Originally Posted by
Drew Eckhardt
You don't need any sort of sticky goo provided that you tension your wheels enough and the increased friction is going to cause more wind-up.
Even on the non-drive side of Campagnolo wheels (the longer freehub body moves the drive side flange inward so non-drive side tension is lower than with a Shimano wheel).
Even when lubricating things properly ( I use anti-seize on the spoke threads and a drop of machine oil in each nipple socket).
To each their own... however I use spoke prep not due to the protect against the possibilty of spokes backing out. You are definitely correct - for a properly built wheel with sufficient spoke tension, that will not be a problem.
The reason I like it is it works as a great dry, permanent lubricant (its not gooey when it actually comes to building the wheel, it dries on the spoke threads within a matter of minutes after applying). In my experience it allows for better truing at high tension with less binding between spoke and nipple. Also, it makes future adjustments a breeze, even years down the road.