Mangled Nipple...elegant solution?
 

I have managed to get a nipple so mangled that the spoke wrench has no grab. Of course I have to adjust this one to get the vertical true close. Any suggestions other than vice grips?

thanks

Botox

Can you get at the back of the nipple from inside the rim? There should be a slot there that will allow you to replace it.

If you can't get to the back side, pliers can give you the grab to get the nipple off. Or, if that fails you can cut the spoke and replace spoke and nipple.

Sorry, but this has to be said.

Tell the wife "No biting". If she continues to bite, STOP THE LESSON, and pour your self a tall, refreshing glass of Mug Root Beer.

Oh...spoke nipples....my bad. A small pair of vice grips works for me - until I can replace the spoke and nipple.

Replace it.

First of all, you need to replace it, you'll never get a good adjustment in its current condition and if you do it'll just be a hassle again next time. :)

Try to unscrew it from the back with a screwdriver. Failing that, use pliers/vice/grips, whatever is needed to loosen it off. Failing that, cut the spoke in the middle with bolt-cutters or heavy duty wire cutter, and replace the spoke.

Replacing the spoke and nipple may seem like a hassle, but if it keeps your wheel in true it'll significantly prolong its life and head-off future maintenance. (I'm speaking from experience, having done a half-ass job of truing a wheel one too many times, then having the spokes start breaking and the rim crack...)

I rounded off a few nipples before I switched to Spokey wrenches. The red one fits snuggly on DT alloy nipples and won't round them off.

Al

A flathead screwdriver should work fine, if it fails do not cut the spoke out. This could cause the rim to be bent, the truing process to be much more difficult. You would most likely force the spoke you replaced to be overly tensioned making it hard to create a true, hop-less wheel. Down the road nipples heads could possibly pop off and spokes would break.

Say what?

How would cutting the spoke out have a different effect from simply loosening the nipple via a wrench or screwdriver? Both have the same effect of de-tensioning that single spoke. Granted, if you cut it, it de-tensions very rapidly, though nothing to worry about on a 32/36H wheel I feel. Certainly better than having that same spoke break out on the road.

In any case, if the choice is to cut out and replace a single spoke, or to leave an unadjustable nipple in place, that's a no-brainer!

I've encountered nipples without the handy slot on the back, pain in the ass. Thankfully seems to be the cheapy steel wheeled bikes that have this.

I have a set of Performance branded spoke wrenches and I've never been very satisfied with their fit, never feels very snug. Similar wrenches have felt the same too, doesn't feel like any precision to it, just loose feeling, easy to round off a nipple if you aren't careful

A tool you should not skimp on is a good spoke wrench as lesser wrenches just ruin nipples...our shop had oodles of cheap spoke wrenches kicking around and I tossed them all in the metal recycling bin.

If the nipple is rounded off it has to be replaced and of you can't unscrew it then you will have to cut the spoke and replace that too.

That's a story that I've heard before but have never witnessed myself and I've cut lots of spokes. I've cut whole wheels of spokes without de-tensioning the spokes first and I've never seen any problems with either the rim or hub.

Have you ever seen this happen yourself or you simply repeating a caution that you've heard from others?

+1, I too have cut out a couple of spokes with stripped nipples and glad I did it, it was so much easier to true with a new spoke and nipple.