I know we have some true bike experts on here so some may agree with this wheel build and some may not. I chose what I chose based on my experiences as a 220lb hardtail rider, both geared and singlespeed and as a several year veteran wheel builder.
I use Wheelsmith spoke prep on all my wheels and they go through AT LEAST 3-5 cycles of pre-stressing and re-truing before they go out the door. I offer free truing and tensioning for LIFE as long as the wheel components are not physically damaged.
My favorite 29er build right now is 32 spoke 3 cross, built with Hope Pro II hubs, DT Swiss Supercomp spokes, alloy nipples, and Velocity Blunt rims. These have held up to my punishment in several 6 hour single speed solo races and a couple of years of singletrack riding with no failures or issues. I have not touched these wheels since I built them.
For Scott's build I wanted to add a little beef to my typical 29er build without adding too much weight. I have built mountain bike wheels on Hope, King, Hadley, Shimano, and WTB hubs and the only ones I have had ZERO issues with, other than having a fairly soft alloy freehub body, are the Hopes. I stuck with the Hope Pro II hub but will be using the steel replacement freehub body. For spokes I wanted a little more beef than the triple butted Super Comps so I'm going with the DT Swiss Competition double butted spokes. I'll be using brass nipples rather than alloy, and staying with the 32 spoke 3 cross pattern. For rims I'm going with the Velocity P-35 and their new Velotape tubeless conversion. These rims are super wide at 35mm wide
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Wow1
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
and will really add some air volume and a wide contact patch to the tire. The extra air volume should allow for a nice soft ride as well as greater flexibility in tire pressures. With the new Velotape system Scott will be able to use either tube type or UST tires tubeless, or run tubes simply by removing the tubeless valve stem that can be removed or installed without tools. No rim strips!
Personally, I would run a tube type tire tubeless with sealer for single track and a UST tire with sealer for the extra strength when touring.
Here are links to all the goodies and I should have everything in by tommorow or Friday and start posting pics.
rims-
http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=715
velotape tubeless conversion-
http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=745
spokes-
http://www.dtswiss.com/Products/Components/Spokes/DT-competition.aspx
nipples-
http://www.dtswiss.com/Products/Components/Nipples/DT-standard-brass.aspx
hubs-
http://www.hopetechusa.com/voir_rhpr32bqr.html
http://www.hopetechusa.com/voir_fhpr32bqr.html
Of course in true EXPO fashion, the component colors are black, black, black and black!