Nipples: freeze or lube?

Lube. Permatex Anti-Seize from the auto parts store is all I've ever used. Wheels hold up fine under proper tension and don't need a thread lock.

Speedub.Nate said:

Lube. Permatex Anti-Seize from the auto parts store is all I've ever used. Wheels hold up fine under proper tension and don't need a thread lock.

Click to expand...

What he said - times 36 years of experience doing the same with the same results.

I've used both with...

excellent results. Not thread lock, but Spoke Prep. Not quite the same thing as a thread locker like Lock Tite. Either works well and will give good results as long as you build and tension the wheel properly. My personal preference is for spoke prep, but I won't refuse to build a wheel without it. You're choice, either will work just fine.

Good Dirt

I usually won't do anything other than use a light oil while truing and building for the front wheel.

Rear wheels do hold up a bit better with some type of thread binder. You are mainly trying to combat the constant loading/unloading of the spokes as you pedal. Without prep some nipples can back off if you let your wheel go too long between truing. That said I have built plenty of rear wheels without prep and they held up fine.

AL29er said:

Rear wheels do hold up a bit better with some type of thread binder. You are mainly trying to combat the constant loading/unloading of the spokes as you pedal. Without prep some nipples can back off if you let your wheel go too long between truing. That said I have built plenty of rear wheels without prep and they held up fine.

Click to expand...

Your findings may vary but I'm sure at least Nate and I don't suffer the fate of nipples unscrewing due to no thread binder.

AL29er said:

That said I have built plenty of rear wheels without prep and they held up fine.

Click to expand...

that's been my experience too. i think about using stuff, but when the time comes around to actually spend time to build a set, i don't have anything and haven't had any problems and the wheelsets have lasted years.

Cheers lads, anti seize sounds just the ticket:thumbsup:

kaiser2 said:

Cheers lads, anti seize sounds just the ticket:thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Don't forget - anti-seize plus sufficient tension does the job. Without sufficient tension you'll need thread-gummer too.

I dunno about anti-seize, some amount of seize is a good thing. That is partly why I do a light oil that can evaporate/wash off and allow the metals to corode. Essentially it will do the same as spoke prep once the oil works off.

With anti-seize tension and a good eye on maintenance will be more important

I counter that no corrosion is good corrosion -- it only weakens metals.

Anti-seize is just really good, long-lasting, "stay put" lubricant. It doesn't cause a problem with wheels detensioning over time, but it does allow for easy truing when the need arises.