ezman

Another stupid question I guess. From my question about rims the subject of eyeletted rims came up. I can guess what they are but what is the difference from rim that have them and those that don't. Or what difference does it make. TIA

Avalanche325

Eylets make it harder for the spoke nipples to pull through the rim.

fsor

Some people claim that the eyeletted rims do not show as much cracking over time. If you do not wear out the brake surface or taco the rim, the spoke hole crack is a common failure. I do not have a lot of experience, but live in an area where corrosion is a problem.....eylets make truing or tensioning the spokes musch easier in these circumstances. Non-eyeletted rims always seem to seize the spoke nipple...that may not be important if you keep things clean...I don't know...I prefer eyelets

berny

While we're on the subject of eyelets, can they be replaced easily and how would it be done?

rvdv

There is a lot of tension on the spokes, therefore, a lot of pressure on the holes in the hub and rim, I have just replaced my rims because of very small stress cracks around the holes of the rim, these were non-eylet rims. The purpose of eyeleted rims is to spread this load over a larger areo to put less stress on the rims.

KinetikBiker

eyelets make rims stronger becuase the holes where the spokes go have more support...kind of like a comfy insole in some old worn out shoes...

phantomcow2

eyeletted rims are a plus, but not a must. Ive seen some pretty nice non eyeletted rims. If your worried about corrosion and all put a very light film of grease under the "lip" of the spoke (where hte spoke would contact the eyelet if it was there)

Retro Grouch 

This is another of those areas where you hear a lot of eyelets vs. non-eyelets discussions as if that's the only difference in the rims. I think that you have to consider the whole rim design.

In the most basic consideration, eyelets serve two purposes. They reinforce the spoke hole and they make the rim easier to tension and true. A few high end rims even have double eyelets in which a second eyelet attaches to the inner wall of the rim so that the spoke tension also pulls against that inner wall. Eyelets allow the rim designer to use thinner rim extrusions while still maintaining adequate strength.

Now consider what happens when you design an aero section rim. With the spokes pulling at the narrow apex there's no room for eyelets to spread the load. Solutions are to beef up the spoke bed with more material or the Shimano solution of making the spokes pull through the rim's sidewalls.

froze

It's true that an eyelet rim is not a must but if you want the rim to last longer and be stronger then get a double-not a single-eyeletted rim, the single has no real advantage over a non eyeletted rim. But if your a weight wiennie then eyelets add a few grams to the rim.

The following info is a letter from Jobst Brandt concerning eyelet rims:

"While using rims with eyelets, the weight advantage is lost again.

>> Let's not confuse eyelets and sockets. Double walled sockets enable
>> the use of thinner walled hollow section rims. Sockets with eyelets
>> have more purpose than to add weight. A socketed rim can generally
>> not be used without the steel inserts. That is to say, eyelets in
>> the outer wall will not bear the load for any length of time.

> Please explain 'socket' to me. What I know is e.g. the Mavic 'X 138
> N', 'X 138 S' or 'T 217'. The 'X 138 N' has no eyelets (440 g), the
> 'X 138 S' is the same one with single/simple eyelets (10 g extra)
> and the 'T 217' is a different type with 'double eyelets'. I suppose
> that double eyeletted hollow section rims could have thinner walls -
> which models are around with comparable strength & side wall
> thickness, one eyeletted, the other one plain? Are there e.g. any
> comparable models on https://www.rigida.com/anglais/mtb.asp?

Rigida shows only a couple of socketed rims in that section but the
URL seems to be: https://www.rigida.com/anglais/ with the "mtb.asp"
ending on it, it gives an error.

Terminology is especially imprecise in the bicycle industry where fork
offset is often called rake, rake is called head angle, tire casings
are carcasses among a raft of other misnomers.

Rims have eyelets the same as eyelets on shoes or clothing. Rims can
also have sockets that bridge inner and outer walls of a hollow rim
and are held in place by eyelets. Fiamme made sockets whose narrow
ends were formed to effect eyelets, thus avoiding an additional part.
Eyelets are generally used to prevent galling of the aluminum rim when
highly loaded nipples are turned, regardless of their material.

Those who are preoccupied with weight can take lubrication measures to
avoid friction problems to a degree, but for general use, steel
eyelets for nipple bearing is preferred. Eyelets are also not used
for cost reasons ans such low cost wheels are often not highly
tensioned.

Nessism

As the others have stated, eyelets do the following: make nipple easier to turn due to less friction, reinforce the spoke hole, reduce the tendance for the nipple to stick to the rim over time - a particular problem when using aluminum nipples as well.

Keep in mind though that not all rims with eyelets are better than non-eyelet rims. For example, Mavic MA3's w/eyelets have a worse reputation for spoke hole cracks than the Velocity Aerohead that does not.

Ed

phantomcow2

Some beefy rims too like the Velocity Deep V do not have eyelets. As Retro grouch stated, these rims have beefed up spoke bed areas and these are strong as hell rims.

Hoppy

I'm running a set of ($200) non-eyeletted wheels on my road bike now. I am doing an ongoing 'test' to see how they perform/ endure. I am not a really heavy rider, so I think they'll be fine in the long run,
but I'm curious to compare their performance/ durability with eyeletted wheels that I've
ridden in the past.

I had one non-eyeletted rear wheel fail in a mountain bike race some years ago- I still
rode to the finish (no problem) but I noticed a definite springiness/ collapse on a downhill section in a
xc race when the rim split apart noticeably due to spoke tension(?) It was a high-end handbuilt wheel.

jaketd36

Anyone here able to answer this blokes question? id love to know the answer as well. Just baught a set of mavic ma2 rims and 1/2 of the eyelets are rusted. Im contemplating whether I should use some rust converter and fine sand paper or whether i can replace the whole eyelet?

Cheers

FBinNY 

Eyelets are neither better nor worse, they're simply a design option when rims are engineered.

What they do is spread the nipple load allowing the use of a thinner rim section, and in the case of double eyelets transfer some of the rim stress to the upper wall.

It's easy enough to make good rims without eyelets, simply by beefing up the area where nipples go, and in the case of pointed aero profiles, eyelets simply aren't practical.

A prior poster offered another benefit, and that's corrosion. Rims are drilled after anodizing, so the sides of the drilled spoke holes are unprotected from corrosion. Add to that water and salt wicking into the gap between the nipple and rim, and the water evaporating and leaving the salt. As the aluminum corrodes it expands shrinking the hole and binding the nipple. As the process continues stress is induced because the hole is shrinking. I had a rim on a bike in Cozumel split nipple to nipple because of this, but that's probably an extreme example.

Those using non-eyeleted rims in tough environments can protect the holes by spraying something like LPS-3 at every hole after building, and spinning it in. Or you can dissolve grease in OMS, and make your own version.

BTW - in the early days of aluminum rims, special washers were used to trap a leather pad or grommet under the nipple. These spread the load and worked very well. What killed them off was the added labor of making the leather sandwich as each nipple was attached. My oldest surviving wheel is of this design, and held up very well despite being very light, using relatively weak (by today's standards) alloy, and very light spokes.

FBinNY 

Yes, you could re-eyelet a rim if you had an eyelet or grommet press (like they use to put grommets in tarps), and the right replacement grommets. However, I can't see hat it's worth the effort.

fishnstuff

I too am looking to replace eyelets in my rims - I have one completely corroded and an adjacent one appears to be on its way out (the 'bottom' of the eyelet is coming away from the rim towards the hub down the nipple). I have '87 Mavic Titan rims that are stock on my Trek Elance 400D. I don't think its a coincidence that the failed eyelets are either side of the butt joint on the rims - pretty sure its galvanic corrosion due to some joining material in the joint (are they welded or soldered together somehow? I've no idea). I've read of people using washers but am very surprised no one on these forums has successfully replaced an eyelet. It should be a pretty straightforward piece of work once the hardware and tools are found. Aren't there any wheel builders out there who can suggest/advice?

I intend to measure my eyelets dimensions and visit some craft and hardware stores this weekend to educate myself on eyelets and try to source a piece. I'm not buying new rims just to replace a corroded eyelet if I can avoid it!

FBinNY 

It's a 30 year old rim, and replacing the eyelets means a partial rebuild, suing your 30 year old spokes which may be corroded at the nipples.

You're not by any chance the guy who designed those $800 toilet seats for the Air Force, are you?

fishnstuff

Ha! I wish - wouldn't mind an $800 toilet seat myself ('specially if it weren't my money).

I'm not sure I fully understand you though, FBinNY. To replace the eyelet just requires me to drop an eyelet in the spoke hole, drop the nipple in the eyelet and screw the spoke back into the nipple. I'm more concerned about finding a correctly sized eyelet for my rim and then riveting that eyelet into place - it'll probably require some clever tooling.

FBinNY 

Didn't say it couldn't be done, just that given what you have it could cost more in time and effort than it's worth. But it's your call.

fishnstuff

I'll see how it goes and maybe try to post some pictures next week. Thanks for replying!

fishnstuff

Picked up an M4 stainless washer which works just fine. 0.19c and a wheel true later and I'm back on the road. Cheaper than a $250 wheel replacement, we'll see how long before the next eyelet goes...