Having recently read the thread regarding sapim spokes I was interested in why sapim had a longer elbow on there spokes than dt or wheelsmith. So I emailed sapim regarding this consern. They responded very quickly and I thought I would share their responce.
Dear sir
We have different lengths - going from 2.5 mm until 3.7 mm. Reason for this are the different hub flange diameters. We want to offer the customers the best solution possible and this is not possible with only selling 1 type of bend.
Our standard bend has a length of 2.9 mm and this is +/- also the standard from DT. 6 months ago our standard was still 3.1 mm but we changed this into 2.9 mm in order to have a better spoke ( flanges are becoming thinner).
Best regards Wim
I found it very interesting that they offer such a wide range in spoke bends. It seems to me that most of the spokes that we will be able to get now will be with a 2.9mm elbow instead of a 3.1. What I want to know is who in the world makes a flange thick enough to accommadate a 3.7mm elbow?
We have different lengths - going from 2.5 mm until 3.7 mm.
Hey! Good job actually asking them... but...
I have *never* seen this as an option! They even charge extra for odd mm lengths for CX-Rays...
My best guess is that the CX-Rays I just got measure ~3.8mm from the beginning of head to the center of the spoke, and ~5.8mm from the end of the head to the center of the spoke. Subtract 1mm if measuring to the inside edge of the spoke rather than the center.
