Everyone seems to have their opinion on Ti Spokes
To quote Wheelbuilder.com
"Exotic materials have been successfully used in spoke manufacturing, however cost and availability can sometimes be limiting factors. Titanium, and Carbon/Kevlar spokes are currently in use on several manufacturers production wheels. Titanium spokes weigh significantly less than stainless spokes. Due to their inherent flexibility the Ti spokes give a very unique ride sometimes described as comfortable, plush, soft, Flexi, and even sloppy by some riders"
On Cane Creek's web site they have this to say about their Ti Spokes.
"Cane Creek Crono wheels with optional titanium spokes have relatively lower radial stiffness. These wheels provide a noticeably more comfortable ride, especially after hours in the saddle." and then have some calculus to back it up...
and it would almost be sinful to leave out this from the bicycle mechanic's web guru "Titanium is also used for spokes, but, in my opinion it is a waste of money. Titanium spokes should only be used with brass nipples, which makes a combination that is not significantly lighter than stainless spokes with aluminum nipples."
DT Swiss made their MMC spokes in the late 1990's with mixed reviews, the UBI/DT Swiss take on Ti is that it is not as reliable of a metal or ride as Steel and they no longer offer a Ti Spoke... The word in the shops is that DT Swiss was using a different composite of Ti then we are currently building wheels with today.
I have some pretty solid experience with building 26" wheels with Ti spokes, I haven't kept records but I would say about 45% of all wheels I built at Trail Head Cyclery were Ti spokes, primarily USA Spokes and some Marwi. Although I have built only 5 sets of Ti spoked 700c wheels (4 road/cross, 1 29er). All were laced 3x all around, shop standard was to build all wheels to keep with Chris King's warrantee and they like Ti Spokes laced 3x... "Due to the increased tension required by titanium spokes, titanium spokes should only be laced in a 3 cross pattern." to quote KCG's Hubset owners manuals ... and sorry Mr. Brown but all were built with aluminum nipples, THC's standard is to use 12mm DT Swiss nipples with standard rims and 14mm USA (or other) nipples with UST rims. However I'm starting to use 14mm with all Ti spokes. And I have never experienced any ill effects of the fabled Ti / Al electron sharing… i.e. the Al nipple fusing to the Ti spoke… Yeah for Boiled Linseed Oil... More on aluminum nipples in a future rant...
Specs aside the most important thing is the...
RIDE
If you thought weight go play in traffic RIGHT NOW!!!
(frick'n weight weenies)
I own 2 sets of Ti wheels.
SS MTB 26", Chris King SS Disk Hubs, USA Ti Spokes, Mavic 717 Rims.
700c, Chris King Classic Hubs, USA Ti Spokes, Mavic OpenPro Rims.
I have over 3 years on the MTB set mainly weekend rides, a few races, and 1.5 years on the 700c, with over 10,000 commuting/training miles. The best way I can describe it is, the same properties that make Ti frame riders fall in love with their rides are at work in wheels with Ti spokes. To expand on Wheelbuilder.com and Cane Creek take on Ti spokes, the sloppy/plush/flexie feeling from a Ti spoked wheel (namely a 700c) tends to come from low spoke tension i.e. lower steel spoke tension, 90knf ish for you nit pickers. Michelle's 28 hole and my 32 hole 700c sets are both very highly tensioned, pushing 140knf.
A Bad EARLY (4:30 am) pic of my front 700c wheel...
You can kinda make out the brake pad ware on the rim at each nipple from the high tension flexing the rim a little at that point.
Something I would only do with quality parts that can take that high of force. Anyway I really like the feel of my 700c wheels, at speed they are very stable and for most bumps they seem to dampen the hits. Michelle and Jack from THC said the same basic thing. I feel Sapim CX-Ray's build a better/stiffer road racing wheel but for 'cross or my riding (commuting/training) Ti spokes wheels cut the shock factor that helps save enegry. For 26" wheels the shock damping is pretty much a mute point with mtb tires on but the rotational weight savings and higher tensions allow for seeming quicker accelerations and less wheel wonder in tight berms. Ti spokes wins out here over CX-Rays because you can cut Ti spokes down to custom lengths (I could get spokes down to the .5mm on the cutter at THC) where CX-Rays only come in even lengths. Better spoke lengths mean more even tension beeween the two sides of the wheel, better tension means a stronger/ stiffer/ less flexie wheel
I have only seen one questionable failure of a Ti spoke in 3 years; it broke right at the base of the threads inside the nipple. Lars and I think it was from the spoke cutter mal-rolling the threads, and one off thing. The other failures have all been from derailleurs, sticks, pumps, rocks etc... Mostly bends and a few brakes, I have bent one spoke on the front of my SS MTB from an o'shit stop in a blind corner into a rock.
All in all I love Ti spokes, yeah they are pricy but if you spend a lot of time on your bike they are worth checking out.
oh yeah almost forgot for the Weight Weenies... a set of Chris King Hub / Mavic 717 Rim... Steel DT Swiss 14/15 V.S. USA Ti 14... Ti wheels were .5 lbs lighter...
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