I was just curious what everyone uses to hold their bladed spokes when truing/building a wheel? I have a small set of needle nose pliers that are smooth and I wrap electrical tape around the jaws. But it is somewhat of a hassle to use because the handles hit the other spokes. Is there something better?

I have used something very similar to this little tool from Sapim. I don't know who made the one I use, but it's really nothing special and you could easily make something like this yourself, just make sure that the surface that holds the spoke is big enough so it prevents the spoke from 'tearing' or getting damaged by the tool.

Hope this is of any help.


http://www.sapim.be/index.php?st=products&sub=racetools

twist resist is nice.

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Since it is not something I do very oftern I just use a 3" adjustable wrench.

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What I have done is cut a groove with a saw into a piece of plastic. It does the job perfectly, is very easy to make, costs nothing and does not damage the spokes.

The nice part about a round tool such as from Sapim is that you can keep it around the top half of your finger. It makes adjustment from spoke to spoke very convenient.

I use the Knipex plier wrench which has flat jaws like a Crecent wrench. Twist resist is ok too. The nice thing about a plier tool is that you can use the plier to gently flip from spoke to spoke without letting go of the spoke wrench or having to realign the bladed tool and fit it into the slot, which makes the build go really fast. But I have used a Sapim tool too and it works.

I use either a alu. or carbon 10mm stem spacer with a groove cut with a dremel disc. Basically the same thing as the Sapim tool.

So is the groove in the spacer (or the sapim tool) cut all the way through, or just part of the way through? looks like i could make that from a piece of PVC or the carbon steerer i cut off of my easton fork.

You could just overshoot 90 degrees and turn back... I've not had a problem with that. Good lube on the threads probably helps, though.

Not very convenient with thin bladed spokes such a CX-Rays. Also, as tension becomes higher the chance of the spoke yielding from twisting increases.

mavic wheels and campagnolo wheels which are pre built with aero spokes come with a black nylon tool similar to the sapim tool.

Most bike shops would have them hanging around in teh workshop from bikes that they've sold with mavic wheels as OEM fitment... or wheelsets they've sold...

I'm sure you could pick them up for a couple of bucks that way...


cheers,
erik

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The groove is just deep enough to fit the bladed spoke in. Your idea of using the extra carbon spacer or pvc is exactly what I did.

4" adjustable wrench - electrical tape on jaws to protect spoke. Simple, works great.

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I had always used a wrench or pliers with electrical tape in the past. But last night I used the cut off piece of the carbon steerer from my Easton fork. It worked really well and is easier and much faster than pliers. The only problem is that the wall of the steerer is fairly thin, so the spoke just barely fits in there enough. I may try something like PVC with a thicker wall in the future.