Great. That's what I thought, ZB. And, yes, I'm using the blue Park Tension gauge. I've only been using Sapim 2.0/1.8/2.0 spokes; so far with great results.

Rootboy, I've been trying my hand at plucking the spokes and I'm better at adjusting tension this way than I thought I'd be when confirming with the Park gauge. That's one of the attractions of building my own wheels. My hands and eyes have been all over that wheel and when I'm done I'm confident in it.

mrmw, my LBS owner and I were talking recently about wheels for heavier riders and a few other customers he has who continually break spokes. He has great customer service and has been replacing spokes for a couple clients at a clip of 3-4 per year on machine built wheels. He has decided not to sell machine built wheels to heavier riders or those whose wheels will see more abuse (skinny tires and pot holes, etc). Actually, he tries not to sell machine built wheels much at all anymore, even though his margins are better. He'd just rather become a better wheel builder and provide a better, longer lasting product.

I agree that at your size you should be riding strong, high quality wheels. Dyads with 36h, laced 3x with 2.0/1.8/2.0 spokes should be sufficient. I think a lot of machine built wheels lack attention to the elbow at the hub flange. As I understand it, it is pretty important to get these seated and situated properly in this area. This is where most spokes break.