I've got them. The DT spokes are obviously the sensible choice but since I never break spokes I thought I'd go for the novelty. I did ask them to stick a few spare spokes and nipples in the box just in case. Once riding I wouldn't know what spokes I had and none have snapped so far.

I went with pillar spokes from LB, derailiure hangar snapped, mech went through wheel and took 5 spokes out. Wheels only came with 3 spares.

Just had the back wheel rebuilt localy on DT spokes, as the Pillar ones are pricey and hard to get.

I'd go DT personaly.

We run the 1422s on our wheels, over the 1420s as they are the biggest aero spoke you can run in a standard hub without loads of issues fitting them through. If you run Aero spokes then if you run them crossed they can/will creak annoyingly, so you really should lace them up helicopter style (where the spokes don't touch). In order to do this, the extra 10% width helps with keeping the wheels stiffer for a tiny real terms weight penalty. Thats not to say the 1420s would be noticeably different to ride, but the difference in weight isn't worth worrying about for a stronger spoke. Whether you go DT? Depends on the hub. I would not build a straight pull wheel with [i]standard[/i] round spokes, so that would be a decider for me above all other factors. If you are building onto a j-bend hub, DT would be a more sensible choice most likely.

The Pillar spokes are good quality though, so no worries on that front, whatever you decided to build.

I got some LB wheels on June with the pillar spokes and matching alloy nipples. Used them for racing ove the summer and have put a lot of miles onto them with no major problems. As previous post said they creak but it is the nipples that creak not the spokes. I suffered a number of random nipple breakages which has now been solved by replacing the alloy nipples with brass dt ones. My wheel builder said the quality of the wheels and building was very good but due to the angle that the spoke anters the nipple is was making the creaking noise and causing stress on the soft alloy nipples.
I have had a number of large rocks flick into the spokes while riding with only cosmetic damage so i would reccommend the spokes and rims but go for brass nipples. Better in the long run corrosion wise too.

Interesting comment re aero spokes creaking - I have wheels with both cxrays and aerolite on road and mtb wheels and haven't had a problem! The reason I like them is because of they're supposed to be stronger & lighter than regular round spokes and easier to build with (for me anyway)because they can be held to stop them twisting when tightening nipples

Thanks for the opinions guys, much appreciated.

The hubs will be DT Swiss 240s & the rims I'm looking at are the 38mm. Can't really touch the price, otherwise I'd order the bits & have them built locally.
I've had similar feedback from someone with the Ibis 741 rims re the angle on an alloy nipple, he recommended 2-cross build rather than 3-cross to reduce this. will probably go for brass nipples anyway, as I've read various things about corrosion between alloy ones & carbon rims.

My biggest worry was similar to Mattyfez, I've managed to stuff a rear mech into some E13 wheels & snapped spokes in a Crossmax XL, so am familiar with difficulty obtaining spokes!

Ben, out of interest, which hubs are you using in the Bird wheels?

Just order 20 spare spokes when you get the wheels and you'll be fine for a couple of mishaps

Or mismatch any spare spokes. No one will know...

I'd have Pillar without qualm.

Were using DT350SP hubs with 36T ratchets.

I've got the pillar aero 1420s, they seem fine, no unreasonable snapping, no creaking either.

I did have a mech/spoke collision, just replaced the snapped ones with cx-rays, did some sums, think i calculated something like a 3% difference in stiffness, ie not worth worrying about.