Originally Posted by
TiHabanero
Do keep in mind these DB spokes vs. straight gauge spoke discussions are more theoretical than practical in application, meaning in application it makes no difference provided all materials in the wheel are of proper design, ie rim/spoke/hub/build and of good quality. My experience from working in a bike shop as a full-time or part-timer since 1981 is that there is no real world difference between the two types of spokes as long as the builder knows what they are doing and the rims, hubs, spokes and nipples are good quality stuff.
I’ve replaced hundreds of broken spokes over the years at my local co-op. Almost all of them have been straight gauge spokes. Granted, the vast majority of spokes in the wild are straight gauge but I have replaced very few butted spokes.
I have personally built dozens of wheels with straight gauge spokes and have zero fatigue failures. My friend Al, builds them as a side biz and he has the same track record as myself. Zero failures.
That you know of. I’ve built dozens of wheels myself. None of them have been for anyone outside of my immediate family’s fleet and most of them for my own substantial collection so I know where they are ridden and when spokes fail. Early on in building, I broke lots of spokes and used straight gauge exclusively. I’ve used double butted spokes for a while and still broke some of them but not nearly at the rate that straight gauge spokes broke. Since going to triple butted spokes, breakage has dropped even further to almost zero. I don’t keep records and have to rely on my own memory but I’ll gladly admit that I’m not perfect. But I also recognize that it makes a difference…particularly when it comes to the triple butted (2.3/1.8/2.0mm) spokes.