On Thursday, July 11, 2019 at 8:42:42 AM UTC-7, Mark Cleary wrote:
Ok these wheels came with my Habanero have 10,500 miles on them not kilometers. Now I finally need to true the front wheel just a tad. Basically the wheels have been good no trouble stayed trued and rear is fine.

Now after trying to true the front I see they are just junk in terms on working on them. Seems the spoke and nipples are proprietary and straight pull spokes and proprietary nipples. The nipples would not take any spoke wrench I had and neither did they have one at the LBS. Finally I found the tech docs on the wheels from Shimano they take 287 mm but require a plug and washer.


I don't care about the wheels I just bought a new set but I would like to rebuild the front wheel the rear is fine. I can use it on the trainer and have them as a spare. How do I get spokes for these and nipples and can I substitute another straight pull spoke like wheelsmiths? Would I need to get some washer or something to get them together. Maybe call Shimano? Or forget the whole deal and pitch the wheel as clearly these bladed spokes are a pain in the ass?

Shimano wheels ship with the wrenches, but buying them on a bike means they are probably sitting in a bag somewhere, either with the parts that came with your bike or at Habanero. I'm sure you could order them. I don't know what other straight pull spokes would work, but I would just order some Shimano spares. You don't need to change them out. The Shimano wrenches also have a slot for holding the bladed spoke while you true.

These are low-end wheels, but they are worth saving, and the design is not flawed. It is just a choice made by Shimano for creating a tubeless rim with no through-holes. Any proprietary wheel will have some proprietary oddity. The Shimano hubs are simple loose bearing hubs with a long service life and none of the problems associated with too-small bearings in the usual low-end cartridge bearing hubs.


-- Jay Beattie.