DT Swiss Aerolite Black Spokes - Black

Price aside, the best spokes I have ever built with

Putting aside the price tag, which is absurd, these are unquestionably the best spokes I have ever built with. They are about as light as DT Revolutions, but are not nearly as flexible, making them much more suitable for riders who have a little more weight or power to them or wish to run the spoke tension a bit lower. In cross-3 applications the flat cross section gives these spokes a lot of surface area in contact with each other, which makes for a very laterally stiff wheel. While there is a propensity for these to twist, as other reviewers have noted, it's not really any more so than any other lightweight spokes, and the flat cross section is very advantageous because you can easily observe the twist visually and correct it. The result is very, very evenly tension wheels. One wheel I built with these has already survived the destruction of two rims, one by wear and the other by pothole, without yet breaking a spoke. Just watch those fingers as you true it, the sharp edge on these guys can hurt.

While I'm sure the DT Aerolite spoke tool works great to hold the spoke and prevent windup, a similar tool can be improvised easily by notching a piece of hardwood about 1/4" deep with a saw blade of similar width to the spoke. This worked great for me.

Pros: Light, extremely durable, easy to build with (assuming you make or buy a spoke holder tool)

Cons: Obnoxiously expensive

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: May 30, 2012
Reviewed by: Jon

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