wait, can you use aluminum nipples on non-eyletted rims?

yes that is the only situation I would recommend using them in

why only use Al nipples in non-eylet rims?

i used Al nipples with some open pros...lol...it was my first wheel build. i trued them up after maybe 2000 miles and no problems.

oops read that as eyeleted strike that reverse it

So, where can one get the best deal on Open Pro's?

I have no experience with open pro's but I have a set of wheels made with the Areohead rims and they have performed flawlessly for me. Now I'm talking 10 speed road bike here. So far I have over 3000 miles on them and except for a small truing after about 200 miles they haven't been touched. Also I am 210 lbs and a masher. I have a pretty strong build on them with 32 spokes in the rear and 28 in the front. They are pretty light at just under 1600 grams built with Sapim CX-Ray spokes.

Eyelets are easier to build with; you can't drop a nipple into the rim like you can with velocity wheels. So I'd go with OP's or a cheaper alternative for a single speed wheelset. Other than that you won't notice a difference. I have aeroheads on my road bike because I like what the off center rear rim does for spoke tension, but spent atleast 10 or 15 minutes shaking nipples out of the rim.

I had this problem at first with the wheels I just built, but I started threading the nipples backwards onto the end of another spoke and using that to position it before threading the nipple onto the spoke that was actually laced through the hub. I don't want to try to take credit for this idea though; I think I read about doing it in a post by Retem.

heh, try building a rim that needs washers between the rim and the nipples and also having to thread the nipple on the end of an extra spoke...it was a pain in the ass. i used a pocket magnet to hold the washer on the nipple while i stuck it in the rim