Good Wheel Builder

cormpat

I have a Dura Ace C24 7850 rear wheel that got damaged in a crash last year. It had about 6 or 7 broken spokes & was knocked out of true. I gave it to a local mechanic & while he replaced the spokes he was unable to true the wheel. I emailed Chain Reaction & Cycle Super Store to see if they could rebuild the wheel with new spokes & rim but got no reply. Can anyone recommend a good wheel builder?

Thanks,

Junior

Where are you based ?

cormpat

Junior wrote: »

Where are you based ?

Galway city, but would post the wheel to some where in Ireland if needs be.

Tibulus

Heard of a guy called Clive in wheel2 on south William St, shop was one eurocycles. Guy got me out of a tight one recently was recommended by my local bike shop.

Mefistofelino

Problem is that the replacement Shimano parts are buttock-clenchingly expensive. A full set of spokes and nipples (or a "wheel unit" as its called) for the rear is the wrong side of €100 and the Dura Ace rims are over €200 IIRC (though I believe its the same rim as the Ultegra version which is probably 60% of the price). If you could get an Ultegra rear wheel, it might be cheaper to cannibalise it for spokes / rims than buying the Dura Ace parts as spares.

I don't know if its possible to rebuild the wheel with non-Shimano parts (straight-pull conventional spokes and a deep section rim). I've seen it discussed but have never seen the end-product. One of the UK wheelbuilders used to have a comment in his FAQs that there was no point bring him defunct Dura Ace wheels for repair as there was nothing he could do.

cormpat

Mefistofelino wrote: »

Problem is that the replacement Shimano parts are buttock-clenchingly expensive. A full set of spokes and nipples (or a "wheel unit" as its called) for the rear is the wrong side of €100 and the Dura Ace rims are over €200 IIRC (though I believe its the same rim as the Ultegra version which is probably 60% of the price). If you could get an Ultegra rear wheel, it might be cheaper to cannibalise it for spokes / rims than buying the Dura Ace parts as spares.

I don't know if its possible to rebuild the wheel with non-Shimano parts (straight-pull conventional spokes and a deep section rim). I've seen it discussed but have never seen the end-product. One of the UK wheelbuilders used to have a comment in his FAQs that there was no point bring him defunct Dura Ace wheels for repair as there was nothing he could do.

Cheers, maybe there's a reason why Chain Reaction & Cycle Super Store ignored my emails!

I don't think the Ultegra is the same though as I have a pair of them as well & they're aluminum while the Dura Ace is carbon laminate.
I think the RS81 rim is the same as the DA one so was hoping you could do something with that. A new DA9000 rear wheel is around €450-500 mark which is pretty saucy.

pprendeville

cormpat wrote: »

I have a Dura Ace C24 7850 rear wheel that got damaged in a crash last year. It had about 6 or 7 broken spokes & was knocked out of true. I gave it to a local mechanic & while he replaced the spokes he was unable to true the wheel. I emailed Chain Reaction & Cycle Super Store to see if they could rebuild the wheel with new spokes & rim but got no reply. Can anyone recommend a good wheel builder?

Thanks,

What did your local mechanic charge you for the spokes/nipples? Strange he couldn't true it. Is it out of true laterally (side to side) or radially (up/down bumps)? Any competent wheelbuilder should be able to do this unless it's the actual rim itself that may have been warped but you'd imagine tensioning the spokes would sort that out.

cormpat

pprendeville wrote: »

What did your local mechanic charge you for the spokes/nipples? Strange he couldn't true it. Is it out of true laterally (side to side) or radially (up/down bumps)? Any competent wheelbuilder should be able to do this unless it's the actual rim itself that may have been warped but you'd imagine tensioning the spokes would sort that out.

He didn't charge me anything as he wasn't able to repair it. I'd say its out of true both laterally and radially. When you spin it, its going all over the place, up & down & side to side. I actually gave it to two mechanic's & neither could do anything with it. The first just said there was too many spokes broken & didn't do anything with it & the 2nd tried but couldn't true it. In fairness to the 2nd mechanic he never claimed to be an expert wheel builder, he said its his weak point.

Mefistofelino

Its worth bearing in mind that for any low spoke count wheel (like the Shimanos), the spoke tension will be higher than conventional wheels with higher spoke counts. For the C24, Shimano advise

For rear:
Right (sprocket) side 1000-1400N (225-315Ibf)
Left side 600-1000N (135-225Ibf)

If a wheelbuilder tensions the spokes to more "traditional" values eg 1000 - 1100N on the drive side, there may not be sufficient tension to pull the wheel into shape.

G1032

Have you asked the guys in the cycle shop in Moycullen? I believe one of them builds wheels??

cormpat

G1032 wrote: »

Have you asked the guys in the cycle shop in Moycullen? I believe one of them builds wheels??

I haven't yet, but I'm in the process of getting it sorted. Thanks.

Plastik

cormpat wrote: »

I haven't yet, but I'm in the process of getting it sorted. Thanks.

Through whom? Now that the season is done I wouldn't mind dropping a wheel to someone that might be able to do similar for me. My LBS had it for a while, were patient with it and gave it a good shot but it's just still not right.

joey59

Not sure if this is the best place to put this but can anyone recommend a good bike fitter in the Cork City/Mallow area. I don’t want to go to a Giant store and pay €200 to get minimal difference. I’d be quiet happy for a cycling expert somewhere to make himself a few bob on the side and maybe fill me in on one or two cycling queries. It doesn’t need to be high tech but it does need to be correct obviously