You Trashed a Rim. What Should You Do?

by John Neugent

Tech articles | Commentary articles

John Neugent probably knows more about bicycle wheels than anyone else alive. Maybe more about bikes as well. He's spent his life in the bike business, at every level. He now owns Neugent Cycling, a firm devoted to delivering world-class equipment at the lowest possible price. If you are in the market for a set of wheels, please, check out John's site. He really knows his stuff. —Chairman Bill

John Neugent

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John Neugent writes:

If you ride long enough, at some point you will either crack or bend a rim. In over 95% of cases this will be the rear rim. Because of both torque and weight, the rear wheel takes a lot more punishment than the front. But should you replace the whole wheel? And how about the spokes and nipples. Can they be reused?

Bicycle hubs have become much more durable in the last 15 or so years. This is largely due to the increased use of cartridge bearings. While some hub companies continue to use cup and cone bearings, most high-end hub makers use cartridge bearings. Cup and cone hubs can be more durable because they use larger ball bearings, but the use of larger ball bearings increases their weight. Cartridge bearings are relatively easy to replace and are relatively inexpensive.

Bicycle spokes and nipples have also increased their strength over the last couple of decades. This is partially due to the fact that high-end end wheels use fewer, but stronger spokes. One major bike brand was using a Taiwanese spoke maker and when they lowered the spoke count they had a major problem with spoke breakage. Spokes are now generally reusable for at least 10,000 miles.

Spokes last much longer now.

Spoke nipples have also come a long way in the last 10 years. Sapim uses 7075 aluminum alloy hardened to T6 hardness and claims their alloy nipples are stronger than brass.

Like everything on a modern bicycle, spoke nipples have advanced as well.

For all of these reasons it’s almost always preferable to just replace the rim instead of the wheel. You can almost always use the same hub and spokes. Note however, that the effective rim diameter (ERD - the measurement of the distance between the opposite edges of a bicycle wheel's rim, or the internal diameter between the rim's spoke holes) needs to be close to reuse the spokes. I always use new nipples because they are relatively inexpensive.

It's almost always preferable to replace just the rim.

John Neugent was was one of the first to establish quality hand building in Taiwan around the turn of the century. He now owns Neugent Cycling, a firm devoted to delivering world-class equipment at the lowest possible price.