Ok I'm not really sure just how much I should share here, but I'm gonna say some stuff anyway. I work at a bike shop. Quite a large bike shop. On the issue of the tubeless conversion, we NEVER do free conversions, simply because 90% of bikes do not come as standard with tubeless tires and that is what i think happened here. I've heard numerous horror stories of people telling me: "Well I can get a free tubeless conversion at shop A or B" and it always ends up the same. We don't do free conversions simply because we'd lose at least R600 on a tire and we will under no circumstances try and do a halfarsed job just to get a sale. If the other parts of the conversion was done correctly, you should've had no issues with the nipples corroding etc. So either the mechanic had no idea what he was doing, or you have had some REALLY bad luck. I'm not sure I'm sold on the corrosion story. With regards to the wheel/s they built for you, that seems like another story in itself. I find it very strange that they have no one in their shop who can build a wheel properly. We have at least 3 in our shop. Maybe that is something they should look at. Not to be rude, but if you are a big guy, maybe you should do a little more research when looking at wheels and stuff. I know it's already been mentioned, but people at bike shops can say whatever they want to a customer to get a sale. Especially customers who know very little about what they're buying. It's sad, but it's true. Doing some research on a product (especially an expensive one like a bike or wheelset) will only do YOU good. I will feel absolutely no different if a customer I'm selling something to knew what he was talking about. In fact, I'd be the first to admit that one or two of my customers have taught me a lot. I understand that us who employed and make a living with the knowledge we have of cycling should always be able to help, but we're only human. But should I not be able to help someone, I can confidently say as a collective, in our shop we have more than enough knowledge to be able to help someone. Anyway, I hope some of my rambling helped a little or at least gave a little perspective.
