There is no question here. A non lubricated threaded fastener will bind earlier than a lubricated on. According to some stats I read in a recent article of Machine Design, up to 30% of the torque in a dry/non-lubed application vs a lubed on will be converted in to a twisting force rather than a clamping/tensile force. Since the strength of a wheel is highly dependent on spoke tension, well you can connect the dots.......i normally grease the nipples and the threads, but this time round they went on dry.some lbs hacks put it together as i was in a rush this time, really starting to regret it.
some people say yay, some people say nay to greasing the threads. i tried it on my last wheel build, hadleys - 823s - dt spokes and alu nipples. spent a whole day building those up, really high tension. i subsequently rounded most of the nipples off trying to true it slightly after a month, i gave up after that coz the mud must have seized everything up. didn't matter they stayed true and in tension for the next 3 years. couldn't be happier!
the spokes in the rear are lower than 100 for sure, dont need a tension meter to tell me that. looks like i might have to rebuild my wheels then.
was anyone anal enough to take the edge off the inside of holes in the rim with a de burring tool? a slight chamfer there might help the nipple sit better. i did notice when i was truing them, the nipples aren't in line with the spokes. probably because the hole is quite tight, and forces the spoke to bend slightly just after the nipple. made using a four sided spoke wrench a bitch!
