Sorting Spokes

Sorting spokes is a task that is guaranteed to come up during the processes of despoking and wheelbuilding, and occasionally at other times. It is a very simple thing to do.

Measuring spokes

This is covered by its own [[Measuring Spokes|module].

When to scrap

But the spokes may not make it into the drawer. If the drawer is full and some of the spokes are in better shape than yours, you should scrap them. If the spokes are fairly rusty, even if the drawer isn't full, they should be scrapped. Spokes are galvanized, so they rust white instead of brown.

Always measure

If you are measuring spokes to build a wheel, or measuring a spoke to replace a broken spoke in your wheel, there is one additional important instruction: always measure. If you need 280mm spokes, and you find a bundle of spokes in the 280 drawer with a tag on them that has 280 written on it, you must measure each spoke to make sure it's right. This will probably end up saving either work or confusion by the time you're done.

Nipple sizes

Another thing to be aware of if you're using spokes and they didn't come with nipples is that spokes come in two widths. Some are 2.0mm and some are 1.8mm. To check which size your spokes are, try to thread one into a 1.8mm nipple. If it doesn't go, it's a 2.0mm. This is important, because if you use 1.8mm spokes and 2.0mm nipples, the threads will strip out of the nipples once you tension the spoke. These sizes have nothing to do with [spoke wrench] sizes.