Wheel building

Chips Lovell

Has anyone built a set of wheels from scratch before? And if so, how did they find it? I'm half thinking of giving it a try this winter. Not so much that I need new wheels, but more for the experience. Or am I just asking for grief?

ednwireland

trying to change a rim at the moment, and finding it very difficult to get the wheel centred and true again only doing it cos a rim was 25 quid and thought i'd give it a go must have another think about it

didnt do the whole just swapped the spokes,still difficult though

trad

First thing is to make absolutely sure that you have the correct length spokes. Rear wheel will be different lenght on freewheel side due to offset. Best to photograph the old wheel if you are rebuilding or have a simular wheel to hand so you can see where the spokes go. Don't have spokes crossing under the valve hole and make sure you have a very good nipple key.

I found a pump action screwdriver (stanley yankee) excellent for running up the nipples. After that it's a question of even tension and getting the wheel to run true without hops, a wheel trueing stand is a godsend and then don't forget to center your rear wheel with your frame.

After about 2 weeks of pulling your hair out, bring them up to Jimmy Humphreys in finglas and get Steve Flynn to build them properly.

flickerx

el tonto wrote: »

Has anyone built a set of wheels from scratch before? And if so, how did they find it? I'm half thinking of giving it a try this winter. Not so much that I need new wheels, but more for the experience. Or am I just asking for grief?

Hmm. I've done about seven or eight wheels, it gets easier, and you find your technique, but the first couple I made were infuriating, I was going cross eyed from sitting there trying to get it trued. I'd straighten one bit, and then another kink would appear on the opposite side of the rim. I'd also start to make mistakes with the spoke nipple key because if you're going at them from the inside of the rim, you're turning in the opposite directions to normal, to tighten and loosen the nipples.

The very first one I built, after a week I took it apart and started completely again from scratch, replacing one or two nipples. Just take your time tightening up the spokes, when you get to a certain point (three threads showing on the spokes) only do half turns on each one, round and round and round, slow slow slow.

barrabus

there are a couple of decent wheel building demos on youtube.

Chips Lovell

trad wrote: »

First thing is to make absolutely sure that you have the correct length spokes. Rear wheel will be different lenght on freewheel side due to offset. Best to photograph the old wheel if you are rebuilding or have a simular wheel to hand so you can see where the spokes go. Don't have spokes crossing under the valve hole and make sure you have a very good nipple key.

I found a pump action screwdriver (stanley yankee) excellent for running up the nipples. After that it's a question of even tension and getting the wheel to run true without hops, a wheel trueing stand is a godsend and then don't forget to center your rear wheel with your frame.

Cheers. I've got a stand already (which I have to retrieve from Caroline) and some decent spoke wrenches.

trad wrote: »

After about 2 weeks of pulling your hair out, bring them up to Jimmy Humphreys in finglas and get Steve Flynn to build them properly.

That had me laughing.

flickerx wrote: »

Hmm. I've done about seven or eight wheels, it gets easier, and you find your technique, but the first couple I made were infuriating, I was going cross eyed from sitting there trying to get it trued. I'd straighten one bit, and then another kink would appear on the opposite side of the rim. I'd also start to make mistakes with the spoke nipple key because if you're going at them from the inside of the rim, you're turning in the opposite directions to normal, to tighten and loosen the nipples.

The very first one I built, after a week I took it apart and started completely again from scratch, replacing one or two nipples. Just take your time tightening up the spokes, when you get to a certain point (three threads showing on the spokes) only do half turns on each one, round and round and round, slow slow slow.

This is kind of what I think I might be letting myself in for. My experience of fixing badly out of true wheels has been a bit like that. I guess what I'm hoping to hear is whether it gets easier with practice or whether its a very tricky skill that only few can master.

trad

I found with the pump action screwdriver as the spoke comes up through the nipple the screwdriver blade gets pushed off and you end up with an even amount of thread on each spoke. At the end you will probably have to file the heads of the spokes that protrude above the nipples.

It takes a great deal of experience to get it right and I don't mean a dozen or so wheels. There is nothing worse than a spongey wheel that starts to loosen up 50k from home.

By all means have a go and you will respect a good wheel builder. Flyner is building wheels since the 70's and was always considered "the man". I had a superb wheelbuilder when I had my bike shop and he would give him a run for his money, but I don't think he's involved in the bike trade anymore.

flickerx

el tonto wrote: »

Cheers. I've got a stand already (which I have to retrieve from Caroline) and some decent spoke wrenches.

What kind is it, where'd ya get it, how much was it?

(That sounds suspectly like a cyclist version of "whats yer name, where you from, what you on?", seeing as how we were talking about raves earlier..)

el tonto wrote: »

This is kind of what I think I might be letting myself in for. My experience of fixing badly out of true wheels has been a bit like that. I guess what I'm hoping to hear is whether it gets easier with practice or whether its a very tricky skill that only few can master.

It gets easier with practice, but I'm sure (like everything) there's a few people who excel at the skill, and can do it with their eyes closed, and their builds are true and at the correct tension, even before they go anywhere near it with a tensiometer.

lukester

I was thinking of building my own wheels last year for a now-abandoned fixed gear project. Found this guy's page helpful at the time- took a lot of the mystery out of it. He does emphasise it requires lots of patience.

Chips Lovell

flickerx wrote: »

What kind is it, where'd ya get it, how much was it?

I have the Minoura stand. For the life of me I can't remember where I bought it from or how much it cost. I thought it was CRC but I went though my old orders there and it wasn't listed.

it's mick

i laced my wheels myself then dropped them down to little sport and got them trued and tensioned for a tenner each. very quick and easy to do that since you skip all the hard parts.
http://lenni.info/edd/

here's a nice spoke calculator if you decide to go ahead.

niceonetom

Where are you artisans buying your spokes?

Chips Lovell

Someone was ready BSNYC today.

niceonetom

el tonto wrote: »

Someone was ready BSNYC today.

Do you mean me?

Chips Lovell

I do. I liked the Artisan is a labourer with a Twitter account.

niceonetom

I assure you, my use of the word artisan was completely coincidental.

Chips Lovell

My apologies in that case.

thehangtenguy

I tried to build a wheel in my early 20's without doing any proper research beforehand and failed miserably. Ended up scrapping spokes and rim.
Gave it another go in my early 30's after doing some research on the internet and in a bike maintainence book i picked up on the internet.
Take your time and be patient and you will suceed!. First wheel took me 3 nights spending 3-4 hours every night. i've have up to now completed 4 wheel builds and i find it a very satifying job to do and get right. I'd highly recommend it and i have noticed a substantial reduction in the how often i have issues with wheels going out of thru. Do it!.:)

doozerie

I've been building my own wheels for a few years. The tricky bits are lacing the wheel correctly to start with (you just need the relevant info) and getting the spoke tension right (too tight = the rim will crack, too loose = the wheel will come apart on the road). Getting the spoke tension right is a matter of having a tensiometer or just using feel and/or hearing - either option works well. Getting the wheel centred/dished correctly is tricky too, but not if you have a good wheel stand or a frame that you know is straight.

The info in [url="http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html']this page[/url] covers most of what you need, the rest is just a matter of spending the time. The more you do the faster you get, although I don't build them often enough to be quick so it still takes me a couple of hours per wheel.

As regards spoke keys I've always found the Park Tool keys to be excellent. Not the triple key, it's not very comfortable for extended use, go for the likes of the SW-0.

Straatvark

I have one of these:

Before I had it, I used one of these "big" wooden matches, sharpened like a pencil, then wedge the spoke nipple on top of it.

Both save you a lot of time putting on the nipples during the "no tension" state.

If you do a complete new wheel:
1) use correct spoke length
2) use a wheel stand - make life a lot easier
3) mark spokes on one side with black ink - keep track / detect any torsion that happen when spoke turn with spanner
4) Stress relieve spokes
5) go on knees and release any torsion in spokes by decrease tension on one side of the wheel at a time. Carefull here. I was told the process is called "pray to the wheel gods";)
6) lots of other little tips, but each wheel gets done quicker and better. Most important - make sure you have a six pack nearby and take your time.

I was taught by this true master:http://www.yellowsaddle.co.za/

I can recommend him, I'm sure if you can fit it between two 2010 world cup games:D

Acoustic

yep steve flynns your man

friend of the family for years and drops over every wed evening and sat

sibyrne

Consult Sheldon.

www.sheldonbrown.com

Ant

I'd also highly recommend that you go ahead and give this a go - particularly if you already have experience trueing wheels.

In the past, I've built about 5 mountain bike wheels all of which had to put up with a fair amount of abuse but performed very well. The first time I tried building a wheel, I made a mess of the lacing pattern and only realised near the end so I had to start from start from scratch so that wheel took a few evenings before it was finished. The following wheels took less and less time as I gained experience.

It's a really good feeling to cycle wheels that you've built yourself. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I used to get great satisfaction from ensuring that all the spokes were equally tensioned and that the rim was true laterally and longitudinally. I don't have a tensiometer but the spoke tension can be compared by listening to the pitch of the plucked spokes - similar to tuning a guitar. (If you feel like spending more money, a dishing tool can be a useful investment.)

I'd recommend when working on your wheel that you make a good pot of tea, set up your wheel and truing stand in the middle of your speakers and put on some good music. (I find classical, ambient and other electronic music work well). Best of luck with it.