brass nipples

Burnsey#23
Burnsey#23 Posts: 29
edited September 2013 in Workshop
I currently have alloy nipples on Pillar PSR Aero1432 spokes but have had 2 fail (sheered off at top) in as many weeks.

So i am considering (have heard they are stronger) replacing all nipples with brass ones.

2 questions really
is it possible to buy brass nipples for these spokes, if so where?
is this a job a local bike store could undertake or is the best done by professional wheelbuilder?

Thanks

Comments

  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    Replacing the nipples is not difficult and you can buy them in bags... , retruing the wheel might be easy or difficult depending on the wheel... some shops are handy with wheels, other shops are best avoided...
    left the forum March 2023
  • Burnsey#23
    Burnsey#23 Posts: 29
    Cheers Ugo...would a wheel builder have Black brass nipples in stock as a matter of course or should i be buying them in.
    Also Ugo what sort of price would i be looking at for the job, front wheel 20 spokes, rear 24, its a 25mm wide, 50mm Carbon Deep section?
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    Burnsey#23 wrote:
    Cheers Ugo...would a wheel builder have Black brass nipples in stock as a matter of course or should i be buying them in.
    Also Ugo what sort of price would i be looking at for the job, front wheel 20 spokes, rear 24, its a 25mm wide, 50mm Carbon Deep section?

    Possibly... they can be bought, but they are rarely used as they tend to discolou upon turning them on some rims... they are OK on carbon rims, as carbon is soft.
    As a job it is time consuming, tensions need to be released, each nipple needs to be dag out and an ew inserted, then retensioning and truing, likely to take longer than building the wheels from scratch, so I would expect 40-50 pounds to be a reasonable fee

    This is an example of the job you have in mind

    http://paolocoppo.drupalgardens.com/con ... rt-rebuild
    left the forum March 2023
  • Burnsey#23
    Burnsey#23 Posts: 29
    Ok cheers for the info Ugo, once again a full and comprehensive answer on anything wheel related.

    Now to find a decent wheelbuilder locally....
  • racingcondor
    racingcondor Posts: 1,434
    Assuming they're breaking where you would expect them to (drive side rear) then you could just replace those nipples (and save weight on what I'm assuming is a nice light set of Hong Fu generic carbon wheels). Brass nipples are stronger and much easier to build with but Alu should work in most cases.

    It wouldn't surprise me if you have very high drive side tensions which are pulling them apart (with Bitex hubs it's almost a requirement because of the poor flange spacing).

    If they're breaking anywhere else I'd get the wheels built again anyway to be honest.

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