Spoke prep...

[bostondrunk]

When building a set of wheels (tubular, of course...), do you use any type of prep/lube in the eyelet for the nipple to turn against? And is there any thread compound that you can get at the local hardware store that is good to use on the the spokes, as opposed to paying $$ for the wheelsmith stuff?

[AgilisMerlin]

SPOKEPREP:

night before build, coat threads, throw spokes on bench to dry.


spoke prep is da' bomb yo.........................

[DfCas]

I use basic grease both places.

I once used spoke prep on alloy nipples and it turned into lodtite,making it impossible to true the wheel.I twisted some spokes until they broke.

[AgilisMerlin]

brass nipples :D good

[CJH]

Antiseize on the threads and Phil Tenacious Oil on the nipples! Build it tight, a properly tensioned wheel don't need no spoke locking wishy washy stuff...

[sg8357]

Beeswax, works as a weak thread locker.

Scott G.

[sspielman]

Boiled linseed oil on the threads. I touch the inside of the eyelets with a qtip Tenacious oil on it...and I don't do the eyelets on the non-drive side of the rear wheel.

[chrisroph]

Dab o grease on inside of all eyelets so the nipple seats on a small bed o grease; night before assembly dab o spoke prep on threads of non drive side because of their low tension; dab o oil on all other threads so they can turn easily. Works for me. don't listen to jobst....

[11.4]

A q-tip with a little bit of copper-based anti-seize compound works great in the ferrule itself. Oil and regular grease get the job done, more or less, but then tend to migrate as the wheel is actually ridden -- the anti-seize stays in place nicely and actually provides better high-load lubrication, avoids seizing (if you are building with older rims or sometimes with alloy nipples), and is just easy to apply.

On the threads, Spoke Prep lasts for so long and works fine when dry that I just tend to use it. You get somewhat the same results with linseed oil, but the spokes are tight to thread into nipples if the oil has had a chance to dry -- downright ugly, in fact. I concur that as long as a wheel is basically well trued to begin with, a little bit of grease or oil on the threads is fine because the nipples simply shouldn't unthread. However, if you damage a rim and have to ride it through to the end of an event, oiled or greased spokes can start coming loose with amazing speed -- you can have a real noodly mess on your hands. The Spoke Prep gets you to the finish line.

[bostondrunk]

In the past I haven't had too much trouble with spokes loosening.
But what I have had trouble with is getting the nipples to turn smoothly when tensioning the newly built wheel. When the tension starts getting up there, I find the spokes start twisting bad. Thats why I was wondering about what lubricant to use in the eyelets, etc.

[cpg]

I've always used grease or anti-seize (which ever is handy) on the ferrules and linseed oil on the spoke threads. Dip 'em in and lace up the wheel. The linseed oil will harden up in a day. To me, it's the perfect spoke prep because it acts as a lubricant while bringing the wheel up to tension. Then it sets up and stays put. Same for spoke prep but where linseed oil wins out is linseed oil stays pliable so in the future it's not too difficult to turn the nipple and even after repeated turning the linseed oil continues to stay the same gooey consistancy. It the bomb atmo.


BD- if you've got spokes coming loose it's most likely a spoke tension issue rather than ferrule and thread prep. Although lubricating those surfaces can aid in getting the tension correct.
Curt

[pdxmech13]

from the data i've collected spoke prep tends to me more of a hinderance than help, especially over a long period of time. A little oil or some grease on has proven to work best and allows proper spoke tension adjustments down the road. spoke prep was made so kids in the midwest could build wheels for people without any real knowledge of what makes a good tensioned wheel.

[Peter P.]

I use grease on the threads and oil on the nipple seat. The grease lasts the life of the wheel. The oil does allow less binding of the nipples while you're bringing the tension up. I've also used a Q-Tip to dab some grease on the nipple seats.

I have also used Teflon pipe sealant, the white stuff in a tube or tub, usually found in the plumbing supply section of the hardware store. It's a little bit messier than grease but after clean up it definitely provides a long lasting, smooth turning nipple, even under tension.

[PK9]

I use a bit of grease inside the ferrule where the nipples seat and when out of spoke prep have used a thin layer of latex wall paint. Works fine and has not created any problems I know of.