A few years ago, I bought a cheap wheel at my local shop for my fixed gear bike.  I didn't have a track hub handy, so it was cheaper and faster to just buy a wheel instead of build one up.  It has 36 straight gauge spokes, so I thought it'd be plenty durable.

In point of fact, it has not been durable.  I break spokes a lot.  In the past week, I've broken two spokes (once while riding rollers).  I've had as many as three break on a long ride before.  Since there are 36 spokes, 1-3 missing isn't a big deal and I make it home with a wobbly wheel.

Whenever a spoke breaks, I replace it with a nice double butted, high quality spoke from DT or Sapim.  Out of the 36 original spokes, I think I'm down to about 12 or so originals.  I figure by the end of this winter, I'll have them all changed out, and I'll finally have a reliable wheel.

I could change all the remaining spokes at once, but where's the fun in that?