A customer left me their XR331 rim rear wheel for service.
This is something I built back in the day.
The Stan's Ironman nipples had cracked and collapsed, so
I built it with a replacement setup,
but since I used Squorx nipple washers plus generic nipples
I'd promised to rebuild it for free.
The cyclocross season still had about 2 races left,
so they said they'd bring it in after the season ended, and that's when I got it.
Going back in the timeline a bit—here's the nipple replacement in progress...
As expected, generic nipples have less friction during threading
and make it easier to dial in tension.
From chain drops, most of the spokes had scratches,
and one spoke was so badly bent it needed replacing, so
I replaced it.
Several of the generic nipples I removed
already showed deformation that's a precursor to fracture—
"the slot width narrowing" had already begun,
and I could even spot faint cracks.
This is something I built back in the day.
The Stan's Ironman nipples had cracked and collapsed, so
I built it with a replacement setup,
but since I used Squorx nipple washers plus generic nipples
I'd promised to rebuild it for free.
The cyclocross season still had about 2 races left,
so they said they'd bring it in after the season ended, and that's when I got it.
Going back in the timeline a bit—here's the nipple replacement in progress...
As expected, generic nipples have less friction during threading
and make it easier to dial in tension.
From chain drops, most of the spokes had scratches,
and one spoke was so badly bent it needed replacing, so
I replaced it.
Several of the generic nipples I removed
already showed deformation that's a precursor to fracture—
"the slot width narrowing" had already begun,
and I could even spot faint cracks.