Before I tubeless my wheels, should I... (spoke nipple content)

Yep, assume that since it's been fine this far, it'll be grand as is. 

You'll do the initial first-time-is-the-worst-time tubeless setup either way. If it was me and I had to rebuild a wheel and then do the initial setup I'd probably buy the bits and never start 

How old is the wheel? If it's not too old or hasn't done many miles then maybe the nipple breakage is just a one off. If I'd been riding them through the last 5 winters on salted roads I might think otherwise. 

Also might depend on the method I'm using to tape them up and the kit I had to inflate them. With tape that can be removed easily and replaced it's not so bad, or if you have a compressor/ airshot instead of a track pump then it's not so hard to seat the tyre. 

Funnily enough my spoke nipples are all anodised blue, but I know their provenance as I built the wheels! Sapim aluminium nipples seem to outlast Sapim spokes in my experience 😂

Buuuut, if they're cheaper or older aluminium nipples I'd start to wonder, my dad's old 29er wheels clearly came with cheap aluminium nipples and once one failed the others gradually followed...

You could at least check some/all of the other nipples. Put a spokey on them and if they crumble to dust when you try to turn them, you have a problem.

Yep I'd do what oldnpastit suggests, no need to create work but if the nipples are either seized solid or crumbly I might well change them out now.

TBH though when it comes to redoing a wheel, the faff of tubeless is an absolute drop in the bucket, barely worth taking into account

Posted by: nicko74

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I need to get my wheels ready to go tubeless. A couple of rides ago I had a spoke nipple break - they're anodised blue, so aluminium I guess - and I'm wondering whether to swap them over/ rebuild the wheel with better nipples. The last thing I'd want, after going through the hassle of getting it tubeless, would be to have to take it all apart to replace another broken spoke nipple. 

So what do you reckon - rebuild the wheel fully? Or assume that since it's been fine this far, it'll be grand as is?

This happens on occasion to my wheels - i just cut a hole in the tape thread a brass nipple on the end and tape back over the top. Not ideal, but when you know what you're doing it's not a long process.