When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Cast pot metal spoke nipples?

-

cyclingday

I'm the Wiz, and nobody beats me!
Ok, here’s something I hadn’t seen before.
I was showing a bike to a friend the other day, and noticed that one of the spokes was broken.
So on closer inspection, I could see, that it wasn’t actually the spoke that broke, but the spoke nipple.
WHAT!
I’ve never seen a spoke nipple break.
So, I figured, that’s an easy fix.
Just screw on a new nipple, and you’re done, right?
Not so fast!
After I took a closer look at the wheel, I could see numerous nipples with cracks in them.
So with that discovery, I set about to completely rebuild the wheels.
Once I got to taking them apart, I could see that the nipples had been cast out of pot metal, and not turned from brass as is typical.
Crazy!
All I can think of, is that they were from some sort of war time rationing or something.
I can just imagine what kind of catastrophic wheel failure could occur from deteriorating pot metal spoke nipples.
I had no idea, that these ticking time bombs were even out there.
1573263

1573265

1573264

On the surface, they look just like any other typical spoke nipple.
The last picture shows the tell tale casting marks.
They are also lighter in weight than brass ones.
Have any of you guys ever run across these before?
 
Yep, that’s what I was thinking.
Brass was a hot commodity during the war.
The wheels were on a 37 Fleetwood, but they could’ve been replaced at anytime since.
 
I've seen aluminum ones rot and shear at the head, but they had to be 80s at the earliest. That style looks 50s and earlier, I've had those in brass splinter at the flats, but not shear at the end of the spoke threads like that.
 
Back
Top