# Spoke Shortage



## Freqman1 (Sep 8, 2021)

So I'm doing a bike for a customer and need some standard 10 5/8" stainless spokes. Used to on Ebay there were no shortage of vendors selling these in bulk. Now I find one listing (Dan-bicyclebones) for $50 for one set. This set actually needs to be a straight set for a Schwinn middleweight but I'd like to find about three or four wheels worth of double butted for other projects. Anyone got a source? V/r Shawn


----------



## Archie Sturmer (Sep 8, 2021)

Maybe also search by metric equivalent, ~270mm?


----------



## Freqman1 (Sep 8, 2021)

Archie Sturmer said:


> Maybe also search by metric equivalent, ~270mm?



I have. A bunch of odd type sales e.g. 5 spokes, 10 spokes, etc...


----------



## GTs58 (Sep 8, 2021)

At the beginning of the pandemic I picked up 500+ SS double butted 10 5/8 spokes and then noticed a couple months later that spokes were getting scarce.


----------



## 49autocycledeluxe (Sep 8, 2021)

anything metal is scarce. we had to wait 12 weeks to get the roll up doors repaired in our new building at work due to issues getting parts. all sorts of things are getting scarce and or more expensive. metal is but one. 

I just bought spokes from Bicycle heaven on Ebay so I went to look and they only have two listings for spokes


----------



## juvela (Sep 8, 2021)

-----

wonder if this means more of us shall resort to "rolling our own"  from spokes which we know to be too long for the job at hand, trim them to length and then roll new threads - tedious

probably have a ton or two of "scrap metal" in me workshop...

perhaps we should all be buying stock in Dratwerk...


-----


-----


----------



## WES PINCHOT (Sep 8, 2021)

THERE IS A MAN NAMED BILL WOODWARD OR WOOD WOODWORTH  THAT ALWAYS CAME TO PORTLAND MEET IN IND.
I DON'T HAVE ANY NUMBER TO CONTACT HIM. NOT ON THE CABE.
AND GEORGR MONTY LIKE WISE. NOT ON THE CABE.
TRY POSTING INQUIRIES ON THE CABE FOR SOMEONE WHO MIGHT HAVE INFO.
WES


----------



## GTs58 (Sep 8, 2021)

49autocycledeluxe said:


> anything metal is scarce. we had to wait 12 weeks to get the roll up doors repaired in our new building at work due to issues getting parts. all sorts of things are getting scarce and or more expensive. metal is but one.
> 
> I just bought spokes from Bicycle heaven on Ebay so I went to look and they only have two listings for spokes





What's he charging these days? I paid $0.20 each with nipples for SS double butted.


----------



## 49autocycledeluxe (Sep 8, 2021)

you need one of these to roll vintage.


----------



## BFGforme (Sep 8, 2021)

100bikes had some, but bought them all up! Bummer


----------



## 49autocycledeluxe (Sep 8, 2021)

GTs58 said:


> What's he charging these days? I paid $0.20 each with nipples for SS double butted.



 I paid that much for the nipples.


----------



## B607 (Sep 9, 2021)

Freqman1 said:


> So I'm doing a bike for a customer and need some standard 10 5/8" stainless spokes. Used to on Ebay there were no shortage of vendors selling these in bulk. Now I find one listing (Dan-bicyclebones) for $50 for one set. This set actually needs to be a straight set for a Schwinn middleweight but I'd like to find about three or four wheels worth of double butted for other projects. Anyone got a source? V/r Shawn



If I'm not mistaken, you will need 10 7/8 spokes for a Schwinn middleweight.  Gary


----------



## Freqman1 (Sep 9, 2021)

B607 said:


> If I'm not mistaken, you will need 10 7/8 spokes for a Schwinn middleweight.  Gary



These are factory laced S7s and they measure 10 5/8?


----------



## 49autocycledeluxe (Sep 9, 2021)

imagine a world with no spokes. oh the horror! 😩


----------



## highship (Sep 9, 2021)

Years ago I cleaned out a bike shop and had literally 100’s of thousands of spokes, every size imaginable… I was giving them away on RRB for a while and when interest went low I scrapped the rest…


----------



## WES PINCHOT (Sep 9, 2021)

B607 said:


> If I'm not mistaken, you will need 10 7/8 spokes for a Schwinn middleweight.  Gary



THE SCHWINN 26 INCH MIDDLE WEIGHTS USE S-7 RIMS WITH A CROSS OVER 3 PATTERN 
AND USE THE 10 5/8 INCH SPOKES. 
AND THE 26 INCH BALLOONS USE S-2 RIMS WITH A CROSS OVER 4 PATTERN AND THE
SPOKE LENGTHS ARE ALSO 10 5/8 INCH.


----------



## GTs58 (Sep 9, 2021)

B607 said:


> If I'm not mistaken, you will need 10 7/8 spokes for a Schwinn middleweight.  Gary




Maybe for 4 cross but not 3 cross.


----------



## bikewhorder (Sep 10, 2021)

I still have these, https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/box-of-nos-torrington-105-10-5-8-spokes.89068/


----------



## SKPC (Sep 10, 2021)

I typically harvest and keep any butted spokes, particularly 36ct sets with patina and no rust. You will of course break a few during the process. The long, two-flat nips are worth saving as well.  Takes time to take wheels apart to get at them but worth it I think.  Flashy stainless butted Wheel Smith 50ct bags are never cheap ever.


----------



## bikewhorder (Sep 10, 2021)

SKPC said:


> I typically harvest and keep any butted spokes, particularly 36ct sets with patina and no rust. You will of course break a few during the process. The long, two-flat nips are worth saving as well.  Takes time to take wheels apart to get at them but worth it I think.  Flashy stainless butted Wheel Smith 50ct bags are never cheap ever.



The economics of spokes makes no sense to me. It's almost always way cheaper to buy a complete wheel than the spokes that are in it. And why do they sell them in quanities of 50?  That makes no sense also.


----------



## SKPC (Sep 10, 2021)

Exactly Chris.   Perhaps yrs from now these kinds of spoke sets will retain a bit of value. As far as the 50 ct bags go, too much for one wheel and unusable for the matching hub unless the specs are the same. Even so, you are going to need another bag!!   Sneaky for sure...


----------



## Rivnut (Sep 10, 2021)

If you bought 1800, you would have the correct amount to lace up wheels for 25 bikes. That’s only 36 sets of 50 - no shortages, no overages.


----------



## vincev (Sep 10, 2021)

I guess eventually we will have to pick up cheap garage sale bikes just for the spokes.


----------



## KevinsBikes (Sep 11, 2021)

bikewhorder said:


> The economics of spokes makes no sense to me. It's almost always way cheaper to buy a complete wheel than the spokes that are in it. And why do they sell them in quanities of 50?  That makes no sense also.



This is why you don’t see a ton of 26” wheels being rebuilt as a service, lots of other wheels out there going for $50-100.


----------



## KevinsBikes (Sep 11, 2021)

I also had the chance to buy pallets of spokes about 6 years ago for $5 a box and the nipples were included.  They were galvanized, some double butted, some straight.  Lots of odd sizes but could have been a hundreds of 10 5/8 stuck in there somewhere.  I tried listing some on here but I people were not willing to pay $20 shipped for a box, don’t blame them if they would then having to get them custom cut.  I ended up using all of them.  I’ve been buying off eBay now when I see them pop up. Also most people seemed to think galvanized spokes were weaker and wanted stainless.  I imagine those pallets got melted down - I know at least a few other cabers got to pick that warehouse before me and it’s been converted to a restaurant now or something.


----------



## AmandaHSanDiego (Sep 11, 2021)

I bought a gross from Modern Bike last month for $36.  

I did have to buy the metric  equivalent and a slightly different size (1 mm longer or shorter, I can't remember).


----------



## AndyA (Sep 11, 2021)

Take a look at huskybicycles.com


----------



## Archie Sturmer (Sep 11, 2021)

150 seems like a nice low number, enough for two bicycles with 36 spokes per wheel, plus 3 extra spokes each for repairs/spares (4%); and a lot less organizing, sorting, and remembering where I might have put things.

When purchasing online, I double-check whether or not spoke nipples are included, or negatively-excluded, and *avoid* sellers who decline to state up-front in their ads; (no I do not ask _those-people_ a question).


----------



## JIM OWEN (Sep 11, 2021)

WES PINCHOT said:


> THERE IS A MAN NAMED BILL WOODWARD OR WOOD WOODWORTH  THAT ALWAYS CAME TO PORTLAND MEET IN IND.
> I DON'T HAVE ANY NUMBER TO CONTACT HIM. NOT ON THE CABE.
> AND GEORGR MONTY LIKE WISE. NOT ON THE CABE.
> TRY POSTING INQUIRIES ON THE CABE FOR SOMEONE WHO MIGHT HAVE INFO.
> WES



The spoke guy is Bill Warwood in Edinburg Ohio, his phone number is: (330) 947- 2744. Contact him by phone, he doesn't do computers, that's where I get my long spoke for the Ingo Bike. George Monty's phone number is: (708) 542-5908 his email is: chris001937@gmail.comgmail.com
Jim Owen


----------



## JIM OWEN (Sep 11, 2021)

JIM OWEN said:


> The spoke guy is Bill Warwood in Edinburg Ohio, his phone number is: (330) 947- 2744. Contact him by phone, he doesn't do computers, that's where I get my long spoke for the Ingo Bike. George Monty's phone number is: (708) 542-5908 his email is: chris001937@gmail.comgmail.com
> Jim Owen



 Correction on George's email address. It is: chris001937@gmail.com


----------



## WES PINCHOT (Sep 11, 2021)

JIM OWEN said:


> The spoke guy is Bill Warwood in Edinburg Ohio, his phone number is: (330) 947- 2744. Contact him by phone, he doesn't do computers, that's where I get my long spoke for the Ingo Bike. George Monty's phone number is: (708) 542-5908 his email is: chris001937@gmail.comgmail.com
> Jim Owen



THANKS FOR SHARING!


----------



## fattyre (Sep 12, 2021)

Am I missing something?  I can easily find DT Swiss, Wheelsmith  or Spain spokes in every size.  Nearly all sizes are available on multiple web sites and sold individually.


----------



## KevinsBikes (Sep 12, 2021)

fattyre said:


> Am I missing something?  I can easily find DT Swiss, Wheelsmith  or Spain spokes in every size.  Nearly all sizes are available on multiple web sites and sold individually.



My assumption is that they wanted NOS double butted spokes, not new stainless.  Otherwise we are all missing something


----------



## fattyre (Sep 13, 2021)

KevinsBikes said:


> My assumption is that they wanted NOS double butted spokes, not new stainless.  Otherwise we are all missing something



Yeah that’s what I don’t get.  @Freqman1 said stainless in his first post. Some clarification of exactly what is needed would sure help.


----------



## Freqman1 (Sep 13, 2021)

fattyre said:


> Yeah that’s what I don’t get.  @Freqman1 said stainless in his first post. Some clarification of exactly what is needed would sure help.



Sorry for the confusion. Yep for this build just straight stainless but for the rest of my builds I was looking for the bundle packages of double butted that used to be pretty easy to get--am I missing something? V/r Shawn


----------



## mickeyc (Sep 13, 2021)

This ad has been on local Craig's foe a while, anything good here?








						Vintage Torrington and other Bicycle Spokes - bicycles - by owner -...
					

Vintage Bicycle Spokes. Looks like they sell for around 15.00-30.00 box on Ebay. 650.00



					detroit.craigslist.org


----------



## oskisan (Sep 13, 2021)

Shawn: WIsh you lived near by... I am throwing out a a bunch of wheels and am sure there is something in there that you could use. How many spokes do you need and what is the actual spoke length?
-Ken


----------



## SirMike1983 (Sep 13, 2021)

Yes, there are fewer sellers with bulk stocks of NOS spokes than a couple of years ago. I used to be able to buy bulk packs of the grey "Union" brand spokes for the 26 inch wheel 3-speeds without much trouble on the usual websites (eBay, CABE, Ratrod, etc.). The Torrington double-butted were always more expensive than the Union straight gauge, but you could find both. When I started looking for spokes earlier this year, the NOS spokes were being sold in small quantities at insane prices. 

It used to be more economical to buy the NOS "grey" colored steel spokes than it was to buy brand new Sapim or DT Swiss stainless. Now it appears to be the opposite. I built my most recent set of wheels with Sapim stainless double butted. I have at least 3 more wheels to build this fall and I'm probably just going to go with DT Swiss or Sapim stainless if I have to buy spokes. It works if the rim and hub are very clean and the new stainless spokes match the condition of the other parts. But if you have very old or worn hub shells and rims, the old stock grey ones match much better.


----------



## ivrjhnsn (Sep 13, 2021)

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/spokes.php


----------



## SKPC (Sep 13, 2021)

^^^^ Very good read & link to butted spokes & how they relate to lightweight wheels. Did not realize they are not making Wheelsmith butted spokes any longer...😧


----------



## SirMike1983 (Sep 14, 2021)

There are also "Wheelmaster" spokes (not to be confused with Wheelsmith), I don't think the Wheelmaster spokes are quite as good as Sapim or DT Swiss. The corrosion resistance is lower, though you can certainly make a workable wheel using Wheelmaster. They are sold as a cheaper alternative to Sapim or DT Swiss. Given the choice in modern spokes, I'd still go Sapim or DT Swiss. The Sapim spokes on my last couple wheel builds worked out nicely.


----------



## coasterbrakejunkie1969 (Sep 24, 2021)

Freqman1 said:


> Sorry for the confusion. Yep for this build just straight stainless but for the rest of my builds I was looking for the bundle packages of double butted that used to be pretty easy to get--am I missing something? V/r Shawn



@Freqman1  Hey Shawn did not know if you still need these?








						Bicycle spokes double butted Stainless Steel 500 spokes 269mm  SPOKES ONLY  | eBay
					

These are top of the line SAPIM stainless steel double butted spokes. ONE bags of 500 spokes 14 gauge in 269 mm. SPOKES ONLY NO NIPPLES. BLOWOUT SALE ON SPOKES. This is a NEW part that has never been on a bicycle.



					www.ebay.com


----------

