cracked nipples!

[AngryScientist]

bought an inexpensive set of ebay wheels specifically to use as rain wheels and of course, they have issues.

what causes this anyway? this is a 32 spoke wheel, cxrays on NDS, double butted round spokes on DS. about a dozen cracked nipples on both DS and NDS spokes.

going to rebuild the wheel with brass locking nipples, but curious what caused these to crack, cracks look to start from the bottom up, which is not what i would expect??

[sokyroadie]

Try Bag Balm

[ultraman6970]

Seen one or two but never seen that many nipples dead, interesting problem.

ps: when I saw the tittle I thought 1st to recommend something similar to what roadie is saying

[David Kirk]

This is pretty common if the spoke wrench used is too large.

dave

[CiclistiCliff]

Common with alloy nips.

Brass 4 Life

[jpritchet74]

My wife swears by this stuff.

https://www.honest.com/bath-and-body...ic-nipple-balm

[93KgBike]

Originally Posted by ciclisticliff

brass 4 life

+1

[woodworker]

I've had this problem with a number of my wheels. I live by the Coast, in San Diego, and the humidity causes the aluminum to corrode against the threads of the dissimilar spoke material, crack, and eventually fall apart. I'd talk to a good wheelbuilder who may know the different aluminum alloys used in various nipple brands, and which may be more corrosion resistant (if it's not over-tightening). My understanding is that brass is less susceptible to this problem.

[ColonelJLloyd]

Originally Posted by CiclistiCliff

Common with alloy nips.

Brass 4 Life

Sure. Or, you know. . . do it right. I used to shun aluminum nipples, but I use them where they make sense now.

I recently built my first wheelset with Sapim double square and DT Squorx nipples with this 3.2mm driver and the DT tool. I like this method and will be doing it this way going forward.

[shoota]

Originally Posted by CiclistiCliff

Common with alloy nips.

Brass 4 Life

This. Once alloy nipples start breaking it's over. Time to rebuild with brass.

[johnniecakes]

Does anyone know the weight difference between alloy and brass nipples. Maybe 2 -3 grams? Seems to like a lot of potential problems for a minimal weight difference. I wonder how many guys with alloy nipples have and extra 20-40 mm of valve stem that would add weight, and unbalanced at that.

[weiwentg]

Originally Posted by johnniecakes

Does anyone know the weight difference between alloy and brass nipples. Maybe 2 -3 grams? Seems to like a lot of potential problems for a minimal weight difference. I wonder how many guys with alloy nipples have and extra 20-40 mm of valve stem that would add weight, and unbalanced at that.

Per November Bicycles, 30g in a 20/24 wheelset, and more in a 32h wheelset. So, it's not nothing.

But, of course, weight matters less than we all think.

Personally, the additional reliability is worth it to me. I do ride sometimes when it's wet out, and I am not able/willing to keep my wheels consistently clean. So brass nipples it is. I can live with 30g.

[CiclistiCliff]

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

Sure. Or, you know. . . do it right. I used to shun aluminum nipples, but I use them where they make sense now.

I recently built my first wheelset with Sapim double square and DT Squorx nipples with this 3.2mm driver and the DT tool. I like this method and will be doing it this way going forward.

You seem to troll quite a bit, particularly my posts.

Fact: Aluminum nipples have a tendency to fail much sooner than brass. The amount of wheels I’ve rebuilt with brass nipples after finding multiple cracked or severly corroded aluminum nipples is rather disappointing. Roval, Ibis,DT Swiss along with a handful of custom builds. Low spoke count should always be brass, in my opinion. If a customer wants a reliable wheel, use brass. There’s a reason why Enve uses brass, Mavic uses brass on Aksiums and a handful of other OEM builders use brass.

And yes, the squorx and square drive stuff is great, but they will crack in 4-5 years.

[jtbadge]

Originally Posted by CiclistiCliff

You seem to troll quite a bit, particularly my posts.

Fact: Aluminum nipples have a tendency to fail much sooner than brass. The amount of wheels I’ve rebuilt with brass nipples after finding multiple cracked or severly corroded aluminum nipples is rather disappointing. Roval, Ibis,DT Swiss along with a handful of custom builds. Low spoke count should always be brass, in my opinion. If a customer wants a reliable wheel, use brass. There’s a reason why Enve uses brass, Mavic uses brass on Aksiums and a handful of other OEM builders use brass.

And yes, the squorx and square drive stuff is great, but they will crack in 4-5 years.

Serious question, don't take this as trolling: if a rim is going to wear out from brake use after a few years of heavy use, does it make a difference? (Obviously this doesn't apply to disc brake wheels)

[CiclistiCliff]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

Serious question, don't take this as trolling: if a rim is going to wear out from brake use after a few years of heavy use, does it make a difference? (Obviously this doesn't apply to disc brake wheels)

No, but rims last much longer than a couple years in dry climates. I have customers with well over 3 million feet of descent/30,000 miles on Fulcrum/Campy wheels and the rims are just starting to show wear that warrants replacement in the next year.

Note:Oversized aluminum nipples such as Mavic/Fulcrum/Campy are not the same as a regular nipple.


Now factor in disc brakes. They should be ‘forever wheels’ unless dented or crashed.