Reusing spokes on 20mm hub upgrade

kieronymous

I'm upgrading to a 20mm maxle fork. I intend to lace a 20mm Hope Pro 2 into the existing Mavic XM317 rim. Existing hub is DT Cerit. I want to minimise 'downtime', so haven't stripped the wheel down to measure the rim yet - I'm waiting for the fork to arrive.

However I just got curious and ran the existing wheel through DT Spoke Calc (even though I haven't measured the rim, I'm pretty confident on its ERD being 539-540mm). Turns out both hubs call for exactly the same length spokes! Each hub has different flange dia & offset, but they cancel out. Weird/lucky eh? I varied the ERD a few mm either way, and never got more than 1mm deviation of spoke length between the two hubs (for a given ERD).

So far I'm pretty confident this will work. Especially since I have a selection of 12 & 14mm spoke nipples. My best Google result (as expected) - Sheldon & Jobst - say there's no problem using old spokes on a new rim with the same hub.

However, I thought I'd garner opinions on using old spokes with a new hub. I have vague unsettling concerns about fatigue at the spoke elbow, not bedding in on the new hub properly, etc..

Any thoughts? Provided no fatigue/bedding issues, it's worth a go at least eh? If the build is obviously wrong, I'm not dumb enough to try riding it...

kieronymous

Hmmm, it seems Google searches BR better than BR can...!

Yup, a similar question has been asked before.

Still, thoughts appreciated...

supersonic

Old spokes, if they have lasted, are usually the best bet!

Go for it.

W00DENT0P

For the sake of £10 - £15 i'd always use new spokes and nipples.

kieronymous

I can't find DT Swiss Comp spokes for under £20 for a set of 28. Where are you getting good spokes for £10-£15 a set?

Then again maybe plain gauge are a better bet...

supersonic

Double butted are almost always the better bet. And as before, old spokes are perfectly fine to use - as they have lasted they have probably been properly stressed relieved and will last for a long, long time.

kieronymous

Existing spokes are PG!

Accept your theory that old spokes are well stress relieved. Just slightly worried about already yielded elbows not bedding into the new hub correctly. Accept also that this could well be baseless paranoia, given that the hub will be softer than the spokes eh.

So, gonna give it a bash anyway. Will label spokes and use in the exact same order around the rim, or at least ensure each spoke is still trailing/leading. I'm new to wheelbuilding, still at the 'this is fun, go me!' stage, so it's useful to practice.

Then a short & sharp ride at a trail centre to test it. 'Realistic worst case' is a few spokes break and I'm walking back to the car. Can't really see it all ending up in hospital (famous last words!).

Cheers all.