Originally Posted by
lopek77
Since the holes are bigger/stretched after first built, does it make sense that the same process will happen after each wheel build?
No it does not - because it reached equilibrium once the wheel was built - otherwise you would be having to always re-tension. The hub does not know it's being built to a new rim - it reacts in the same way as previous - it resists enough so that the spoke will not move further once the same tension is reached. I will give you that the release and reapplication of tension might create an extremely small additional distortion, but in my experience (see below) it's of no consequence.
Originally Posted by
lopek77
It's the same quality/strength/thickness material from the hole, all the way to the outside, so there is nothing to stop that material from stretching even further.
Of course there is - the same thing that stopped the material from stretching/distorting previously - equilibrium of opposing forces.
Originally Posted by
lopek77
I wouldn't build another wheel based on an old hub, but it's just me.
Well maybe a few other people, but it's a matter of choice rather than based on a valid concern.
Originally Posted by
lopek77
That is what (I) worry about while using same hub over and over again
The Internet is a wonderful thing, until one uses it to draw conclusions from a miniscule sample unrelated to the problem at hand. The pics are of a few hub failures, only one of which showed a 36 hole hub with the type of distortion of the holes being discussed here. That one shows wear not only in the hole but on the face of the flange, which is indicative of poor tension over an extended period of time and many, many miles - which is why it was indicated as a fatigue failure. Fatigue is almost always from cyclical stress, and in a well built wheel the cyclical stress on the hub is very minor, and is a smooth rather than abrupt transition - unless the spokes are too loose.
The OP has a 36 hole hub that is going to be rebuilt with conventional lacing, most likely 3 cross. Even if he were to lace the spokes in a different direction the likelihood of a problem is next to nil. In over 20 years of working on bikes and as a service manager, counting on one hand would cover the amount of such failures I saw, and I don't recall a single one on a conventionally laced 36 hole hub.
It is not a reflection on you personally, but merely a fact that both your theoretical grounding and your empirical background are lacking.