Pros:

  • lightweight (approx 4.36g per spoke in 260mm lengths);
  • available in silver and black;
  • uses standard 2.0 (14g) spoke nipples;
  • easier to build with than other thin (eg 1.5mm spokes) because bladed nature means you can see spoke wind up and use a bladed spoke holder to prevent it.

Cons:

  • expensive - about 3x the cost of non-aero versions (like DT Swiss Revolutions or Sapim Laser) for no real performance gain when used on a MTB.

Related articles:

Short spokes

It's not easy to get spokes in the lengths that you need for kid's bike wheel builds, but there are a few options available:

Shortening spokes

Here's how I do it (in this example I'm shortening a titanium spoke, but the procedure for stainless steel spokes is the same):

Marwi titanium spokes

Got 18 of these on special for no particular reason other than to check out the whole "titanium spoke thing". These are straight gauge 14g (2.0mm) spokes. 18 spokes weigh 71g, so they weigh 3.94g ...

Straight pull spokes

Why I don't like them

Saving weight with less spokes

Two approaches:

Saving weight with lighter spokes

There's two ways to go in terms of saving weight with spokes: