Originally Posted by
TiHabanero
Frankly, way too much emotion is put into the spoke thing. I weigh 230 pounds, build my own wheels, and have always used 2.0 straight gauge DT Swiss spokes. Have never broken a spoke in the wheels I have built. One set has over 50,000 commuter miles on them. Why do I use straight gauge spokes? They cost less. Period.
When I build performance wheels I will use alum nips and DB spokes up front, but never alum nips in the rear and only DB in the rear if I have extra cash to spend.
I will say Wheel Smith spokes have always failed within a few hundred miles, so I no longer use them. Tried twice and they have failed twice. Will say they are really good looking spokes, just not up to snuff for my fatness.
The bolded flies against so many thousands of others experience, included mine. But I do understand the cost of opinion and why we, as people, will grab onto a belief to make our life seem easier to understand. Andy