Before I get to the gist of things - better lay down my qualifications first so a couple posters here don't go "off" on me on the assumption that I don't know what I'm talking about...
1. 2000+ Bicycles Wheels Built Since 1984
2. Includes many rebuilds and re-use of hubs, rims and SPOKES.
3. Includes steel rims, alloy rims, titanium spokes, entry level all the way up to $1500.00 sets of wheels.
4. At any time I am maintaining, using and repairing up to 4 Phil Wood Spoke machines from serial number 12 all the way up to 1204.
Subject 1: Reusing Spokes
If you did the following:
- Personally salvaged the spokes yourself.
- Determined that the old wheel was properly tensioned.
- Determined that the old wheel didn't suffer from chronic spoke breakage.
- There is no visible damage such as occurs from a chain incident.
Resuse of spokes is a viable option if you really need to save money. If they are DT, Wheelsmith, Alpina, Echelon, Hoshi - you'll have a better success rate.
I as a matter of habit and trust do not throw away DT spokes from wheels that I salvage. I reuse DT all the time - so do a lot of my customers. Other wheelbuilders I know will save used Wheelsmith and Phil spokes.
Subject 2: Re-rolling Threads
Nothing wrong with re-rolling threads. Factory producers of spokes use rolling dies - Phil Wood Spoke Machine and Morizumi Spoke Machine do the same. I've used Phil Wood Spoke machines to re-roll threads over existing threads without issues probably 10,000+ times.
99.9% of your spoke breakage issues folks are going to be at the head.
Subject 3: Radial Lacing and Hub Flange
As some have mentioned - radial laced wheels can be harsh wheels ride-wise. But they are harsher on the hub flanges and holes.
- Do your tensioning in small increments.
- Keep the average kgf in the 103-110 range.
- If with a true wheel you get 1 or more spokes that are already past 110 kgf before the others have even reached 100 kgf - consider stopping at an average of 100-103 kgf.
It IS very easy to rip a hole. All it takes is one hole - wheel is done with. I've seen it happen - you end up tossing an otherwise perfectly fine hub.
Warranty-wise the manufacturers treat you like a nobody - I don't blame em.
Good Luck!
