jideta

I'm thinking it will be okay.
Old wheels ERD 576
New wheels ERD 575

Old spokes should work?
Going to a smaller rim you think the spokes will bottom out? It's only 1 mm... but then...

Bill Kapaun

You'll basically see 1/2 the difference or .5mm.

Look at your current wheel and see where the spoke ends in relation to the screw driver flat.
You can see if you are currently "shortish" or "longish" and judge from there.

Assuming published ERD's are exact? Best to measure yourself, although I've been "lucky enough" so far.

ThermionicScott 

I'd do it! Make things easy on yourself and don't bother completely unlacing the old wheel. Just tape the new rim to the old wheel and move each nipple and spoke end one at a time.

cpach

Yeah, that's fine unless the original wheel had comically too long spokes. Basically you can exceed ideal spoke length by quite a bit. The only downside is when you run out of threads to increase tension, but even then you can force the nipples to turn farther which will begin to strip the threads of the nipple, but in reality only a handful of threads hold tension and this has the arguable advantage of acting as a thread locker. https://www.wheelfanatyk.com/blog/nipple-threads/

jideta

Awesome!

Okay, just wanted the opinions of the pros.
Figured I'd ask while I still got time to order new spokes.
thanks!

le mans

Re-using spokes is fine, but i'd re-new the nipples.

3alarmer 

....a lot of this assumes that your old wheels were built well, dished properly, and tensioned high enough to begin with. It also presumes that your old wheels have a pretty good quality spoke. The work of rebuilding is time consuming enough that you ought to check these things prior to dismantling your old wheels.

Significantly under tensioned wheels to start with will end up with you having more spoke into and possibly extending beyond the head if you build your new wheels to proper tension. And single wall rims, (which are still available, but hardly anyone uses any more,) present the additional issue of any spoke extending past the head of the nipple needing to be filed or ground off to prevent punctures on the inside of the tube.

And none of us know the original quality or history of your original spokes. I don't do this for money, but I have done enough of it that I have opinions.


But in the best of all possible worlds, it should work out fine.

ThermionicScott 

For what reason? I only replace nipples if the flats are rounded. Good practice minimizes that.

le mans

My first wheel build was using secondhand parts including nipples, had to rummage through what i thought were in good enough condition, no idea how it held up because i built the wheel to sell the bike and sold it.

But i'll never do that again i make it good practice to buy new nipples coz.. for one.. they're dirt cheap - fresh threads! and have the peace of mind that there's no corrosion or worn or stripped threads

le mans

Oil the spoke threads before you screw in your "new" nipples though

adipe

yea, oil is a general term. i always use basic oil first... as to clean the threads. "oil the threads" is a general term as some folks won't bother to search for better stuff. i used (generic) dura ace grease the first time i worked as i didn't have anything better available and also did not know too much at that time.

some ceramic (hexagonal boron nitride) as an additive is advised. the mineral oil you usually find in "ceramic" greases is isoparaffinic (microcrystalline wax).
the "ceramic" part works by smoothing out the surfaces for threads and by improving thermal conductivity (more important for chains etc). it tends to build up (deposit) and clog up dirt so that bearings greases don't usually use it. i won't advertise some product, just point out to the ingredients.

also, avoid moly or graphite as they cause galvanic corrosion.

davidad

I use Teflon based pipe dope to lube and lock the nipples. Loctite makes a good one.

Drew Eckhardt 

With sufficient tension you don't need anything to lock the nipples, and don't want extra friction increasing windup.

Zinc anti seize is ideal (it will corrode preferentially over aluminum nipples and rims), although regular grease works fine.

davidad

With the Teflon thread dope there is no friction. After a day or two it gets tacky, but never sets up hard so you can make minor adjustments as necessary during the wheel's life.