Originally Posted by
prathmann
If I were building a wheel for someone else, esp. if for pay, then I'd insist on new spokes. No way of knowing what stresses they may have seen before and I wouldn't want to have to later fix any problems that may have been due to existing spoke issues.
My feelings exactly. The mechanic is not scamming you. And he might have a belief that old spokes are a bad idea, and he's wrong, but he's also right to insist on new spokes. It's the only way he can be sure that the wheel is built right with good materials.