Disparate spoke lengh problem on American Classic wheel.

[Johan Bornman]

I've come up against a puzzling problem on an American Classic Sprint
250 wheel.

I was asked to respoke the wheel. On receiving it, I noticed someone
else had already tried to solve whatever the problem was, since it had
several new aluminium nipples amongst the predominant quantity of
black, aluminium nipples. Most of the nipples were stripped and I
attempted to replace them with new ones. However, some of the spokes
appeared to be too long and the nipples bottomed out long before the
spokes were tight.

I discovered that the original nipples had a long blank lead-in holes
and therefore could screw down further onto the spokes than standard
nipples.

Secondly, I discovered the need for these nipples. The large (66mm)
hub flange has some offset anomoly in its design that makes the
outbound spokes appear significantly longer than the inbound ones.
American Classic overcame this problem by using the same lenght spokes
on each side, but nipples that could take up the slack.

The company has nothing about this on its website and a local agent is
non-existent. The special nipples would solve by problem but they're
not available to me. Another solution would be four different spoke
lengths for the wheel.

Has anyone else encountered this problem and how did you solve it?

[daveornee]

Johan Bornman Wrote:
> I've come up against a puzzling problem on an American Classic Sprint
> 250 wheel.
>
> I was asked to respoke the wheel. On receiving it, I noticed someone
> else had already tried to solve whatever the problem was, since it had
> several new aluminium nipples amongst the predominant quantity of
> black, aluminium nipples. Most of the nipples were stripped and I
> attempted to replace them with new ones. However, some of the spokes
> appeared to be too long and the nipples bottomed out long before the
> spokes were tight.
>
> I discovered that the original nipples had a long blank lead-in holes
> and therefore could screw down further onto the spokes than standard
> nipples.
>
> Secondly, I discovered the need for these nipples. The large (66mm)
> hub flange has some offset anomoly in its design that makes the
> outbound spokes appear significantly longer than the inbound ones.
> American Classic overcame this problem by using the same lenght spokes
> on each side, but nipples that could take up the slack.
>
> The company has nothing about this on its website and a local agent is
> non-existent. The special nipples would solve by problem but they're
> not available to me. Another solution would be four different spoke
> lengths for the wheel.
>
> Has anyone else encountered this problem and how did you solve it?

I dealt with an early version of the hub I think you are describing.
It had 66.2 mm spoke hole pattern. I used spokecalc to arrive at the
spoke lengths and used those values. I didn't have the issue of needing
different spoke lengths on the same side of the hub, so I can't help you
there. I do remember dealing with significant spoke alignment issues.

All the longer nipples I have seen have long unthreaded lead-in holes.
All nipples I have used have the same amount of threaded dimension. I
understand what you are talking about when you say that putting the
threaded portion of the spoke past the end of the nipple strips a
portion of the nipple. I don't understand how having the longer nipple
resolves that problem.
Since my initial work with American Classic wheel/hub is some time ago,
I don't know that my experience is particularly helpful. I was
observant of the quality and features of that hub and that has led me to
stay away from American Classic rear hubs.


--
daveornee

[Johan Bornman]

daveornee wrote:
>> I dealt with an early version of the hub I think you are describing.
> It had 66.2 mm spoke hole pattern. I used spokecalc to arrive at the
> spoke lengths and used those values. I didn't have the issue of needing
> different spoke lengths on the same side of the hub, so I can't help you
> there. I do remember dealing with significant spoke alignment issues.
>
> All the longer nipples I have seen have long unthreaded lead-in holes.
> All nipples I have used have the same amount of threaded dimension. I
> understand what you are talking about when you say that putting the
> threaded portion of the spoke past the end of the nipple strips a
> portion of the nipple. I don't understand how having the longer nipple
> resolves that problem.
> Since my initial work with American Classic wheel/hub is some time ago,
> I don't know that my experience is particularly helpful. I was
> observant of the quality and features of that hub and that has led me to
> stay away from American Classic rear hubs.
>
Dave


These are not traditional longer nipples. They are about 10mm from the
conical area to the end of the nipple that coveres the spoke. On the
head side (inside the rim), they extend upwards with an additional
section which is also square, so you can tighten them through the
holes in the rim with a square socket.

When I initially said "strip" I should have said "rounded off the
square area". None of the threads were stripped as there is plenty of
engagement. It is only when you use a standard nipple that you get
only three or four threads to engage.


JB