Originally Posted by
dscheidt
People screw up. Maybe they calculated the spoke length wrong, maybe they didn't have the right spokes, maybe the box was labeled wrong, and clearly no one cared enough to look at the length. There are only two reasons nipple break. One is the spoke is too short. The other is the nipples are total junk, and can't handle the tension. Either way it's a defective wheel. Two years is probably longer than the warranty, so buy a new hoop, some spokes (of the correct length!) and rebuild it. Or get someone local to do it for you.
Yes, this might explain why they built it this way, but in no way excuses it. It becomes a question of integrity. Some people may send out poor product out of ignorance, not know there was a problem. Or, and worse in my opinion, because they simply don't care.
There's no way a builder doesn't notice the spokes are too short. So either he really doesn't know what he's doing, or totally lacks personal integrity. Either disqualifies him as a vendor as far as I'm concerned.