dvizz

Man I thought I was screwed a few hours ago. I was determined to replace a twisted spoke and a slightly rounded nipple on my carbon Bora rim. I ordered the spokes kit, WH-019BOT35 and ordered the Campagnolo Magnetic Nipple Insert UT-WH160. I thought the nipple would just pop out of the valve hole once unscrewed. Big mistake. The rim is slightly convex and trying to flush out the nipple is next to impossible as it slides to the sides of the valve hole. I tried shaking the rim to get the detatched nipple to drop out, but was frustrated. Now what? What worked was covering the external valve hole with duct tape and attaching 1/2" clear plastic tubing to a vacuum hose. I hung up the rim with rope and proceeded to shake the rim a good 10 minutes until the spoke finally got sucked out. Lesson learned: screw in the steel nipple insert before dropping the nipple and use a magnet to remove the nipple. Reverse procedure to install new nipple. I used my Park TM-1 spoke tension tool, so life is good.

wschruba

I would've used a piece of gum stuck on a stick, but same end result. Glad you figured how to get it out; I will say, though, that nothing compares to the pain of [radiused] nipple washers that get lost in a deep-section wheel.

dvizz

Yea. I hear you. Some jobs are better left to the Pro mechanics.