What kind of spokes are these?

[CDollarsign]

Trying to possibly recreate a wheel build. What brand of spokes are these with the big 'W' on the spoke head. Also, when is a spoke bad if a rim has endured a slight bend?

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wpRdp7IaK84/UcHQ1Mcf_FI/AAAAAAAAATg/cOqATBiVz3c/w406-h543-no/13+-+1

[jtakeda]

Wheelsmith spokes

[cfox]

spoke brand is wheelsmith, do not know the answer to your second question

[cp43]

My guess, Wheelsmith double butted spokes.

If the rim is "slightly" bent, the spokes are probably fine. If the wheel is taco'd, the spokes are probably not reusable. If it's somewhere between the two, it's a judgement call.

New spokes like those, are around $1 each, so replacing them isn't too big of a cost.

Chris

[weiwentg]

W stamped on the heads means Wheelsmith, as everyone else has said. From the photo, those look very much like regular 14/15 double butted spokes, which are cheap and strong.

[CDollarsign]

Ok cool. Thanks. Decent spokes?

[christian]

First page returned when you google: "spokes with w on head"

http://www.mrrabbit.net/docs/spokeheads/main.html

Every spokehead ever...

Great spokes. Wheelsmith, DT, Sapim. The three standard high-quality spokes.

[cp43]

Ok cool. Thanks. Decent spokes?

Yes, very good spokes. I use them on most wheels I build for myself. Never had a problem.

Chris

[Mark McM]

Ok cool. Thanks. Decent spokes?

Peter White of Peter White Cycles thinks so (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/spokes.asp):

I build wheels with Wheelsmith spokes. I mostly use the DB14 style which are 2.0mm at the ends and 1.7mm in the center. This makes for an extremely strong spoke that's light weight and flexible, which helps to prevent cracks in light weight aluminum rims. I used to build with DT but changed to Wheelsmith after DT changed their spoke designm in 2000. See this page for all the details. My DT spoke page.

Wheelsmith's quality control is excellent. I give my lifetime guarantee on wheels I build with Wheelsmith spokes. Wheelsmith spokes are made from stainless steel. Wheelsmith DB14, XL14 and DH13 spokes are all "butted" spokes. That means that the thickness of the spoke is greater at the end than in the middle. For instance, the DB14 measures 2mm at the ends and 1.7mm in the center of the spoke. Since spokes generally only break at the ends, that puts extra strength where you need it most. The thinner section in the middle saves weight, and allows the spoke to stretch slightly as the wheel is subjected to stress while riding, resulting in fewer cracks around the spoke holes in the rim, and less stress at the elbow of the spoke.

The transition between the spoke and the head on a Wheelsmith spoke is a bit different than on other brands of spokes. Instead of a sharp angle at the base of the head, the spoke has a smooth curved shape. The sharp angle on other spokes is a stress riser, and can cause the spoke head to pop off. I've never seen this happen with a Wheelsmith spoke, and I have seen it happen often with other brands. That's the primary reason I only build with Wheelsmith spokes.



As far as rim bends - except in extreme cases, single event forces on the rim don't break spokes. Although spokes can get damaged if the force is large enough to severely mangle the rim, a simple dent in a rim won't damage the spokes*.

*There is a caveat to this: The usual mechanism of spoke failure is fatigue, which occurs over many, many loading cycles (the spokes experience one loading cycle per revolution of the wheel). If the wheel has a large bend or dent, it can cause large differentials in spoke tension, some spokes under very little tension, and some under very high tension. This tension differential can cause the wheel loads to be shifted from the loosened spokes to the highly tensioned spokes, decreasing the fatigue life of these spokes. Riding a wheel with a bent or dented rim can cause premature failures in spokes around the bent/dent area. On the other hand, if the rim is replaced shortly after the rim gets bent/dented, there should be little to no affect on the fatigue life of the spokes.