Alloy vs brass nipples?

balkan peasant
balkan peasant Posts: 229
edited December 2007 in Workshop
My DT Swiss spokes have been delivered with alloy instead of brass nipples... is there a big difference (except weight, which I'm not massively bothered about) between the two, in terms of safety, reliability etc?

Comments

  • gundersen
    gundersen Posts: 586
    Not as far as I know(or has noticed) , but the alloy ones are a bugger to get off again
  • balkan peasant
    balkan peasant Posts: 229
    Really? How come?
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Make sure you lube the spokes and nipples well - alloy nipples are more prone to corrosion, whereas brass is naturally lubed due the lead content. A decent spoke key also means your less likely to 'round' the nipples.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • pliptrot
    pliptrot Posts: 582
    Of the 4 spoke failures I've had, 2 were in fact nipples breaking - both aluminium. Aluminium is not the best material for this application, and I wonder if the weight saving realized makes it worth using them? Still, as MD says, lubrication should negate the downside of the material.
  • pieinthesky
    pieinthesky Posts: 417
    I believe that lubricating spoke nipples encourages them to come undone and the wheel go out off true so that might not be a good idea.

    I had aluminium spoke nipples on a mountain bike a few years ago. When I came to adjust them they just crumbled or rounded off. I suspect that road salt, which eats aluminium, was the cause.

    I would never ever ever consider alumium spoke nipples again except possibly for a summer only race bike. Its not worth the trouble for the sake of a few grams per wheel
  • aracer
    aracer Posts: 1,649
    pieinthesky wrote:
    I believe that lubricating spoke nipples encourages them to come undone and the wheel go out off true so that might not be a good idea.
    You believe wrong. Provided you tension the spokes enough, that doesn't happen - I've certainly lubed all the nipples I've ever built wheels with (at least 14 wheels I can think of), and none of them has ever lost tension apart from the very first pair I built which didn't start off with enough tension. Lubing the nipples is also something Jobst Brandt (author of the wheelbuilding bible) recommends.

    I do actually use alu nipples, but the only possible advantage is less weight. If I had a more rational attitude to weight I certainly wouldn't use them at all - as has been mentioned, they are a pain if you need to retrue the wheel later (I broke several more retruing my MTB wheel after a single one broke).
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Brass all the way. There's not a person out there who lost a race or couldn't
    finish a ride because he used brass nipples. It's just something else to buy
    that doesn't do a thing except cost more and have more problems. Sure, in some
    cases lighter may be better, but this isn't one. Weight weinnies will tell you
    otherwise but that's just because they fall for the advertising. Ask them to show you
    the "science", if any, behind it.

    Dennis Noward

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