I bought a set of 3T Accelero 38’s for training purposes with my TT bike. I really like them as they sure do feel fast, perhaps even faster than my 303 tubulars. Unfortunately, I have experienced some two incidents where the nipple pulled straight through the spoke hole, and I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this. The first was a month back and I chalked that up to a freak incident. The latest incident was yesterday, fortunately right at the end of my workout. I can’t recall if it is the same spoke, but i’m pretty sure the spokes are different. It seems that this issue is known: https://twitter.com/...s/436534733674397696.
3T doesn’t even have a contact stateside, and I have no idea whom I should contact. Any help on this would be appreciated.
with a new spoke nipple and trued it. I thought there could be an issue with the spoke hole diameter, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Now I’m beginning to think that either the rim wasn’t made to tolerance or all of the nipples are defective… This isn’t the usual spoke broke at the thread: the nipple is still threaded onto the spoke, but the rest of the nipple within the rim has broken apart.
Should have built up a damn set myself… The Kinlin XR300 I laced up to a CK R45 rear is still running great 3.5 years from when I first built it.
Think about it… if the nipple pulled through the rim the hole must have enlarged to the point where the nipple could slip through. Something needs to be done about that.
If there is room in the interior cavity (most likely if the rim is wide and rounded on top) you could try using oval nipple washers. These will spread the load out and prevent pull-through. I’d studiously check for future cracking though.
If these are the aluminium 38’s I had a similar experience. They came with my new p3 and started popping spokes randomly. Bike shop rebuilt the wheels using new nipples and they’ve been fine since. The heads of the original nipples just popped and ended up inside the rim with the threaded section still attached to the spoke. Annoying but since the rebuild no issues.
Think about it… if the nipple pulled through the rim the hole must have enlarged to the point where the nipple could slip through. Something needs to be done about that.
If there is room in the interior cavity (most likely if the rim is wide and rounded on top) you could try using oval nipple washers. These will spread the load out and prevent pull-through. I’d studiously check for future cracking though.
I interpret the OP’s 2nd post as the nipple itself is fracturing at the head; body pulls free with the spoke, head stays behind in the rim - ‘the nipple is still threaded onto the spoke, but the rest of the nipple within the rim has broken apart’
Either the nipple is defective or there is some severe burr in the inside of the rim at the spoke hole that is scoring the nipple.
If these are the aluminium 38’s I had a similar experience. They came with my new p3 and started popping spokes randomly. Bike shop rebuilt the wheels using new nipples and they’ve been fine since. The heads of the original nipples just popped and ended up inside the rim with the threaded section still attached to the spoke. Annoying but since the rebuild no issues.
It is indeed the Alu 38s. See picture below. The spoke nipple basically broke in half…
The nipples used on those wheels are notorious for breaking. 3T has been good about replacing them on warranty with a better quality nipple. I would start with the shop you purchased them from, but any 3T or Vittoria dealer should be able to handle the warranty for you.
The spokes themselves might be too short. Was that a drive side nipple that broke off inside the rim? If measured and tensioned correctly, the spoke should take up the entire threaded portion of the nipple up to and maybe a little past the slot of each individual nipple. The strength of aluminum nipples depends on this.
