Wheelsmith Spoke Prep

Wheelsmith Spoke Prep is one of my favorite supplies to use when I am building wheels. It works as a thread lock and also a lubricant when adding tension to spokes. Spoke Prep contains Teflon to prevent spokes from winding up when tightening the spokes. Two colors are available so that you can color code your spokes if you are using more than one length in a single wheel. For over twenty years I have always used the blue Spoke Prep on the drive side spokes so there is no confusion as to which side of the rear wheel the spokes go on. Front wheels usually have the same length spokes on both sides of the wheel. I always use blue Spoke Prep on the front wheel spokes because I like the color blue.

Rear wheels often use two different length spokes to allow the wheel to be "dished". Dishing the wheel, or building the wheel with a flat profile on one side, allows the hub to be centered in the rim and still allow room for the gears on the drive side of the wheel. 

In the photo above twenty eight spokes have their threads coated with Wheelsmith Spoke Prep and are ready to be used in a wheel build. The coating of Spoke Prep on the spokes in the above photo is way to heavy. (This is what happens when you are in a hurry.) The Spoke Prep should just fill in the low spots on the threads.

It only took a few seconds to separate the drive side (right) and non drive side (left) spokes due to the two different colors of Wheelsmith Spoke Prep. 

Two containers of Wheelsmith Spoke Prep sales for approximately $37.00. These small, 1.5 ml, containers will coat a large number of spokes. Click here to visit the Wheelsmith web site for more information.