Originally Posted by joedab

I have a wheel that I laced up and was getting it up to tension (about 23-25 on the Park tensionometer), then checked the dish and saw that the rim could go even further toward the drive side to be centered. At that point, I decided the drive-side spokes could manage to go a bit tighter, and upon doing the rounds, tightening the first few a bit tighter, I happened upon a nipple that would twist but would not increase the spoke tension any further no matter how much I twisted the nipple. It seems clear the threads on the spoke and the inside of the nipple are stripped or rounded and giving as soon as a certain tension is reached. I am wondering if anyone has had this very disturbing issue since most of what I hear of as a stripped nipple refers to the outer flats which usually give before the threads. Please correct me if I'm wrong and any similar accounts/theory. I was using DT double-butted 14/15 gauge spokes with matching nipples.