spoke count makes less of a difference than rim shape, true, but unless you're a clydesdale, you might want to look at another hub. yes, Kings are cool and all that, but like you said, they only do down to 28. you can get lower-count hubs from White Industries or American Classic.

now, spokes. according to Zipp, oval spokes are more aero than the deeper blades (and lighter). more importantly, you will need probably need to have the hub slotted to fit the blades. not sure if King will honor the warranty after that, I know C and S won't. the sapim cx-ray is the premier oval spoke, and doesn't require the hub to be slotted. there are cheaper alternatives: the wheelsmith xe14 and ae15. the former is 14/16g ovalized, like the sapim. the latter is 15/16. from www.oddsandendos.com, xe14s are $1.89 a piece, ae15s are $0.59. last year, Mike had the ze14s for $1.37, not sure what happened. either way, you'll save a bit over sapims which are like $2.50 a spoke. unless you are going down to 16 spokes, I think the ae15s will be OK. Zipp used to use wheelsmith 15g ovals (just straight gauge but ovalized) on their wheels.

Thanks. I am a clydesdale, so the wheel weight, 24 vs 28 spoke not concern to me. So, I could use ovals with the zipp and King combo? wheelbuilder does carry the wheelsmith ae15 for half the price of the cx-ray.

Thanks again....

I would say you could use the ae15s, but I would check with wheelbuilder.com. these guys, presumably, have built up carbon rims before. I have not. I did have a 16 spoke front with an am classic hub and a ritchey wcs aero rim laced up with ae15s, and it held up fine until hit by a truck.