Originally Posted by
AZORCH
Tom, I'm not a wheel builder myself so forgive my ignorance. Given that the bike was a major brand hybrid, it's a fairly safe bet these are (were!) the original wheels. In your experience have you seen other examples of incorrect gauge spokes paired up on factory built wheels? The thought of experiencing this sort of wheel demise while riding simply scares the ****ake mushrooms right out of me!
This is an outlier in my book. That said, test, don't guess. Big thick spokes, even typical ga. spokes can allow a wheel to be over tensioned, the typical spoke tension of yesteryear is far less than the new modern stuff, which most often has fewer spokes to take the load. Also, a fresh rim, NOS or new production is always the safest bet. That said, I have some wheels built with cheap cad plated spokes and used rims that I built decades ago that are still in service.