Used spokes?
 

I'm new here..nice forum!

Would you keep these spokes for future builds?

1. ~10 years ago, I had this wheel built for me - I've ridden every mile of usage
2. The wheel suffered a rim failure - it cracked at a nipple eyelet w/o trauma.
3. It has been 20K miles w/o breaking a spoke.

Do I save these SS spokes/brass nipples? The high mileage worries me. Any experienced advice appreciated. It's only ~$40, but it would be a shame to waste them.

Like I said, nice forum! :)

I'd keep them. I just went through my first wheel build 2 weeks ago, and had no problem doing the build and truing. It's a good learning experience, and if you have any need for a tutorial, Sheldon Brown's website has an excellent "how-to" on wheel building. It's easier than his site shows if your just replacing the rim and keeping the spokes and hub. You just take out one spoke and align the old and new rims together, and start transferring spokes. The basic process is to get the first spoke and the rim aligned exactly, any spoke (hold the rims together aligning the valve-hole in the same place alongside the old). Then look at the spoke pattern as it comes off the old rim. Do all the inside spokes on one side, then the outside spokes on that side. Then go to the other side and do the same, paying attention to which spoke overlaps which other spokes. Mine was a 36-spoke rim and it took me about two hours, with truing for the first wheel, an hour for the second. A lot easier than I thought. The truing takes most of the time.

It'll save you some bucks, also. Example, I didn't like my anodized rim which was wearing through from brake-pad rub into the aluminum beneath, so I took it to my local bike shop. They wouldn't rebuild the wheel without using THEIR new spokes ($2 apiece), and THEIR new nipples (.50 apiece), and THEIR new rim strip ($8), and THEIR new tubes ($7), so adding all that to the cost of the $40 rims, out the door price with labor was just under $200 a wheel. Heck, I paid $60 for my whole bike, and I need to spend $400 to have shiny metal instead of anodized? Nah. I found a super cheap donor bike with the size rims I needed, transferred everything over in maybe 3 hours total, for the $30 donor bike cost.

Good luck with it.

Truthfully, they're probably fine. For stuff like that, my biggest thing is if I'm going to worry about it or not. Even if I "know" it's safe, if it's entering my head as I ride it's worth the $40 to have peace of mind. I try to use that theory on bike and truck parts. There's nothing worse than being on a trail and constantly feeling like you should stop and check something beyond the normal checks "just in case".

If you build yourself, go ahead and reuse them, since there's little to lose. OTOH it's probably false economy to reuse them if you're paying $30 or more for labor.

If you do decide to reuse them, keep track of elbow in and elbow out spokes. The elbow takes a setat an angle other than original. Elbow out spokes are bent more and elbow in spokes are opened out slightly. You want to use them maintaining rather than changing the set.

I'm rebuilding a rear wheel and even though the spokes look good, I decided on new ones. I don't know how old they are and what they've had to take over the years. The rim is dented too, so there was some trauma to the wheel. The bike is a 1990 Trek, and I bought it on eBay last year.

I'll "reconstruct" wheels for my CL flippers.
I'd probably use new spokes & nipples and stick the used spokes in the "used spoke" pile.
There's a chance they might be used to replace some old UPC spokes.

I wouldn't reuse a nipple unless they removed EASILY.
I'd rather deal with consistent, new threads and "flat" flats.

I am always reusing old spokes and I'm a 350 pound rider that rarely ever beaks a spoke and if I do its at the head from too loose tension. So yes,I reuse spokes all the time with no problem provided they look good and no damage.

I always try to use newer nipples, I don't like reusing nipples unless they look nearly perfect.

Sure.

Remove tension in all the spokes, tape a new rim with the same ERD and handedness to the old in 3 places, lubricate the nipple sockets with anti-seize using an acid brush with half the bristle length chopped off, and move nipples one at a time with a few (consistent) threads of engagement taking the opportunity to lubricate spoke threads and replace any damaged nipples.

With every spoke moved detach the old rim, tension, and true normally.

Quality spokes which have been properly stress relieved can go at least 300,000 miles.

15 unnecessary replacements at $40 each = $600.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjdKJgh3d9Y

Yes it's okay to re-use spokes under certain conditions.


2. Use new nipples, lube the spoke threads.

3. Stress relieve the new wheels:

- Grab parallel spokes on both sides simultaneously.
- Very hard squeeze - even with gloves you should go "ow".
- Two rotations.

If wheel stays true and dished - you're done.


Like as Drew Eckhardt indicated spokes can last a very very long time. My Tommasini's 15g DT Swiss spokes from the 70s are on their fourth set of wheels and likely have in excess of 100,000 miles on 'em.


Have fun!

=8-)

I think there's a lot of wisdom in knowing what to keep and what to discard. Used spokes for a "future build" would definitely fall into my discard range. You've only got a few millimeters of spoke length tolerance so there's no guarantee they'll work for your next wheel build. Then there's all that "heads in - heads out" stuff to keep track of.

+1 on "toss them." I only used old spokes for "learning" rebuilds many years ago. Not worth the chance that they are ready to fail. Just my opinion.

I pretty much agree with Drew. I edited his comment for what I do: regular bike grease (not antiseize) applied to the spoke holes in the rim, I like using a spoke with a nipple threaded on backwards. And while I'd not hesitate to re-use the spokes, I would take the opportunity to replace the nipples with new ones. But that's based on our rather corrosive seacoast environment. Maybe I'd reuse brass nipples; I would never, ever re-use aluminum nipples.

I appreciate the feedback. 300K miles is impressive, so 20K is not an issue at all. I don't know if the length will be what I need for future builds, but I'll keep them - you never know. (I'll be building on the same Deore XT hub) The nipples look OK, but the consensus it to discard them.

Thanks, again.

I've never had a spoke fail from being re-used. The most common cause of spokes breaking is excess flexture due to insufficient tension.