Wheel Build Advice Thread

PJO

PJO

in me vL comy
ausdb said:
Are there any mavic gurus here? I noticed a spoke had come adrift on my sons rear wheel the other night whilst I was fixing a puncture. It's an old 26 crossmax SL.
View attachment 385560
As we're away and I have limited tools I managed to unscrew the nipple from the rim and remove it, but the nipple looks well and truly corroded to the ball end of the spoke.
View attachment 385561
I'm guessing I need to start unicorn hunting for a replacement but has anyone ever tried or managed to get one apart without destroying it? Some hamboing has suggested hot water as well as the usual soak it in penetrating oil.
Click to expand...
Don't bother getting it apart. I think you will have to hunt down a complete replacement spoke. Not sure you would get the nipple past the bladed section.
Pushys has this one but not the size you need.
www.pushys.com.au

Mavic Crossmax XL 27.5 Spoke Rear Drive Side 251.5mm

Buy Mavic Crossmax XL 27.5 Spoke Rear Drive Side 251.5mm Now at Pushys. Lowest Price, Secure Shopping and Fast Delivery from Australia's Best Online Bike Store
www.pushys.com.au www.pushys.com.au




Fuck Mavic and their proprietary crap.
 
PJO

PJO

in me vL comy
ozzybmx said:
And every wheel ever made without j-bend spokes :D
Click to expand...
I don't mind Mavic's non-proprietary rims. Some of their old regular rims were actually quite good. Don't know much about their recent rims, seem to be harder to get here so haven't had a chance to play with them.
 
ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
PJO said:
I don't mind Mavic's non-proprietary rims. Some of their old regular rims were actually quite good. Don't know much about their recent rims, seem to be harder to get here so haven't had a chance to play with them.
Click to expand...
Mavic geoblocked themselves, then went bust in ~19-20 and were bought over by someone.

Yeah I had one bad experience a load of years back and now steer clear of anything with straight pull or any wheel with funky spokes.
 
The Duckmeister

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
PJO said:
Don't bother getting it apart. I think you will have to hunt down a complete replacement spoke. Not sure you would get the nipple past the bladed section.
Pushys has this one but not the size you need.
www.pushys.com.au

Mavic Crossmax XL 27.5 Spoke Rear Drive Side 251.5mm

Buy Mavic Crossmax XL 27.5 Spoke Rear Drive Side 251.5mm Now at Pushys. Lowest Price, Secure Shopping and Fast Delivery from Australia's Best Online Bike Store
www.pushys.com.au www.pushys.com.au




Fuck Mavic and their proprietary crap.
Click to expand...
The nipple is fitted before the spoke is shaped; there is no way to replace it alone. Complete spoke + nipple unit required.
 
The Duckmeister

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
ausdb said:
Are there any mavic gurus here? I noticed a spoke had come adrift on my sons rear wheel the other night whilst I was fixing a puncture. It's an old 26 crossmax SL.
View attachment 385560
As we're away and I have limited tools I managed to unscrew the nipple from the rim and remove it, but the nipple looks well and truly corroded to the ball end of the spoke.
View attachment 385561
I'm guessing I need to start unicorn hunting for a replacement but has anyone ever tried or managed to get one apart without destroying it? Some hamboing has suggested hot water as well as the usual soak it in penetrating oil.
Click to expand...
If you can unseize the nipple from the spoke (which in all honesty is improbable, but not impossible), really generously cover the spoke shaft & head with grease to reduce the risk of it seizing again. But when they've got to that point, the most likely outcome is ripping the splined section of the nipple apart.
 
ausdb

ausdb

Being who he is
The Duckmeister said:
If you can unseize the nipple from the spoke (which in all honesty is improbable, but not impossible), really generously cover the spoke shaft & head with grease to reduce the risk of it seizing again. But when they've got to that point, the most likely outcome is ripping the splined section of the nipple apart.
Click to expand...
I'll have a go at freeing it up, I haven't got anything to lose and will probably have to source a replacement from o/seas by the looks of it.
 
Nambra

Nambra

Definitely should have gone to specsavers
ausdb said:
I'll have a go at freeing it up, I haven't got anything to lose and will probably have to source a replacement from o/seas by the looks of it.
Click to expand...
Thought I'd do a bit of sleuthing to help you out. I'm supposed to be working, buuuut it's Monday...

I know very little about Mavic, but it looks like the drive side spoke is 239mm and non drive side is 269mm, according to bike-components.de. They list the Mavic part numbers as L30864100 for the 239mm drive side spoke and L30864200 for the 269mm. The front wheel is 269mm both sides.

That led to another German shop, which lists newer Mavic part numbers 30864101 and 30864201 for the 239mm (in stock) and 269mm (special order) spokes respectively. No idea if this vendor ships internationally though.

Then there's also a UK eBay store, where both part numbers are listed, but the 269mm is out of stock, which seems to be a common thing with all of the vendors that pop up when searching those part numbers; plenty of 239mm, not so the 269mm. Some do say they can order them in though.

It doesn't look like the nipple can be removed either, the spoke end is formed into a head after the nipple is put on the spoke. The nipple should spin freely around the spoke.
385579


It seems you need a special spoke key as well, available from Pushys, or possibly loan a Park Tool SW-13 from your LBS. You might even find the right key on your multi-tool?

Good luck!

Edit: looking at your photo, it looks like the nipple thread is in good condition, so after a good soak it might be ok. I'd be more concerned about the condition of the thread in the alloy hub shell though...
 
Last edited:
ausdb

ausdb

Being who he is
Nambra said:
Thought I'd do a bit of sleuthing to help you out. I'm supposed to be working, buuuut it's Monday...

I know very little about Mavic, but it looks like the drive side spoke is 239mm and non drive side is 269mm, according to bike-components.de. They list the Mavic part numbers as L30864100 for the 239mm drive side spoke and L30864200 for the 269mm. The front wheel is 269mm both sides.

That led to another German shop, which lists newer Mavic part numbers 30864101 and 30864201 for the 239mm (in stock) and 269mm (special order) spokes respectively. No idea if this vendor ships internationally though.

Then there's also a UK eBay store, where both part numbers are listed, but the 269mm is out of stock, which seems to be a common thing with all of the vendors that pop up when searching those part numbers; plenty of 239mm, not so the 269mm. Some do say they can order them in though.

It doesn't look like the nipple can be removed either, the spoke end is formed into a head after the nipple is put on the spoke. The nipple should spin freely around the spoke.
View attachment 385579

It seems you need a special spoke key as well, available from Pushys, or possibly loan a Park Tool SW-13 from your LBS. You might even find the right key on your multi-tool?

Good luck!

Edit: looking at your photo, it looks like the nipple thread is in good condition, so after a good soak it might be ok. I'd be more concerned about the condition of the thread in the alloy hub shell though...
Click to expand...
@Nambra thanks I've got a day off today so will do a bit of looking myself, I think the wheel is an older one. I've measured the spoke and its 274mm end to end and the closest I've found is this:
But roguemechanic's info says the length of the 2003-06 SL Disc is 268mm which is what I'm pretty sure the wheel is.
Actually I've just answered my own question looking at his FAQ's

The hub just has slots to hold the spoke head and the threads are in the rim are OK, I bought a spoke key to suit a while back when I was ordering some stuff from somewhere.

@Dales Cannon were you suggesting the vinegar soak followed by Acetone / ATF or just go straight to the Acetone / ATF?
 
Nambra

Nambra

Definitely should have gone to specsavers
ausdb said:
@Nambra thanks I've got a day off today so will do a bit of looking myself, I think the wheel is an older one. I've measured the spoke and its 274mm end to end and the closest I've found is this:
But roguemechanic's info says the length of the 2003-06 SL Disc is 268mm which is what I'm pretty sure the wheel is.
Actually I've just answered my own question looking at his FAQ's

The hub just has slots to hold the spoke head and the threads are in the rim are OK, I bought a spoke key to suit a while back when I was ordering some stuff from somewhere.

@Dales Cannon were you suggesting the vinegar soak followed by Acetone / ATF or just go straight to the Acetone / ATF?
Click to expand...
Seems I went down the wrong rabbit hole then. I know a little more about Mavic wheels now at least…
 
Dales Cannon

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
ausdb said:
@Nambra thanks I've got a day off today so will do a bit of looking myself, I think the wheel is an older one. I've measured the spoke and its 274mm end to end and the closest I've found is this:
But roguemechanic's info says the length of the 2003-06 SL Disc is 268mm which is what I'm pretty sure the wheel is.
Actually I've just answered my own question looking at his FAQ's

The hub just has slots to hold the spoke head and the threads are in the rim are OK, I bought a spoke key to suit a while back when I was ordering some stuff from somewhere.

@Dales Cannon were you suggesting the vinegar soak followed by Acetone / ATF or just go straight to the Acetone / ATF?
Click to expand...
Either / or / both... No memes please. The little girl already lives in fear.
 
The Duckmeister

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
Nambra said:
It doesn't look like the nipple can be removed either, the spoke end is formed into a head after the nipple is put on the spoke.
Click to expand...
I said that up the page a bit. ;)

It seems you need a special spoke key as well, available from Pushys, or possibly loan a Park Tool SW-13 from your LBS. You might even find the right key on your multi-tool?
Click to expand...
Doubtful you'd find a multi-tool with a special Mavic key, however there are several third-party tool manufacturers who make the splined keys. Thing to watch out for is that there are a couple of different sizes. I don't know if it carried across to the MTB wheels, but some of the later road wheels use larger-diameter nipples.
 
ausdb

ausdb

Being who he is
Flow-Rider said:
There's quite a few.
View attachment 385614View attachment 385615View attachment 385616View attachment 385617
Click to expand...
Mr10 has a Kathmandu multitool with both Mavic sizes that I used to unscrew the spoke whilst we were away.
385620

I soaked the spoke all day in white vinegar and water and then took it out to the shed tonight to have a go and see if it would move with a better spoke key. I didn't have any ATF to start the Acetone ATF soak so I thought I would use a bit of Reducteur spray on it, a bit of heat never seems to go astray when I use this so I gave it a bit of gentle heat with a propane torch at which point some green $h!t started coming out between the ball end and the nipple.
I have now learnt there is some sort of polymer washer inside the nipple and that is now fuxxored! I've left it soaking in acetone/Reducteur until I can steal some ATF from someone (the perils of having a company supplied mantained vehicle and the last cars I've owned have all been manuals). For shits and giggles if I can get it free I'll try to machine up a new washer from nylon and try to force it over the ball end so I can re use it but I think its time to place the order for a new one and a few spares.

385621
 
P

PepsiMax

Likes Bikes
So got a Q for all the wheel heads out there, my giant xcr0 27.5 front rim has developed a slight crack either side of the valve stem maybe about 7-8mm (rim is about 8 years old and done maybe 2500-3000kms on riding)

So my options are either Mavic carbons (CRC dicking around with freight forwarders) but hard to get as sold out locally or get 27.5 carbon rims (F/R) from light bikes online store along with getting the LBS to rebuild the wheels using the xcr0 hubs which iirc are dt swiss 240 hubs.

Would the spokes still be ok to use or would I need a new set of straight through spokes?

Anyone know rough LBS rebuild pricing?
 
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