I’ve read you shouldn’t use the above combo, that true? Want to build a light race day only wheelset use stans Olympic or alpine rim and potentially alluminium dt swiss nips. Anyone with experience of trying this?

don’t bother with alloy nips in the UK. it’s too wet here,they WILL corrode,and cause you problems in the future,trust me I’ve had to put a lot of wheels right that have them,quite often needs spokes cutting out…..

oh,and the weight saving is negligible.

don’t bother with alloy nips in the UK. it’s too wet here,they WILL corrode,and cause you problems in the future,trust me I’ve had to put a lot of wheels right that have them,quite often needs spokes cutting out…..

+1.

They’ll make truing progressively more difficult too.

about 20grms per wheel weight saving,if you can feel that,then you must be a fookin super hero.

Alloy nips will corrode. They work slightly worse on non eyeleted rims during building but less of an issue on stan’s rims which require less tension.

I’d avoid unless you live in a desert. They WILL corrode.

I,ve already got a regular set of hope hoops for everyday riding – pro2 on 4.2s. This wheelset will only get used at races so will be wheels on the ground xc stuff and hopefully not too much wetness. Alloy nipples se to be a third of the weight of brass so it does add up. Can you use copperslip or something?

how does a stans rim require less tension than any other non eyeletted rim?

don’t bother with alloy nips in the UK. it’s too wet here,they WILL corrode,and cause you problems in the future,trust me I’ve had to put a lot of wheels right that have them,quite often needs spokes cutting out…..

lol got some from the 90’s on my hack bike, just dont use the silver ones

GW I don’t know but that’s how they spec them.

DT78.

don’t forget to stop and clean your tyres,and indeed your bike every lap,you’ll be carrying more than 40gms of dirt,mud and dog eggs…….

Stans do recommend a lower tension limit than other manufactures,but I don’t use a tensionometer,so don’t worry too much……..

jumpupanddown,I’m very happy for you 😉

I’m with xckeith there….Stans are a pain in the arse to build tight in the first place.I make people sign a disclaimer if they insist on having ali nipples (the number of specialized wheels I’ve had to rebuild because they use ali one beggars belief).
I always love the impiriacal conclusions based on one example 😉

Rorschach,I just refuse to build with alloy nips at all any more,it just aint worth it.
people can go elsewhere if they want ’em.

Hmmm you’d think with such negativity they’d stop selling them

I had a load of new ones from a job lot of spokes i bought on the classifieds here: I put them on ebay in 2 lots as Buy-It-Nows for a quid ot two below what proper shops were doing them for, sold them in a couple of days. I was rather suprised at how quickly they sold, I thought no one would be interested. Having wrestled with a few alloy-nippled specialized wheels on mates’ and wife’s bikes, I sure as hell wasn’t going to use them!

Specialized seem to build crap wheels/ use rubbish nipples
I’ve got 3 set of wheels with alloy nipples and only had failures on the set that came with an old epic.

Op they are fine in dry climates.

iv’e used alu nips for a fair few of my own wheelsets with no problems i use a little copper slip or threadlock (will dig out the number it is) and the oldest set is still true (1996) and the nipples still turn freely

its one of those things really if you build them right and clean them properly you might be lucky like me or you might have a pain in the arse set its all luck

as to using alu nips on stans rims i build all of torq fitnesses wheels and they had cx rays customs orange alu sapim nips with stans alpines and they built up fine and are stil true 😉

Good luck with either nipples Dan

I have alloy nipples on Olympics and on my previous set of wheels – the rear is over 10 years old and still in use – and can’t say I’ve had any big issues. I understand the reasons people don’t like them, but it isn’t necessarily that big a deal.