Got a 2009 Marin Mount Vision 5.8 - very nice bike and I like the way it rides...but the rear wheel seems to be shearing nipples like they are going out of fashion - last 3 rides I've managed to shear 3 nipples. They appear to be rather cheese like.
Standard wheels that came with the bike - Hope Pro 2, black spokes and Mavic XM317 rims - but whilst replacing the nipples I noticed that there seems to be uneven thread spacing between nipples - not just laterally i.e. drive-side and non-drive side (I'd expect a slight variance between the 2 due to dish and spoke length) but either side of the wheel - the valve 'half' of the wheel has a lot of spoke in the nipple but the opposite side of the wheel there is very little spoke in the nipple.
I'm guessing the wheel was machine built as the spoke tension on either side of the wheel is uneven - driveside tight like a drum and the non-driveside rather loose (as well as the wheel needing to be redished) but has anyone else found the nipples on the stock wheels to be utter rubbish and keep shearing them?
Just annoying as I end up getting the nipple replaced and then start getting all anoraky over whether or not the wheel is true - a 5 minute job turns into 2 hours and even then I'm not happy with my work! (my work being replacing these sheared nipples with brass nipples and then trying to get the spoke tension right).
Actually it doesn't really matter what bike I've got, has anyone experienced a similar issue with their wheels? I'm guessing it's either a fault with the nipples or they are alloy and just not intended for MTB use (I'm 6'1", weigh 11.5 stone and struggling with riding over a kerb so I'm not a heavy rider by any stretch of the imagination so it's not down to my 'extreme' riding style).
