On Thursday, January 10, 2019 at 10:04:10 PM UTC-5, Mark J. wrote:



Other: I'm ~170 lbs and strong enough though not as in days of yore, but
bike is geared quite low so on the steep stuff, the hub sees a fair bit
of torque. Tires 700x25, typically 105-110 psi. Paved road use except
for a handful of miles.

You shouldn't have any problems building a wheel that can handle 170# using those parts under most any conditions. The velocity rim probably wasn't a wise choice, but the DT with the nipple washers will be great.



QUESTIONS:

Q1: I don't use thread compound or linseed oil, and would rather not
start now. I lubricate threads and nipple/washer contact with light
grease. What is a reasonable minimum non-drive-side tension to be
confident the spokes won't loosen?

I'm partway though tensioning the new rim, and think I can get the NDS
up to ~80 kgf if I push the DS up to DT's recommended max tension (1200
Newtons, or 122 kgf). I'm confident 80kgf is plenty on the NDS, but I
may want to put less than max tension on the DS (and thus less that 80
kgf on the NDS) to give me more margin on the cracking problem.

I'd still stay wit the MFRs specs. Also, avoid _any_ abuse for the first hundred (at least) miles, including any efforts that exert high torque. As the wheel settles, of course the tension will drop, Stressing an under-tensioned wheel is a sure way to end up with a taco. Just give it a tune-up after every ride until the tension stops changing, then you can just do periodic maintenance.



Q2: Do we suppose DT's (and/or Velocity's) max tension recommendation
has enough margin that stress-relieving the spokes won't overstress the
nipple holes?

Velocity I don't know about, but I trust DT.

I reefed on the last build pretty hard at
stress-relieving time, Could that have weakened the rim in a way that
only showed up 10,000 miles later? I have belonged to the church of
stress-relieving for a long time, but my faith is weak.

I've never heard the term 'reef' in this context. but I'm assuming you mean the stress-releiveing process? Without quantifying what actual stresses you placed on the rim it's impossible to know. I will say that getting 10,000 miles on a rim with no reinforcement around the nipple isn't bad.


Q3: (let the religious wars begin!) I would think that stress-relieving
is of primary benefit with J-bend spokes. Does it really help with
straight-pulls?

It never hurts.


Notes: I have studied the sacred writings of the Jobst, on multiple
occasions, though I'll admit I'm having a hard time fully grokking his
stress-relieving argument.
I just did it 'cause "why not?" Now I'm quavering.
Also note that with bladed straight-pull spokes, any spoke wind-up would
be immediately obvious ('cause bladed), and anyway perhaps impossible
because the entire spoke, including the head, just turns on you.


Right now my inclination is to tension the DS at the recommended limit,
stress-relieve just a little less vigorously than last time, hope that
the nipple washers that DT mandates (and supplies) will spread out the
stress better at the nipple holes, expect at least 10k miles of
usefulness, and hope for more.

I completely agree with this.

Good luck.