Originally Posted by dooley
One spoke breaks, two lose tension.
Exactly. Unless you want your bike to be more about looks than function, you can't beat a conventionally built wheelset.
Get DT Champion spokes, not just the regular stainless ones - Champions are heat treated (if i remember correctly) which supposedly results in a 20% strength increase.
Here is the trick to finding a good wheel builder, if you're going to get a local bike shop to do it. ask to see the wheel building area. if they don't have a well organized, extensive selection of spokes and a tensiometer, then they probably don't build enough wheels to have a system that ensures quality. Wheel building is one of the most pleasurable aspects of fixing bikes - if you know what you're doing. I would personally take it as a sign of how good a shop is - well built wheels=good mechanics=good shop.