cyccommute 

Brass and aluminum are both incompatible with stainless steel. Brass is a little less corrosive but the difference is small. Both will corrode and seize, especially if used dry. I’ve tried to work on many wheels with corroded brass nipples. On the other hand, I have lots of wheels with aluminum spoke nipples that have never corroded even when used through many winters.

Spoke preparation and lubrication does help keep corrosion down. Lubrication isn’t there just to make the parts move freely. It’s there to serve as a electron barrier. Just sitting around won’t lead to corrosion. A vehicle to get moisture into the spoke nipple/spoke contact has to exist and a metal to metal contact has to exist. Moisture won’t wick down into the threads if a lubricant is used nor will electrons move if there is a nonpolar layer between the metals.

I wouldn’t suggest using square aluminum nipples for the reasons I’ve given above but square brass nipples are only slightly better. Corrode either because the spoke nipples have been used dry and neither one is easy to work on.

MyRedTrek

What do you suggest as a lubricant?

I have to assume since afaik all (?) spokes are stainless and brass nipples are popular they can't be too bad.

Bill Kapaun

You assume wrong.
Cheap spokes can be galvanized steel. Often noticeable on box store bikes that have been left out in the rain for a season or 2. Sometimes to the point that you have a grayish/white, almost fuzzy looking, coating.

FastJake

I've seen brass nipples get stuck and not be able to be adjusted but I've never seen them crack and turn to dust. Like the aluminum nipples on the 6 year old bike I just bought (and on plenty of other wheels). It needs a new rear hub and I tried loosening them. Most of them just disintegrated. The rest of the bike has no rust or corrosion anywhere.

It's foolish and pointless to use them on anything but a dry-weather racing bike.

32 brass nipples weigh ~30g, and aluminum weighs ~30% as much as brass. So you're saving what, 21g per wheel? To me that's well worth it when building a wheel, to know that it won't fall apart.

cyccommute 

I use Wheelsmith thread prep and lubricate with machine oil...3-in-1 works well.

In this day and age, you’d have to search far and wide to find galvanized spokes...probably fruitlessly. Even HelMart BSO’s come with mostly stainless spokes. They probably aren’t the quality of DT Swiss or other higher end manufacturers but they are stainless nevertheless. I’ve scrapped a number of BSOs that were mostly rust but the spokes were still shiny.

cyccommute 

Brass isn’t impervious to salt corrosion. The zinc in the alloy can be preferentially leached out by the salt significantly weakening the spoke. Zinc chloride absorbs water from the atmosphere at amazing levels even going so far as making solutions. In solution is it also acidic which means that it will work on the copper in the brass as well.

Yes, chloride is hard on aluminum as well but both will corrode and lose strength as well as seize over time. I’ve ridden a lot of winters on bikes with aluminum spoke nipples and have few problems. I wouldn’t use square aluminum spokes for the reasons I’ve said above, however.

But we are putting the cart before the horse. MyRedTrek hasn’t said if the bike is all weather or not.

veganbikes

My favorite wheel builder uses a drop of linseed oil on each spoke after building. I would also recommend Wheelsmith spoke prep, I know a lot of folks use it to great success, really none of my handbuilt wheels have had issues and most have been done with spoke prep. DT Swiss Pro-Lock nipples use a thread locking compound in the nipples.

rosefarts

Not to derail the brass-fest going on here but aluminum is fine.

You've got a heavy build already, it makes perfect sense to go with brass. Slightly better material etc.

But I've ridden many many bikes with aluminum nips, most of the wheels were built by a barely competent garage mechanic (me) and it's never been an issue. I don't buy most of these arguments if you occasionally clean your bike and store it indoors.

I've you live totally seaside, I could see your point (my scooter rusted in half when I lived in Bermuda). Still though, a tiny bit of care alleviates these problems.

MyRedTrek

Not sure what makes a bike "all weather" - I'm not in a seaside area, my riding is virtually all in dry weather unless I happen to get caught in the rain. I might ride in a light drizzle but that's going to be an infrequent occurrence. I'm not constantly bombing through big puddles, riding in downpours.

Gresp15C

In these parts, "all weather" is road salt.

MyRedTrek

So the thread prep first then the oil over it after it dries?

The thread prep is similar to Loctite?

cyccommute 

“All weather is kind of self explanatory. Like this bike, it can (and is) ridden. In summer and in winter. Winter is a bit harder on the equipment because Departments of Transportation insist on roadways being absolutely free of anything resembling snow pack at all times of the year.

2020-01-26 16:51:13 by Stuart Black, on Flickr



My Dad worked for the Colorado Department of Highways for about 25 years and they used to tolerate packed snow on the roads. They just put down sand with some salt in it. Now they get out an spray salt solutions when there is even a hint of snow. The salt can be hard on bikes and equipment.

What you describe is more “fair weather” cycling. Any spoke nipple choice won’t matter that much. Brass will be fine. If you want colors, you have to use aluminum. I’m not a fan of square aluminum because you are asking a lot of a soft material. Splined aluminum, however, is much better. I like having some color on my wheels and use the splined spokes in a number of builds. This one, for example, uses the same colors are the logo.

DSCN0370 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

The bike is just a gray titanium bike that is a little boring and needs all the help it can get

Untitled by Stuart Black, on Flickr

cyccommute 

I usually put the nipples in a little oil in a jar lid and fish them out as I build. That’s a bit messy but it does get oil inside and outside of the spoke nipple. Alternatively, I have also dripped oil on the nipple prior to tensioning. Make sure you wipe off the excess that gets on the rim.

MyRedTrek

Looks like it's a moot point - these DT Swiss nipples state not to use any lubricant or prep with them. I just got them today.