oh, carp!

replaced spoke, re-tensioned (you know the drill) wheel.
rode about an hour on concrete farm tracks...ping.
same deal....broke off three turns into the thread.

looks like whomever made the spokes might have cut
and/or rolled the threads too deep. deep enough that
the threads look different. stick one of the (alleged)
counterfeit pillar spokes in a group of priorly purchased
pillar spokes, can spot the offending spoke every time
just by the look of the threads.

could still be operator head space error, but i'm going
with counterfeit spokes.

will rebuild with sapim strong. i like that 2.3 at the elbow.

This is why I use Wheelsmith. I think the problem could be they didn't have the right size and recut them. But that should be obvious at this point in your scrutiny, and probably only an issue with straights.

If you think they were twisted, support the hub on the floor, grab the naked rim like a steering wheel and press with all your weight, you will hear the spokes reset. I do that when building wheels it is a form of stress release. I do multiple versions of stress release, though the main one is always squeezing pairs.

this is fun. now on third set of spokes.

first set was mis-ordered. the seller said he had all sizes, but he meant he could make
all sizes. the misorder? the website is in chinese. and silly me at the time didn't
know there was this thing called straight pull spokes, so when the chinese said straight
spokes.....well, i did get straight guage spokes, but they were also straight pull.
it was in chinese, dammit! and check the picture on the webpage!

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=517962

so now i've got 40 266mm-long stainless steel BBQ skewers!

the second seller had only odd lengths, no 266mm, so went with 255 and 257.
the wheelbuilder program called for 255.5 and 257.0

i was mistaken on the DS breakage, as i'd used one of the 255's after replacing
four of the 257's. DS no problem. All broke at the threads. looks like a factory
problem (assuming not counterfeit....a HUGE assumption here!!), as no sign of
rerolling.

can they still be used? maybe on a front wheel? novatec front hubs
with same rim will take the same spokes. already have BBQ skewers.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=517963

could not get sapim strong or dt competion in 255, 256, 257, so went with
pillar tribble butted. 2.2/2.0/1.8/2.0 with 14mm nipples.

got the new batch, seller said he had all sizes, so ordered 256mm. i think he
meant he "could" have all sizes. spokes were obviously re-rolled! different
colored thread sections, white ends not all cut cleanly.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=517971

i calculated that 5mm new thread means the spokes were orginally 261mm.

OH CARP! but mr. googles tells me it's common practice for lbs's to cut and
re-roll spokes. seemed ok-ish, i guess. all the theads were continuous, no
problem threading the nipples on. maybe, just maybe.....

went ahead and built the wheel (is good practice), stress-relieving the CARP
out of it. DS spokes come to the screwdriver slot, NDS spokes about
1mm higher. all the threads, including 4mm original factory thread,
is inside the nipple contacting the nipple threads.

seems ok after 100km of pavement.........

May I recommend getting spokes from Switzerland (DT) or Belgium (sapim) [As marked on the box of 50?]

I know your locale excels in low price leadership attractive to companies around the world
to boost profits , by having things made there.. anyhow, Best of Luck ..

More spokes the Merrier in Loaded touring wheels IMO.

One of the wheels I've had or have, it's been a year or so ago that it happened. I ended up breaking a couple of spokes at the nipple. I wouldn't say it can't happen, its just rare that it does. In my case it wasn't a home built wheel.