Another day of wheels (and so on).
I received a Tni 38mm carbon rim wheel for rebuilding.
It's not the Nomu Lab Wheel No. 2 (though the materials are pretty much the same).
The reason for the rebuild is converting to 11-speed.
The hub will be a Rolf hub.
The current lacing pattern is full CX-RAY 4-cross,
but I'm changing it to half-comp 4-cross.
About the sprockets,
I had some cleaning to do today, so
I washed these while I was at it.
As for spokes, I'm changing the freewheel side to Competition spokes.
The non-freewheel side will be 6 spokes, so the original spokes aren't long enough—
not a single one can be reused.
So I loosened the spoke tension completely before cutting them.
Loosen about three-quarters of the 24 spokes fully and you can release the tension
without even touching the rest.
Looking back at this image later, I realize
6 to 7 out of the 24 spokes weren't loosened at all.
The problem with that is the nipples were installed backwards.
Since they're all wrong, it doesn't seem to be a matter of probability.
These are internal nipples from a manufacturer called Piller.
If you search for "Piller Internal Nipple"
you'll find them right away.
Since I only received the rear wheel, I don't know if there's a matching front wheel,
but if there is one, it's probably wrong too.
On a side note, the stock ENVE nipples have had two spec changes since the EDGE era,
and we're now on the third generation.
This nipple is the same as the second generation one.
↑This is the first generation nipple. Early EDGE corresponds to this one.
The side that contacts the rim (inner edge) begins with threads immediately.
Also, the inner edge has a rounded end face with a gentle arc.
The outer edge has an embedded plastic donut that acts as a loosening preventative.
↑This is the second generation. From late EDGE through early ENVE, this is the one.
The end face with the arc is the inner side, but the arc became slightly gentler.
It works fine for building, but it affects how the build feels.
The hole on the inner side has a taper and threads don't begin immediately.
So some people install this nipple backwards thinking
"putting the outer side (threads immediately) on the inner side ensures better contact with spoke threads,"
but this is a big mistake (more on that below).
↑This is the third generation. Current ENVE uses this one.
The design is optimized for inverted-nipple internal setups, so no one would get the direction wrong with this.
↑ENVE second generation Piller nipple and CX-RAY.
The thread length on spokes is pretty much the same regardless of manufacturer.
In this case, the thread is slightly shorter than the total nipple length.
I'll tighten it in the correct direction until flush.
Looking at the inner side in this state, you can see the gap where the taper is.
I tightened it until the threads bottomed out.
It won't go any further.
Next, I tried tightening with the nipple reversed.
↑It barely protrudes from flush, but it won't turn any further.
Turning it more could cause spoke breakage,
and using it like this is also problematic. Looking back slightly,
if you check those nipples from the 24 that weren't loosened at all,
it shows that before the rebuild, all 24 were in roughly this condition.
Though this is separate from today's issue, in EDGE and ENVE wheels with second-gen nipples
installed backwards, there are so many of them.
I borrowed this from ENVE's homepage.
It's the instruction for nipple orientation.
↑Illustrated, it looks like this.
Installing the nipple backwards means there's almost no additional tightening range
beyond flush. With the inverted nipple, threads engage immediately,
so there's no concern about shallow spoke engagement.
But if you get the spoke length right, you should be able to use up exactly
the nipple's threads even in the correct orientation.
Actually, I once pointed this out to someone building with inverted nipples,
and they gave me some backtalk about "doing it intentionally."
So I've been wanting to write this up ever since.
If there's some technical advantage to a build method where tightening the nipple
past flush causes spoke failure, then explain it to me, you fool.
Built it.
I'll do my favorite spoking lacing later.
The Piller hex nipples are sturdy, so I reused them.
In the correct orientation, they're slightly recessed from flush.
Based on the previous image, there's still about 6 more threads I could tighten further.
(Though it's impossible to actually turn it that much.)
I received a Tni 38mm carbon rim wheel for rebuilding.
It's not the Nomu Lab Wheel No. 2 (though the materials are pretty much the same).
The reason for the rebuild is converting to 11-speed.
The hub will be a Rolf hub.
The current lacing pattern is full CX-RAY 4-cross,
but I'm changing it to half-comp 4-cross.
About the sprockets,
I had some cleaning to do today, so
I washed these while I was at it.
As for spokes, I'm changing the freewheel side to Competition spokes.
The non-freewheel side will be 6 spokes, so the original spokes aren't long enough—
not a single one can be reused.
So I loosened the spoke tension completely before cutting them.
Loosen about three-quarters of the 24 spokes fully and you can release the tension
without even touching the rest.
Looking back at this image later, I realize
6 to 7 out of the 24 spokes weren't loosened at all.
The problem with that is the nipples were installed backwards.
Since they're all wrong, it doesn't seem to be a matter of probability.
These are internal nipples from a manufacturer called Piller.
If you search for "Piller Internal Nipple"
you'll find them right away.
Since I only received the rear wheel, I don't know if there's a matching front wheel,
but if there is one, it's probably wrong too.
On a side note, the stock ENVE nipples have had two spec changes since the EDGE era,
and we're now on the third generation.
This nipple is the same as the second generation one.
↑This is the first generation nipple. Early EDGE corresponds to this one.
The side that contacts the rim (inner edge) begins with threads immediately.
Also, the inner edge has a rounded end face with a gentle arc.
The outer edge has an embedded plastic donut that acts as a loosening preventative.
↑This is the second generation. From late EDGE through early ENVE, this is the one.
The end face with the arc is the inner side, but the arc became slightly gentler.
It works fine for building, but it affects how the build feels.
The hole on the inner side has a taper and threads don't begin immediately.
So some people install this nipple backwards thinking
"putting the outer side (threads immediately) on the inner side ensures better contact with spoke threads,"
but this is a big mistake (more on that below).
↑This is the third generation. Current ENVE uses this one.
The design is optimized for inverted-nipple internal setups, so no one would get the direction wrong with this.
↑ENVE second generation Piller nipple and CX-RAY.
The thread length on spokes is pretty much the same regardless of manufacturer.
In this case, the thread is slightly shorter than the total nipple length.
I'll tighten it in the correct direction until flush.
Looking at the inner side in this state, you can see the gap where the taper is.
I tightened it until the threads bottomed out.
It won't go any further.
Next, I tried tightening with the nipple reversed.
↑It barely protrudes from flush, but it won't turn any further.
Turning it more could cause spoke breakage,
and using it like this is also problematic. Looking back slightly,
if you check those nipples from the 24 that weren't loosened at all,
it shows that before the rebuild, all 24 were in roughly this condition.
Though this is separate from today's issue, in EDGE and ENVE wheels with second-gen nipples
installed backwards, there are so many of them.
I borrowed this from ENVE's homepage.
It's the instruction for nipple orientation.
↑Illustrated, it looks like this.
Installing the nipple backwards means there's almost no additional tightening range
beyond flush. With the inverted nipple, threads engage immediately,
so there's no concern about shallow spoke engagement.
But if you get the spoke length right, you should be able to use up exactly
the nipple's threads even in the correct orientation.
Actually, I once pointed this out to someone building with inverted nipples,
and they gave me some backtalk about "doing it intentionally."
So I've been wanting to write this up ever since.
If there's some technical advantage to a build method where tightening the nipple
past flush causes spoke failure, then explain it to me, you fool.
Built it.
I'll do my favorite spoking lacing later.
The Piller hex nipples are sturdy, so I reused them.
In the correct orientation, they're slightly recessed from flush.
Based on the previous image, there's still about 6 more threads I could tighten further.
(Though it's impossible to actually turn it that much.)