Bicycle Mechanics - Wheel At The End of It's Life?

My rear wheel has been giving me a lot of trouble lately. between some too far stretched spokes (they seem too loose like the nipple isn't even doing anything) and some really bad tension (looseness). I've trued the wheel a handful of times and had my lbs do the latest one after I replaced two spokes that i felt were too stretched and weren't holding any weight. and the problem still seems to be coming back. did a quick truing job last night and this has been on my mind all day at work.

I almost feel like buying a new wheel, but can't really do that for a couple of playchecks. should I just buy 32 new spokes and rebuild it? the hub is fine, not pitted or anything. the rim is kinda old and has one or two dents.

the non cassette side I felt has always been a problem.

I'd say it is shot. You don't say what kind of wheel it is, but new rim and spokes would be in order. Don't reuse the rim if it is dented, don't reuse a rim even without dents. There is so much tension put on the rim that it would never be as strong again after a rebuild.

Check the rim for small cracks near the spoke holes. This would be a fatal condition.

I almost feel like buying a new wheel, but can't really do that for a couple of playchecks. should I just buy 32 new spokes and rebuild it? the hub is fine, not pitted or anything. the rim is kinda old and has one or two dents.

the non cassette side I felt has always been a problem.

A wheel has 4 components: Hub, spokes, rim and build quality. The last one is the most important.

If you feel that the non-drive side has always been a problem, I suspect that your wheel was originally built with inadequate spoke tension. If it was my wheel I'd rebuild it with a new rim and new spokes. Whether you use a tensiometer or the "tone pluck" method, I'd work very hard to make sure that all of the spokes on each side of the wheel have equal tension.

An old rim, especially one that's been retrued several times and that has a couple of dents, is almost certainly warped and/or out-of-round and isn't worth struggling with.

Thanks for the help. I guess I'll bite the bullet and get a new wheel.

Do yourself a favor and have the new wheel gone over and properly tensioned by a competent wheel tech. Many new wheels lack proper tension even though they are true and feel great. As Retro Grouch posted, the most important component is build quality. Even a bargain wheel can be greatly improved this way and you will be rewarded with a dependable wheel assembly.

Spokes aren't tensioned enough to streach (yield). If there isn't enough tension the spoke nipple can unwind when it's in the 6 o'clock position.