Originally Posted by Duragrouch

Ah, didn't know that, thanks. One would think a factory seal is best... but how does one replace a broken spoke, without exposing the nipple head inside the wheel to hold it in place? I suppose if you have really long nipples with a bit shorter spoke, you could easily unscrew the nipple and hold it while lacing and threading on the new spoke.

A good while back I saw some Shimano road race wheels (I think possibly from the LeMond era, not certain), with spokes that had a Z/S bend that inserted easily into the rim side, then crossed over to the hub flange on the opposite side, which had nipples in a straight-pull configuration. That setup looked brilliant, because it put the rim spoke holes on the neutral axis in bending of the rim, loaded in shear instead of tension normal to the surface like most spokes, so should be more durable. But I mention because it would solve the problem above.