The mysterious broken spoke....

[mikesnowdon]

Riding along as you do and can hear a odd ticking noise from back wheel. Stop to have a look as you do and find a spoke hanging loose with half an alloy nipple on the end of it. The head of the nipple broke clean off!! No idea how it happened. Are alloy nipples bad or is this just a fluke occurence?

 

[Andy B]

Alloy nipples are not very good in use, they are weak, can seize and will round off easily, ok they may look nice and may weigh 0.000325267g less but I will never use them on a wheel build

Brass nipples every time for me

 

[mikesnowdon]

Why Brass over stainless steel?

I did buy my alloy nipples from the cheapest source I could find on ebay, lol! Perhaps its a quiality issue?

 

[cannondale king]

alloy nipples are ok if built properly they will stay true and not seize but the fatuige life is a lot lower than nickle coated brass

stainless nipples just wouldn't work mate they use brass as its self lubricating

 

[legrandefromage]

alloy nipples are ok if built properly they will stay true and not seize but the fatuige life is a lot lower than nickle coated brass

stainless nipples just wouldn't work mate they use brass as its self lubricating

what he said and just about every new bike has alu anyway.

 

[Tad]

Cheap, light, strong. Pick any two.

 

[Scarfacexxx08]

I use Middleburn alloy nipples and aslong as you grease them well they should be fine. I've not had any issues

 

[REKIBorter]

Brass takes a thread better than any other alternative material.

 

[voodoorider]

I'm not a big fan of alloy for longevity, once one goes it seems that every time I would ride one or two more would go, end upo just getting a rebuild with brass to avoid the pain of broken nipps on the trail...