Originally Posted by DannoXYZ

Let's give PNB some targets in figuring out if his wheel is "properly" built:

1. what spoke tension is acceptable to be "proper"?
2. what spoke tension variation-range?
3. what +/- radial and lateral trueness is "proper"?
4. what load-ranges must the wheel be able to withstand with what degree of run-out?
5. how many miles must the wheel be able to run with what amount of run-out?

If 100 people can agree on the exact numbers for the above, I'll accept that the wheel is "properly" built. Otherwise, it's all a group of varying opinions. Anyone with over +10-years hands-on shop-experience and having built hundreds of wheelsets and raced for 10-years is welcome to add their experinece as well.

You see, for the first 5-years working in a shop and 1st year racing, I was firmly in the oil/grease camp having gotten my hands on so many old wheels with corroded nipples that made truing difficult if not impossible. Then I started noticing trends (wheels aren't binary). After the first 100th wheelset, you begin to see the difference between oil/greased nipples versus SpokePrep/Loctite/Linseeded ones. Same with riding 50k-miles on the same wheelset and comparing it to others of different construction.