You can throw a stick into these spokes, but they won’t be broken. A few years ago, Spinergy introduced Spox wheel. Vectran composite spokes made of liquid-crystal polymers are stronger than steel in tension, but flexible. There are 32 of them in the rear and 28 in the front. Vectran spokes need a different type nipple, which is larger than standard units. The kit also includes a splined wrench. The front wheel is 710g and the rear weighs 900g. This should make the set cost 1610.
Although we’ve never used the Spox program, we found the large-format spokes as well as the direct-drive hubs to be well-suited for disc brakes. The Xyclone Disc Spinergy version didn’t suffer from hard braking as most disc-type wheels. We also found that the Xyclone wheels delivered the same lively feeling under acceleration as top-drawer wheels.
The Xyclone wheels offer a lot of performance, as we mentioned. They were used more than the other wheels in this feature. Although there was some runout (we have not received Spox wheels that were perfectly straight), it was minimal. Our hoops stayed tight throughout the trial period and did not get any worse. Although disc brake wheels don’t have to be perfect, it is better to have at least some tension than rim brakes. MBA received this exact service from Spinergy.
