Velo Orange Raid Wheel Build; Sapim

My wheel building project is well underway, and I'm about ready to finish up the tension on the rear wheel of the Casseroll. To review, the Salsa Delgado Cross rim had incredible spoke pull through (completely through the rim), and is being replaced by the Velo Orange Raid rim. They have similar width (22mm), but the VO rim has double eyelets. Double awesome.

My rear hub is a White Industries H3 (32h) with the titanium freehub. The high-polish of the VO rim will mate up nicely with this hub.

For spokes, my good friends Travis and Brad surprised me with Sapim double-butted spokes. They are incredibly lovely, and the quality shows right away. I snapped a few pics of the difference between the Wheelsmith spokes I'm used to and the Sapims.


Here is a shot of the Wheelsmith spoke head. You can see a seam in the molding of this spoke. This causes the spoke to not seat completely against the hub flange. Multiply this by 32, and the quality of the wheel build is diminished.

 Contrast this quality to the Sapim spoke below. Hopefully the difference is apparent. Also, notice the distinct 2.0/1.8 butting. The Wheelsmith is a 2.0, but the butted versions aren't as cool-looking as the Sapim.

Here's a shot of the other side of the Wheelsmith spoke head with the trademark "W." 

 Sapim's name stamped longitudinally just before the 2.0/1.8 butting.

Sapim spokes are better quality, and the Sapim nipple profile provides an improved contact area against the rim eyelet. I'll have wheel build progress up shortly (including Excel file of the tension).