! i can't believe how much better they are than before".
end quote.
he had d.t.'s before. |
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Submitted by
Tim in Wi
a Cross Country Rider
from Wisconsin
Date Reviewed: 8/29/2001 9:23:29 AM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
#7&11 @ Killington |
| Duration Product Used: |
6 months |
| Strengths: |
These spokes are the greatest thing. I have built three wheelsets with them so far, one for me, and one for each of 2 of my friends. To start off with, they build up amazingly well. To you wheelbuilders, the heads dont get stuck in the flanges like 2.0 DTs do. I think there must be less stretch than DT, they build so perfect right from the start, and stay that way. Not as light as revolutions, but close, and light years ahead in strength and durability. And the price is even better, $8 for 20 of them from www.thorusa.com. Thats less than dealer cost on Revolutions OR Competitions! I am sold on them so much, I am building another set of them soon for my Sugar 1 (Sun rims, Hayes disc hubs, SAPIM RACE SPOKES!). My current Cannondale has them handbuilt with American Classic superlight disc hubs and Salsa Alto disc only rims. Sounds like a superlight setup, but they didnt bend once on a 18 day trip to Mt Snow, Killington, Whiteface, and other places in VT. Seriously the best spoke in the business. |
| Weaknesses: |
DT will soon have to file for bankruptcy if word gets out on these things. |
| Similar Products Tried: |
DT Revo, Comps, Wheelsmith XL14, Marwi |
| Bike Setup: |
Cannondale CAAD5, 19 lbs, Formula B4 brakes, Sram/XTR drivetrain, Dura-Ace BB and front der, above described wheels. |
| Bottom Line: |
They may not be the lightest. If you are a complete weight weenie, you may want Marwi Ti. I do like to keep my bike low weight (19lbs), but I am 220 so strength is still a concern. I had no problems with these spokes, even after days after days of beating on them at Vermont ski areas. I just can say enough, if you want a reasonable weight with DH strength, than look no further. |
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Submitted by
danny wilson
a Downhiller
from rochdale uk
Date Reviewed: 6/29/2001 2:25:04 PM
|
| FavoriteTrail: |
erm the streets and jump spots |
| Duration Product Used: |
6 months |
| Price Paid: |
$120 |
| Purchased At: |
halfords |
| Strengths: |
erm everything the rim is strong on its own before its laced up with good spokes on to a good hub |
| Weaknesses: |
let me think the sidewalls wear down quickly on the cd version. |
| Similar Products Tried: |
lots of mavics, bomer many many rims |
| Bike Setup: |
xile with z1 mcrs, maguras, d521 on hope sport hubs, fsa crank dmr bashring, tioga. |
| Bottom Line: |
these rims rule ive had mine 6 months n they have not even been trued once. they have had 8ft drop offs and 18ft gaps and took it all with easeeverything seems 2 snap apart fron them there great |
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