dandolemonhead

Hi everyone this is my first posting so let me know if I do anything wrong. I just removed the spokes from my wheels and lossened some of the nipples too much and they fell in to my rims. Has anyone else ever had this problem or have any idea of how to get them out?

carleton

This is not a SSFG issue. Moving to mechanics.

hairnet

Shake that rim until they fall through a hole, that's all you can really do.

HillRider

Hold the rim vertically to get them to fall to the bottom and try to pull them back through the inner bed holes with a long needle nose pliers or a hemostat.

dsbrantjr

You might need to use a large sewing needle to catch the hole in the nipple to turn it to align it properly so you can lead it out of the hole.

mrrabbit 

If wheel is still loosely assembled:

- Spin wheel while mounted in forks, dropouts or stand.
- While it is spinning keep roughly tapping the sides with your knuckles.

Eventually they'll all fall out.


If all you have is a loose rim:

- Sit down.
- Hold rim in one hand clear of chair and knees and floor.
- Slightly toss and slip rotate the rim in hand in hand.
- While you keep doing that - use knuckles of other hand to rap the side of the rim.

Eventually they'll all fall out.

Occasionally you'll see a nipple resting across a hole - using a piece of spoke you'll be able to move it a tad such that the head tips and the nipple falls out.

=8-)

Takes a few minutes each time to get all the nipples out.

=8-)

mrrabbit 

Sometimes a nipple will get stuck at the joint...

Changing rotation direction with a harder rap will knock 'em free...

=8-)

reptilezs

i usually drop a few grease coated bbs in the rim cavity

Andrew R Stewart 

If you can't get the nipples out sew up glue can solve many a loose internal item. Andy.

FBinNY 

First of all, if you're planning on reusing the nipples, you have zero chance of shaking them all out until you buy new nipples and no longer need these. Once you spend the dough and don't need them any more, they'll usually shake out pretty easily.

If the holes are small and the nipples won't come out unless they're oriented correctly, try so slip a straightened paper clip into them as they lay across the hole, then turn it vertical to slip the nipple free.

mrrabbit 

1. Very funny FBinNY. Go back to school and get that Psychology degree... =8-)

2. All the gadgets, glue, etc, really aren't necessary. On average, I get 'em all out in 3-5 minutes time just using the rotate and tap method.

...which of course just made me realize that I can add another video title to the list of videos to make. "Removing Nipples from a 'Deep V' Rim".

Got quite a long list of videos to make...

=8-)

fietsbob

1 extra spoke, I thread the spoke on a few turns, head end ... it's a handle..
then I thread it onto the spoke, which unthreads it from my 'handle'..

jolly_ross

- wheel vertical, valve hole at bottom, shake them down til under hole, fish out through valve hole with small screwdriver with magnet clamped to side of shaft

- If for some reason I've missed something and they're not magnetic - replace last step with blu-tack blob on end of driver

- or failing that, drop epoxy resin through the hole onto them so at least they don't rattle any more.

tkncwa

uhh...

FBinNY 

Yes, Brass or aluminum nipples aren't magnetic.

This isn't so complicated, the rim has a large number of holes (1 more than the number of spokes) big enough for nipples to fall out through. As mrrabbit says, a combination of shaking and tapping will have them all out soon enough. Pour yourself a beer, and give it a few minutes of patience and you'll have them all out before you finish the beer.

When rebuilding, there are a number of ways to feed the nipples to the spoke in a deep rim. My favorite is to use wooden shish kabab skewers. I jam the point into the back of the nipple, and it has enough bite to let me spin it on a few threads. Eventually the points wear or break off, but since it's a buck or two for a bag of 50 skewers I just pull out another. Round wooden toothpick work as well, but I find them too short, as will any pointy tool of the right size such as an icepick or awl.

Retro Grouch 

What's the big deal?

Hold the rim vertically with the valve hole at the bottom. Shake it around for a few minutes. They'll eventually fall out. Always have for me.

Scrodzilla

gyozadude

I average at least one to two dropped nipples per aero rim build, even with the extra spoke-kabob trick. That's just what happens watching TV and lacing at the same time. Mistakes happen.

And for folks who suggest rapping and shaking the rim to get it out, well, I've had the spoke-nuts from hell that get wedged in the rim some where and just somehow will not unwedge themselves. So I have created a spoke-nut-rooter. It's basically, my stiffest old school Shimano brake cable with soldered end. I can thread that in sideways through an adjacent hole, and poke it around and thrash it, until I hear the jingle of a loose spoke nipple, and then I use the rap technique and it shakes out the -really- stubborn wedged nuts. Nothing withstands my spoke nut "rooter."

Although to FB's point about buying new spoke nipples and then magically, through the "Murphy's" corollary on wedged spoke nipples inside aero rims, I have purchased extra nipples and keep them in stock. And I've learned the extension to Murphy's corollary which predicts that truly wedged spoke nuts inside aero rims don't magically come out if you already have extra spoke nuts in stock. They stay wedged until either rootered, or you finish the build, mount the tire, and then in the most peaceful, placid part of your ride, the nut will free itself and make its loose presence known to your and all around you, requiring you dismount, and then remove the tire and tube, and rim strip and then extract it.

mrrabbit 

When a nipple gets wedged, it'll almost always be at the joint area...changing direction and rapping the sides of the rim will dislodge 'em.

The reason you need to rap or knock the sides of the rim - or shake as another suggested, is that most deep section aero rims have an inverted curve profile for the outer wall. Usually if there is a middle wall - it'll be flat - a non-issue.

What that inverted curve outer wall does is force the nipples to one sidewall or the other - hence why simply rotating the rim won't get 'em out - they'll mostly miss the holes. Rapping or knocking the the rim keeps 'em bouncing and sliding across the holes which means that one by one they'll all eventually fall through.

I have probably built upwards of 500 B43s, EEROs, iD42s, Trak Attacks, SL42s, and XR-380s including dozens of disassemblies - I have yet at this point in time to have to use any extraordinary gimmicks or tools to fish out nipples from these 38mm - 43mm section aero rims.

Who knows, my luck just might change - but I'm not expecting it...

Rotate, shake, rattle, rap, knock, they eventually come out...

=8-)

hrdknox1

What has worked for me, particularly with deep dish tubular rims, is to use a vacuum. The better vacuum that you can create, the better suction you will get. First, have all the nipples attached to the spokes so each spoke hole on the inner side of the rim is closed, and cover the valve hole.
​​Second, use a rim strip to cover the spoke holes on the outer side of the rim. These two steps will create a good vacuum. Then position the rim so the valve hole is at the bottom, and shake the rim to move the nipples near the valve hole. Finally, suck the nipples out with the vacuum. I use a Shop-Vac because it has tremendous suction, but probably most household vacuum cleaners will work. Be sure to have your vacuum empty before use.

Hoopdriver

6 year old thread. If the OP has not yet solved the issue, he/she has gone batty from the loose nipple rattling around.
@hrdknox1 : Welcome to Bike Forums and thanks for posting. Your advice is novel and seems like it's a great idea; however the OP (original poster) is not listening - a single post in 2012 and then gone like the wind.

WizardOfBoz

Wow. That's impressive.

Sharing the craft secrets from that experience is very nice.

Dan Burkhart 

Yup. Most of the wheels I build are deep section profile, anywhere from 38 to 88mm. Losing a nipple inside during assembly is a common occurrence, but I can always get them to come out.