Rebuilding wheel - can I go 12mm to 14mm nipple?

[LittleSkink]

I have just unbuilt a NOS front wheel so I can swap the hub to a rear - amazingly (thankfully) the spoke length is the same for both hubs but a couple of nipples actually broke during pull down

What came off where 12mm nipples and, if I have to buy new nipples I would like to go up to 14mm for a bit more security/resilience - is that 'simple as' or would the spoke threads be too short?

 

[cce]

it depends on the nipples to a certain extent

DT nipples have more threads in the longer ones like this

but others may not.

 

[LittleSkink]

excellent thanks cce, but maybe I need to ask a different question

The old spokes (which I plan to reuse) were flush with the nipple on the rim side - ie right hand spoke in your diagram and would end up like that again once rebuilt

So will a 14mm nipple still fully tighten if a 12mm was used before? I guess the question is what happens once the threaded part of the spoke is fully inside nipple, my guess is it stops as the thread is rolled in to the spoke

UPDATE - okay I went and checked, the spokes have c8mm of thread and will only pass through the nipples c1mm before binding. If I want 14mm nipples then guessing the spoke threads will need to be made longer - Darn!. So if I go through all that (14 or even 16mm nipples if I am already rolling) will it really make the wheel any stronger. . . ?

 

[JoeG]

will it really make the wheel any stronger. . . ?

No.

 

[LittleSkink]

will it really make the wheel any stronger. . . ?

No.

my conclusion too, if brass nipples were used I dont think I can remember seeing nipple failure in a wheel.

The NOS wheel I stripped was running alloy nipples and really high tension, figure it was stiction that contributed to failure when I started to undo them, as 3 just twisted in half

fwiw this is for an off road Tandem but we run without luggage or any extra weight, all up with crew is about 130kg. The rim is an Alex FR30, the hub is 36h Shimano M525 and the spokes Sapim 2mm plain, ordered a bunch of Sapim 12mm brass hex head nipples from Ryans Wheels

 

[cce]

with the DT nipples above, the shorter nipple actually gains a strength benefit from the spoke being threaded deeper into it.