I really didn't want to fiddle with a new wheel but my rear was creaking a bit too much after a few rides in the first week. I would suspect a well built wheel would be de-stressed prior to delivery to the customer. That said -I don't believe these wheels were EVER tensioned enough to apply spoke stress. On my tension meter I couldn't even register a kilograms force reading -meaning the tension was too low to translate accurately. I know just enough about wheels to make me dangerous with a nipple wrench -too much time was spent tensioning these up to a standard. (BTW, I used Bill Mould's DVD on wheel-building to guide me on the tensioning process -it's no-nonsense and to the point of a basic wheel build -not a documentary or physics discussion on the bike wheel like some of the books I have read).
Overall, Shimano Ultegra hubs great; A23 wide rim for cyclocross good; DT non-butted spokes okay; 32 holes and lightweight they are not but I purchased these specifically for the width with hopes of a smoother, better cross ride to learn the ropes and build some confidence at the races.
Lastly, with wider rims if you use cantilever brakes you might need to buy road brake pads and holders to allow for the extra space the wider rim uses. I paid 60 dollars for 2 pairs of Rival brake pads -you can spend less.
For us novices, it's really hard to justify paying 2 up to 10 times as much for pro level wheels.
The make-up of these wheels are decent so I think this would be a good buy if you are a newbie rider, are somewhat handy or you know somebody handy. If you have to take them to the bike store for pads&holders and retensioning figure on the extra cost.
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