Which spoke nipples

One very common failure in wheels is caused by incorrect spoke length. The first example of this is spokes that are too short when used in conjunction with aluminum nipples.

Figure 1 graphically shows this situation. It is critical that the spoke extend all the way through the head of the nipple. If it does not, stress concentrations a. Customers come into the shop mistakenly thinking that they have instead broken a spoke see Figures 2 and 3. There are only two lasting solutions. One is to replace all the alloy nipples with brass ones that are not similarly vulnerable. The second is to replace all the spokes with longer ones and continue to use aluminum nipples.

Both of these options are expensive and time consuming, and the causes were utterly preventable at no additional cost when the wheel was originally built. Calculating the correct spoke length is a fundamental part of wheel building. Yet, in countless instances it is not done correctly, and trusting customers are stuck with the repair bill. So there you go, Eric. Either replace those drive-side spokes and nipples, or at least replace the aluminum drive-side nipples with brass nipples.

Below is another letter I got from a reader with a similar problem that I had a back-and-forth email exchange with. I had two nipples break above the threads at the flange that sits on the rim bed. Both were the rear wheel on the non-drive side. The wheel is spoke, radially laced on the non-drive side. While not specifically labeled as being tubeless ready, the rim profile certainly appears to be road tubeless ready when using tape see image below.

I have been to two shops, the one where I purchased the bike and a local Giant branded shop. Both have told me that it was because I was running tubeless, but gave very different reasons. As a nipple is turned and tightened, the spoke threads are drawn into the nipple, which increase the pulling or tension of the spoke.

Nipples are commonly made of relatively soft materials such as brass or aluminum, both of which can be easily damaged by the wrong sized spoke wrench. There are many different sizes and even shapes of spoke nipples, and having the correct wrench is important. The common bicycle wheel uses a square-shaped nipple. The best method to determine the correct spoke wrench size is to use a caliper and measure the nipple across the wrench flats. The table below lists a variety of square shaped nipple sizes, examples where they can be found, and the appropriate Park Tool wrench.

The Park Tool SW Some patterns are proprietary, and wrenches are available only from the spoke manufacturer. The table below shows the Park Tool spoke wrenches for this style of nipple and lists some examples. Normally, nipples are aluminum or brass. Which do you prefer? Hi Arnol, The standard warranty for Non-Pro rims is 3-years.

The standard warranty for Pro rims is 5 years. We listed the details on our website so you can check them out. I will have to know the hub model number to confirm the availability considering the hub supply is rather fragile at this point. Get in touch. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions on our products or other issues. We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site, we assume that you are happy with it.

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