Decided that I’ll get my new gravel wheels as rims built on to existing hubs by my lbs.
Since my lbs will build pretty much what I want I’m trying to find some eli5 descriptions of what the pros/cons are for the spoke types.
I don’t just want to go for the most expensive since there’s always one option that’s the perfect balance of cost to performance. I trust the shop to build up a good set - they started off just building wheels before doing the full thing - but I also like to investigate I things before hand.
Likely aerodynamic nightmares……we learned this lesson decades ago from Spynergy Spox wheels. I could literally feel the aero drag on my wheels when I rode them at higher speeds.
Berd spokes are wider than traditional spokes and not shaped. Nothing goods come from that.
I always build with either Sapim Race or CX Ray, depending on budget and use. If you’re planning on a long remote tour maybe a standard 2mm spoke is worth considering as it’s available everywhere, but otherwise those are the basic choice
In a pinch, you can just about always make do replacing a broken traditional type spoke with any other that has the right head and length. It’s the weird ones, like some Mavic, some Industry 9, etc. that can be a problem out in the field. Of course it’s not out of the question to carry spares. They’re light and can be kept taped to a seat stay or similar. I’ve done that on some trips. It seems to be more preventative, as I’ve never broken a spoken when carrying spares.
It really doesn’t matter. Dirt collection and cleanup is the main differentiator. internal nipples make things slightly easier to clean. If you were doing a multiday ride or travelling with the bike, basic j-bend spokes might be easier to replace at a random bike shop.
I have Berd on one set of XC wheels where I wanted the really light weight, and also on a set of lightweight gravel wheels. But, I also have a set of deeper Nextie’s where I used CX-Ray because I’m prioritizing more aero as opposed to lightest weight on that set. If I had to pick one for gravel, it’d be the CX-Ray.