Insight about spokes, wheels and nipples

[BaGearA]

I am not a wheelbuilder just a keen cyclist and recently while looking through the wheels for sale if seen the rapide wheels , in the article they say " with eyelets" to increase strength or build quality or something , now all the people who have bought them say they are bomb proof.

 

Now here is what is confusing me ,They eyelets are apparently strengthening the rim BUT some of the strongest wheels  have ever ridden with incl. Roval WC SL, Spank Oozy trails, WTB KOM's , Stans ZTR Arch Ex ect.   none of them have eyelets yet they are super strong , with some of them featuring on world cup bikes in XC , downhill and enduro ???

 

Can someone with the proper knowledge or a wheelbuilder please explain the difference to me

 

 

PS I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST RAPIDE , I REGULARLY BUY FROM THEM I JUST SAW THE DESCRIPTION AND IT PEEKED MY INTEREST 

[Tumbleweed]

Do eyelets actually strengthen the rim or just reduce the stress on a rim?

[HowardSteele]

You certainly peaked my interest I thought the eyelet acted as a washer/reinforced for the nipple...got this on a google 

 

Would someone please explain to me the practical difference (pros and cons)
of double eyelet vs. single eyelet rims?

Double eyeleted rims have two main benefits over single eyeleted rims:

1) Their eyelets share spoke tension loads between inner and outer rim
walls, reducing the probability of cracking at the drillings and
making the rims stronger and more durable, all else equal.

2) The eyelets block off the openings to the rim channel, making it
almost impossible to lose nipples in there when lacing the wheels.

Single eyelets serve no major structural function the way double
eyelets do (when they are well made). Single eyelets, also called
grommets, are mainly just bearings for the spoke nipples. In days of
yore, a single eyelet occasionally broke and spat the outer ring of
metal up the spoke. That does not seem to be a frequent problem any
more. It last happened to me 2-3 years ago, on a wheel I built about
8-9 years ago.

The main drawback to double eyelets these days is that most of them
are made by Mavic, whose products have slipped a long way from their
former premium status. The only thing about Mavic rims that could
accurately be described as premium anymore is the price.

There are more important things to look for in a rim besides double
eyelets. 6061 alloy or better, a nice tidy rim joint, and an
appropriate cross-section for your application should be near the top
of the priority list.

Chalo

[David Marshall]

I love the haze created by marketing comments.  Eyelets supposedly improve the wheel by reducing the the rim flexing in an area where it fatigues.  So if you compare a Rapide rim with eyelets with the exact same Rapide rim without you would expect the eyeleted rim to last better and it in all probability it would.  Aside from the "strength" I find that nipples seat better in eyeleted rims than non eyeleted but you can get the same effect by building with nipple washers.

 

If you compare a rim with eyelets -  which are generally "box" type rims - with a deep section rim such as a CXP33 or a Velocity Fusion (no eyelets) the latter will be much stronger.  This strength comes from the rim profile shape itself.  That is why wheel builders prefer this type of rim for tandems.  I have even sent a heavy MTB rider off on custom 29" Fusions with 36 spokes!  Spank and other rims have profiles of varying shapes so you can't really take the eyelet comparison across brands.

 

Opinions on wheels, be it brand, strength or stiffness, are generally anecdotal and relate to personal experience rather than science.  Best get back to basics - the right rim for the application, a good hub and enough double butted spokes.

 

Oh, and The Bicycle Wheel by Joobst Brandt for some light bedside reading.