Providing the essential link between hub and rim

The primary role of spokes is to give strength to the wheel, but the criss-cross effect of gleaming metal also looks visually pleasing.

Central Wheel Components manufacture galvanised and stainless steel spokes, the latter being supplied either polished or unpolished.

The material and finish chosen for a specific job will depend on several factors - the type of bike, its age and your personal preferences. The information below will help you decide.

Spokes vary greatly in length and diameter, some wheels featuring butted spokes. These aren't a uniform thickness but taper down from one diameter to another and in rare cases you'll find double butted spokes, which are thicker at each end for greater strength.

Our spoke sets for a one-off wheel comprise 40 spokes with nipples, though obviously we're happy to supply any number of spokes, whether it's 10 or 100,000.

Manufacturing spokes

All our spokes are manufactured from the highest grade UK Stainless Steel or mid carbon galvanised steel, which ensures the optimum combination of strength and performance.

The spoke material arrives in 500 kg coils of wire and is fed into a spoke machine that straightens the wire before cutting it to length. It then forms the head before forming the bend and rolling the thread as it ejects the 'spoke' from the machine.

Stocks of blank spokes (headed but not threaded or bent) are made and held in stock ready to be bent and cut down for our smaller orders or spoke sets.

Butted spokes are made from wire which is the thickness of the butted end but are intentionally cut short. The spokes are then hammered out to length, reducing the diameter of all except the butted end.

The final part of the process is to clean and polish the spokes. Large vibrating metal bowls full of polishing compound and ceramic pellets clean the spokes through abrasive action. Similar vibrating bowls containing maize apply the final polish.

Which size ?

Over the years we've amassed a good knowledge of which spokes fit which bikes. Even so, it is advisable to provide a sample spoke with your order and to supply details on the length, gauge, angle and length of bend of spokes required (see diagram below).

When ordering butted or double butted spokes both gauges should be given. For example, if the spoke tapers from 8 to 10 gauge, write it as 8/10g.

Sizing spokes is quite easy if you follow this chart :

Metric guage sizes available on bulk orders - 3.00mm, 3.50mm, 4.50mm

Please note: that lengths of bend will be supplied as near to requested size as possible. It must be remembered that stainless steel does not bend as tightly as galvanised material, so not all requested bends are attainable.

Spokes supplied are replacements not replicas.  Some spokes may vary in length of bend or angle from original. When assembled and tensioned these spokes will bed and sit correctly in the hub. 


Standard Butted Spoke

Double Butted Spokes

Single Diameter Spokes

Spoke Nipples can be supplied in Zinc Plated Steel or Nickel Plated Brass in the following Barrel Sizes :