Originally Posted by
Peedtm
Was the rim on another wheel the first year? It's not recommended to re-use rims/hubs, but people do it all the time. Maybe this is why?
I'll add that mechanically-knowledgeable people are among those who re-use rims and hubs all the time. It's possible that a slightly different spoke tension or different angle of spoke pull has to do with the eyelet cracking, but it's also possible that it was something else altogether. Again, pictures would help to figure out what's going on.