Hi,

On the first run out with a new 29er bike I built, I clipped a tree stump and have knocked the front wheel slightly out by about 3-4mm. In my haste to fix this, I stupidly put the wrong side of my park spoke key on and slightly rounded several nipples. I don't think this was helped by the fact the LBS had used spoke freeze when they built the wheels (usually a good thing).

My question is, as I have some spare nipples, can I just undo and replace the rounded nipples and true up, or do I need to slacken off the surrounding spokes next to the ones I am replacing then retension all?

Otherwise I'll be taking it back to the LBS.

Thanks

bad luck. i would say you need to slacken them all then put them back in so you could get the wheel to run true. not sure how others would do it.

Slacken them all if you're replacing more than one or two – if it's tensioned properly removing a bunch from one place will pull the rim out a fair way.

I don't know what you mean by "clipped", but to put a well-built wheel out by 4mm you must have given it quite a clout. Assuming it's well-built… I don't agree spoke freeze is usually a good idea either. A properly built wheel shouldn't need it, the tension prevents the nipples from moving.

If you've rounded a number of nipples, I'd replace them one at a time, then as far as the wheel knows, it's no worse then snapping a single spoke. If you undo them all at once, you'll stay pullling the wheel about in directions it doesn't want to do.

However, if you've caused that much "wobble!" from an impact, I'd question whether it's a bend in the rim. Still, if it were my wheel, I'd try and pull it back and then keep an eye on it. If I start suffering looses spokes, it will be because you've had to use uneven tension to force it straight. If it works though, jobs a good'un!

Not a fan of spoke fixing agents either for just this reason.

What Onza said.

What Onza said, thirded. Undoing the whole wheel is a complete was of time.

…and fourthed. You'll need each re-nippled spoke at the same tension (ie musical pitch) as the others fron the same side of the hub before you do the next one. (left and right are usually a little bit different from each other in a correctly tensioned wheel, depending on the difference in 'centre-to-flange' measurement of the hub.) Your wheel won't be straight at this point if it was a crash that bent it in the first place, but if the spokes are all the same tension you minimise the chances of any unexpected extra breakages. (do i sound like i speak form experience?) Then when you have replaced all the offending nipples, you can go about truing it again.

thanks all, going to try the replacement without slackening others method first. I may have over exagerated the amount it's out, so perhaps not as bad as first thought.