alfeng said:Without looking, I reckon that the head of the nipple must be about 2mm thick ... regardless, as long as the threaded end of the spoke extends beyond the edge of the rim's inner circumference and/or the rim's eyelet-or-washer then it should be long enough.
I think you missed the point. With brass nipples, the length isn't especially critical, but with alloy nipples, you want the spoke to extend to the top of the slot in the nipple.
Quoted post said:Aluminum nipples? They are certainly good for weight weenies OR for people who want nipples which are anodized in this-or-that color so that they don't have to lace crepe paper through their spokes.
I've been using alloy nipples since the '70's and they work great. Many commercial wheels use them as well. Yes, brass nipples are more forgiving and marginally easier to build with, but I've had have no issues with alloy.
Quoted post said:Not that it matters, but I did not know that anyone other than MAVIC used torx-type nipples.
I don't know about Torx, but there are several types of hex-head nipples on the market. Some are strictly internal and others protrude thought the rim like a traditional nipple and have flats for a standard spoke wrench. I actually built with internal hex nipples back in the '70's, but haven't used them since.
Quoted post said:From MY recollection, the oft-cited recommendation for double-butted spokes was first uttered prior to the advent of DT 's stainless steel spokes becoming readily available ... that is, I believe the suggestion was first made when the spokes were THINNER, glorified coat hanger wire ... at least, on vintage French wheelsets ... unquestionably, double-butting of the marginally thinner gauge, regular-steel spokes would have been a good thing ...
I've never heard that before.
The first time I laced a set of wheels with DT spokes I thought "... these are fat spokes." Yes, I still have the wheelset, somewhere (NISI rims on a pair of Avocet hubs).[/QUOTE]
I have a set of wheels with Avocet hubs, but unfortunately, the rear axle is broken. Someday I may have to break down and make a new one. If you're interested in any Nisi tubular rims, I have one or two kicking around, along with a bunch of other NOS rims.
Quoted post said:If a straight 14 gauge spoke breaks from fatigue, then the wheel probably was not tensioned properly
Perhaps, but not necessarily. Remember, it's the rim that dictates the limit of spoke tension. In a wheel with a robust rim, you can apply enough tension to a 14ga straight spoke to prevent fatigue. Used with a light rim, you may not be able to.
Quoted post said:... and, a double-butted 14-15-14 spoke would break under the same circumstances if one presumes that the wheel was somehow trued in the same manner with similarly unequal spoke tension.
Not true. The additional elasticity of of the butted spoke helps to compensate for lower than optimum tension, to a degree. So it's entirely possible that a wheel that wheel that suffers from spoke breakage with straight gauge will actually be more durable with butted and/or lighter gauge spokes.
Quoted post said:As far as WHY anyone would choose a straight 14g over a 14-15-14 double-butted spoke on a wheel laced with the same spoke count ...
A wheel laced properly with the 14g spokes will be laterally stiffer than a similar wheel laced with 14-15-14 double-butted spokes ...
Sure, though I haven't seen any data indicating how much. The stiffness of the rim would be a much bigger factor if your goal is to build a stiff wheel.
Quoted post said:THAT doesn't matter for toddling around town ...
But, it can make a difference on some mountain road descents.
Empirically, that seems to make sense, but a bicycle wheel is not heavily side-loaded when cornering. The primary force on the wheel is still radial. Where side loads are encountered most are when sprinting, climbing out of the saddle and when the wheel is skidding sideways...and in various crash scenarios.
