Nipple replacement question
 

Hi
I am a home bike mechanic and i have build a few wheels already.
I have a perfectly good wheel-set i want to replace the nipples on for aesthetic reasons - the wheel is almost brand new.
i have a wheel building stand with dial gauges, a digital tension gauge, a good spoke spanner and a nipple driver.

my question is if i want to replace the nipples, should I:

1. measure the tension of a spoke using the digital spoke tension gauge, take out the old nipple and re-tighten the new nipple to that tension and repeat for the whole wheel.
2. measure the tension on the spokes by strumming the spoke using an frequency counter on my phone, and re-tighten the new nipple to that tension, or
3. un-tension all spokes, then replace each nipple and basically rebuild the wheel to the required tension.
4. forget it, it is a waste of time and you will only f**k it up

Method 4 is no fun, methods 1 or 2 seem conceptually easier, but will method 3, provider a better wheel?

I am interested in what experienced wheel builders say on this?

If it’s true, round, and uniformly tensioned before you start then if it’s true after each nipple is replaced then you should be good to go. Watch out for spoke twist.

3.

If your wheel is true and evenly tensioned, then yeah it's good to go - but if you don't start from a state of zero tension and then layer it on, the chances of buggering something up is pretty high and will be frustrating.

I agree with DiabloScott. There are too many variables in wheel building for you to detension and replace spokes nipples one at a time. Best to detension the whole wheel, replace the spoke nipples, and then retension the whole wheel.

I too would go with approach #3. Aside for your current objective, I use this approach anytime I'm working on a wheel that is seriously outta-whack. Better results in less time.

Dean

Is 5 a 3 with buggering it all up? That...
Make sure to detention the spokes evenly, I'd go 1/2 to 1 turn at a time, once they have no or little tension left, start changing out for the vanity nipples.

I'd stick with #4. You'll only see the nipples when you're not riding.

If you need or want to replace the nipples anyway, I'd start with #1 and plan on proceeding to #3. It's easier to finish truing a wheel that's close to "done" and checking individual spoke's tension, one at a time, will get you nearly there.

There’s no need to detention evenly. Layering tension when adding tension is needed to avoid various problems. However just releasing tension isn’t going to cause any issues with later retensioning.

Thank you, the whole shop got a chuckle there.

Okay. But I don’t get the joke. Why would you need to detention in layers? The wheel won’t care because you are going to tension in layers after the spoke nipples are exchanged.

I'd back off the tension, replace the nipples, tighten till the threads disappear and true and tighten from there, working to minimize spoke tension differences. In other words, exactly like I was building from scratch.