A customer left me with a rear wheel built around an XR331 rim.
This was one I'd built myself back in the day.
The original Stan's Ironman got crushed by spoke buckling, so
I built a replacement with generic nipples and Squorx nipple washers.
I'd already told him I'd rebuild it for free,
and since the cyclocross season had only about 2 races left,
he decided to bring it in after that wrapped up.
Jumping back in the timeline here—in the middle of swapping out nipples…
Like I thought, generic nipples have less sliding resistance
and make it easier to bring tension up.
Chain drop damage had left marks on almost all the inpokes,
but one was bent badly enough that it needed replacing, so
I swapped it out.
Some of the generic nipples I removed showed
signs of the deformation that precedes breakage—
the slot narrowing as it deforms—and
I could already spot hairline cracks forming.
This was one I'd built myself back in the day.
The original Stan's Ironman got crushed by spoke buckling, so
I built a replacement with generic nipples and Squorx nipple washers.
I'd already told him I'd rebuild it for free,
and since the cyclocross season had only about 2 races left,
he decided to bring it in after that wrapped up.
Jumping back in the timeline here—in the middle of swapping out nipples…
Like I thought, generic nipples have less sliding resistance
and make it easier to bring tension up.
Chain drop damage had left marks on almost all the inpokes,
but one was bent badly enough that it needed replacing, so
I swapped it out.
Some of the generic nipples I removed showed
signs of the deformation that precedes breakage—
the slot narrowing as it deforms—and
I could already spot hairline cracks forming.