Very interesting, all of this. I've built with double butted spokes (2.0-1.8-2.0 and 2.0-1.5-2.0) and the resulting wheelsets have been fine. Nothing to gush over other than the considerable weight savings over straight gauge spokes, IMO. I am in the middle of building a set with Ultegra 6500 hubs, polished H Plus Son TB14 rims, and DT Swiss Champion straight gauge spokes. 2,045g for the wheelset. Not light! Sure, the TB14s are a hair over 500g--no Open Pros that's for sure--but a lot closer to 200g could be shaved in switching to butted spokes alone.

I've built TB14s to both 7400 Dura-Ace hubs and Superbe Pro hubs, both times using the fancier butted spoke profiles (1.5 butting for the front and NDS rear, 1.8 butting for the DS rear). Both times the resulting ride was less than desirable over Seattle streets unless the tire size was 35mm or bigger. Given that (broken record here) straight gauge 36-spoke wheels on my Cannondale SR don't kill me, and neither does the 6400-to-Matrix-Iso-C-II wheel build (straight gauge again) on my OS Paramount, I am hopeful and certainly a somewhat confident that a straight gauge spoke setup on these TB14s will yield a more cohesive and pleasant reaction to street irregularities. So I'll take "less stiff" if it means everybody in the wheelset ecosystem gets along better. The wheelset will certainly dazzle with all it's anodized and polished pieces, which is a big reason I built it up.