Bicycle Mechanics - Brass nipples or Alloy on 32h Open Pro 180lb rider

I have a pair of record open pro 32h, both 3x... but the rims are warn so wil be rebuilding with new open pros....

While I'm at it is it worth going to alloy nipples in front and/or rear on non-drive side (rear)?

I love the open pros for durability, would I be greatly reducing this with the lighter weight alloy nipples? I know the weight savings is small- but it's rotational weight is great since it's so far from the hub....

the only good reason ive personally seen to go with steel instead of alloy is if you cant tension the wheel right with alloy ones.

the only good reason ive personally seen to go with steel instead of alloy is if you cant tension the wheel right with alloy ones.

Actually, it's brass vs. aluminum.

If you want reliability, don't use aluminum nipples. The wheel will build up fine if you use proper lubrication and a good spoke wrench, but through the years, the nipples will corrode and seize onto the spokes. If you then need to true the wheel, you will not be able to and it's time for a rebuild with new nipples and possibly spokes. Ask me how I know. :rolleyes:

The rotational weight saving advantage is really overblown to ridiculous proportions for non-racers.

thanks- they are my training wheels so i gues the durability is truly the issue.... especially since i live near the ocean and things corroding is a serious issue- Nokon cables look great here for about 2 weeks!

brass all the way. alu nipples start randomly breaking after a year or so.

Most high end wheels use aluminum alloy nipples, that's all I've used for many years with no trouble at all. I use DT Swiss aluminum nipples, no corrosion problems, that's old wives tales. Use whichever you wish, but use a good nipple wrench that grips the nipple on all sides. I use Spokey nipple wrenches, the red colored wrench is best for DT Swiss nipples.
Most nipple failures are due to a poor fitting spoke wrench.

Al

I've found that front wheels with regular spoke counts are fine with alloy nipples. I'd go down to 28H box rims with alloys. The front wheel has less tension so it's easier to deal with alloy.

In the rear I'd use alloy on the non drive side due to lack of tension.

On drive side I'd use brass. You end up loading that side with lots of tension and brass is easier to turn at high tension.

If I were building a wheel, I'd use alloy/brass in that pattern just because I could. It's sort of a finishing touch, a signature that says "this is my wheel". If you really want to get fancy you can use all different color spoke nipples but that's getting excessive. Not that I don't have about 5 or 6 different color alloy spoke nipples exactly for that reason, but I digress...

It's your wheel. I'd use alloy (as described above) just for kicks if nothing else. I did that on a couple training wheels I built - heavy box section rims, one set had cheap something (Veloce?) hubs, the other had nicer ones (Centaur? alloy axle spacers), neither are weight weenie champs but I still used alloy because I had it in my wheel building bin.

cdr

I've seen quite a few wheels with seized aluminum nipples and one wheel where the aluminum nipples started to pop the heads off (wheel was several years old though). I use brass.

One wheel set that I built for a customer (who asked for high performance wheels) with alloy nipples ended up being used on a commuter bike. Road salt on the nipples during the wheelsets first winter ended that in a hurry. Rebuilt the set with brass nipples and the rider now has approximately 16,000 miles on the set.

DT Swiss brass is the only way to go in my book. Yes, there is a marginal weight benefit when using alloy nipples but brass is so much more reliable over the long haul. If I were building a trick racing wheelset that I could afford to tweak whenever I needed to I'd use alloys but otherwise gimme brass.

If you really want to get fancy you can use all different color spoke nipples but that's getting excessive. Not that I don't have about 5 or 6 different color alloy spoke nipples exactly for that reason, but I digress...


Got any pics of this? Sounds like it could be fun. I'm planning on building up a pair of OpenProCD 36 hole rims in the near future.

Brass is what you want. Can't imagine any situation where I'd want to save the extra 10 grams.