I’m having some road wheels built using open pro rims and white industries road hubs.

I’ve found a local wheelbuilder who is reknown for building excellent wheels.

I phoned the builder today to ask for a price, which seems reasonable. However I was told that they never use double butted spokes, which I thought everyone used in decent wheels.

Now this guy has a good reputation and I have no wheelbuilding experience. Do I go with him and use straight gauge spokes, or do I get him to order some double butted in (which he seemed happy to do, he just didn’t see the point)?

How odd. When I build wheels, I consider db spokes default and then consider if the application requires something different.

I guess the reason for double butted is weight? How much less do double butted weigh per spoke?

That is bizarre. You should insist on double butted spokes. They offer a significant weight saving and are more than strong enough for most applications, especially on a road bike.

Is he quite old and always right? 😉

Lots of evidence out there for DB being stronger, even if it seems counter intuitive for something skinnier to be stronger.

Is he quite old and always right?

aren’t they always?

thanks for the replies, I’ll get him to order some double butted in…

I’m also wary of wheel builders with reputations. They’re not all bad but it’s not difficult to make a wheel that’s good enough and with that and a bit of bluster, a reputation can grow. Have you ever been in a shop that tells you their wheel builder is above average, or just average? They all have the best wheel builders ever. There’s no way to quantify this provided the wheels they build don’t fall apart. People keep this going because they want to believe their wheels were build by some wizard with a grain of fairy dust on every spoke hole. No area of the bike is surrounded by so much bs.