Originally Posted by
FastJake
Now that you have a set of new wheels my recommendation would be to replace all the nipples now with brass ones, before they get corroded and cause you problems. I'm assuming these are machine built wheels? If you take your time and do it right (prep the threads with grease or spoke prep, properly tension, stress relieve, etc) you can have a wheelset that's "better than new" and won't give you problems later on. That's what I'd do anyway, but you have to know wheelbuilding or at least wheel truing to do it.
From a cost standpoint the cost of new brass nipples should be nearly irrelevant since you already have the spokes.
The wheel set is advertised as hand built. I have built a set of wheels and trued a bunch of others. That's not really the issue. Since the weather around here is finally decent for riding, that's what I want to do for now. I'm willing to treat the nipples for more longevity but don't feel like rebuilding them at this time.
FWIW, when I first learned the nipples were of AL, I was in disbelief. I thought, "why would they do that?" I've done plumbing and I play a brass instrument (which surprisingly, is almost the same thing). I know brass as a fairly corrosion resistant material. Apparently they used AL to save weight. I don't know how much weight is saved by using AL over brass, but I'd prefer to deal with the weight penalty as opposed to having the nipples disintegrate prematurely.