Whilst on holiday last week my rear wheel developed a bit of a rattle, which I thought was the hub, but after a lot of messing around I narrowed the noise down to the rim.

Having taken the rim tape off and shoving a cable tie in, there is something loose in the rim (to big for a spoke hole) between the holes where the rim is joined/welded.

Anyone else had a similar issue? I’ve tried to video the issue here:
[video]https://youtu.be/E239RH5GGt8[/video]

I’ve emailed Paligap to see what they say as well, but bit annoyed as I ‘think’ the front wheel on the other bike may have a similar issue!

Spare Nipple?

Nope, like I say, pretty sure it wouldn’t fit through the hole.

Looks like it may have been a support for where the rim is joined.

Sleeved joint uses a small piece of alloy like that (though normally the whole profile of the rim). I’m surprised the rim is still together though. Can you pull it apart at the join?

Alternatively it’s a heatsink used when welding. Just glue it back as it’s not structural.

“Normal”, apparently – used as a support during welding.

http://forums.mtbr.com/wheels-tires/wheel-issue-question-1019595.html

l.e. too late ^

A bit more googling suggests it most definitely is normal, from the Stans website:

There’s a rattling noise coming from my rim
You may have a loose weld sleeve. The weld sleeve is used during the welding process as a heat sink. It is crimped into place with a dimple in the material and is visible at the weld junction. Occasionally, the crimp does not hold and the plate comes loose. It is not a structural element of the rim and does not affect the performance of the rim. The best solution is to remove the rim tape and apply a small amount of non-water based adhesive between the weld plate and the rim. Tubular cement or super glue will do the trick. All rim manufacturers use a weld plate and run into this situation on occasion. Please call Stan’s NoTubes if you need yellow tape to re-apply to the rim or if you do not feel comfortable gluing the weld plate on your own.

https://www.notubes.com/troubleshooting

A bit of glue it is then 😯