Another wheel day (and so on...).
A customer brought in a rear wheel built with a DT XR331 rim.
It's one we built here years ago
and had been used for cyclocross.
One Squorx nipple had fractured.
Back in the day, I once built several wheels using generic nipples
with PHR washers on rims like the RR411 and XR331
that technically require Squorx nipples with PHR washers.
It caused nipple fractures in such a short time
(even my own personal wheel snapped in two months)
that I had to collect all the wheels I'd built prior
and rebuild them free of charge.
But I'm surprised that this kind of fracture
is happening even with Squorx nipples that have
thick nipple bases and don't *look* like they'd get cut by PHR washers.
So when I tried to repair just this spot
by tightening with a new Squorx nipple and PHR washer...
Suddenly, a nipple at a different spot
went BANG and fractured.
At that point, I decided a half-measure wasn't going to cut it
and that a complete nipple replacement was necessary,
so I started loosening all the nipples, but
there were other nipples hanging on by a thread,
and some actually twisted off the moment I turned them.
↑These are the Squorx nipples and PHR washers
I managed to recover without breaking.
You can see the damage the washer inflicts on the nipple
from the anodize wear marks.
Actually, I'm currently using my own front wheel built on an RR411 rim
in rainbow (VAS) lace pattern—meaning with generic nipples
(→here).
That was built using a method I came up with
to build RR411 and XR331 rims with generic nipples
without fractures happening in the first place.
I decided to rebuild this wheel the same way.
The freewheel-side half-comp and all the competition inpokes
showed chain-drop marks,
so I decided to replace not just the inpokes but all spokes.
The focus isn't great, but there's one CX-RAY on the non-freewheel side
that got bent from wrapping interference.
Since it's laced (tied in), I'm replacing it
along with its final-crossing partner.
So what I'm replacing is:
all nipples, all freewheel-side spokes, and
two non-freewheel-side spokes.
Rebuilt.
I've replaced all the black competition spokes on the freewheel side.
FH-CX75 hub, 28H, black half-comp 4-cross JIS lacing,
laced (tied), with generic black aluminum nipples.
↑The two spokes on the right of the final cross
are the newly replaced CX-RAY spokes.
I'll do the lacing (tying) later.
↑The original two final-cross spokes
cut after releasing tension
A customer brought in a rear wheel built with a DT XR331 rim.
It's one we built here years ago
and had been used for cyclocross.
One Squorx nipple had fractured.
Back in the day, I once built several wheels using generic nipples
with PHR washers on rims like the RR411 and XR331
that technically require Squorx nipples with PHR washers.
It caused nipple fractures in such a short time
(even my own personal wheel snapped in two months)
that I had to collect all the wheels I'd built prior
and rebuild them free of charge.
But I'm surprised that this kind of fracture
is happening even with Squorx nipples that have
thick nipple bases and don't *look* like they'd get cut by PHR washers.
So when I tried to repair just this spot
by tightening with a new Squorx nipple and PHR washer...
Suddenly, a nipple at a different spot
went BANG and fractured.
At that point, I decided a half-measure wasn't going to cut it
and that a complete nipple replacement was necessary,
so I started loosening all the nipples, but
there were other nipples hanging on by a thread,
and some actually twisted off the moment I turned them.
↑These are the Squorx nipples and PHR washers
I managed to recover without breaking.
You can see the damage the washer inflicts on the nipple
from the anodize wear marks.
Actually, I'm currently using my own front wheel built on an RR411 rim
in rainbow (VAS) lace pattern—meaning with generic nipples
(→here).
That was built using a method I came up with
to build RR411 and XR331 rims with generic nipples
without fractures happening in the first place.
I decided to rebuild this wheel the same way.
The freewheel-side half-comp and all the competition inpokes
showed chain-drop marks,
so I decided to replace not just the inpokes but all spokes.
The focus isn't great, but there's one CX-RAY on the non-freewheel side
that got bent from wrapping interference.
Since it's laced (tied in), I'm replacing it
along with its final-crossing partner.
So what I'm replacing is:
all nipples, all freewheel-side spokes, and
two non-freewheel-side spokes.
Rebuilt.
I've replaced all the black competition spokes on the freewheel side.
FH-CX75 hub, 28H, black half-comp 4-cross JIS lacing,
laced (tied), with generic black aluminum nipples.
↑The two spokes on the right of the final cross
are the newly replaced CX-RAY spokes.
I'll do the lacing (tying) later.
↑The original two final-cross spokes
cut after releasing tension