Originally Posted by
dscheidt
yeah, but you're not a bearded grouch. Part of the bearded grouch ethos is not helping people do (things the bearded grouch thinks are) stupid things. He, no doubt, thinks that bladed spokes are dumb for non-racers, and particularly dumb in 32 spoke wheels, and especially particularly dumb in the hands of an inexperienced wheel builder.
Another part of that ethos is apparently slipping in subtle barbs in your internet forum posts.
My LBS grouch is not the easiest person to work with. He sells one kind of [ugly] helmet, because Giro, Specialized, Rudy Project are all too difficult to work with. He doesn't carry Dura Ace chains, because the Ultegra chains are good enough and don't cost so d@mn much. He is more of a mechanic's mechanic, rather than a rider's mechanic. He's only now beginning to acknowledge that SIS is appealing to many riders, but he'll deem you vain if you prefer brifters to bar-end shifters.
And if you want something he doesn't carry, you're just wrong, foolish, and deserve whatever misfortunes befall you.
(Sorry, I'm just bitter because I bought the rims from him and he ***** me pretty badly on it and didn't offer one bit of advice on determining the spoke length. (He's lucky Velocity protects old grouches like him.))
It's really a pity that the remorseless internet is killing off these friendly, helpful pillars of the community.