Stopped by a co-op in Austin last week and watched a guy true a wheel with a spoke wrench he filed down himself.

He said factory wrenches are too loose on brass nipples, so he takes a cheap set and grinds them to a tighter fit. Has anyone else done this or am I asking for stripped nipples?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_tara1d ago

I did this exact thing with a set of old no-name spoke wrenches a few years back... filed them down to fit DT Swiss brass nipples like a glove. The factory ones always felt a bit sloppy to me, and I stripped one nipple before I finally got fed up and started grinding. It's honestly been a game changer for tensioning wheels without that constant worry of rounding things out.

spencerw721d ago

Huh... I gotta say, I think that guy is overthinking it a bit. Factory spoke wrenches have been fine for decades on brass nipples, they're not gonna strip anything if you're not cranking on them like a gorilla. Filing down a wrench to get a tighter fit sounds like a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist, you know? Unless he's working on some super old or soft nipples, I just don't see it being that serious. Most wheel builders I've met just use standard Park Tool wrenches and they're fine. Seems like a lot of extra effort for something that probably doesn't make a real difference in the long run...