vbrakelgr Posted October 15, 2013 Share Hi All, I am really keen to learn how to build my own wheels. Does anyone know where I can do a course on wheelbuilding ? Johan Bornman (Yellowsaddle) use to do it but unfortunately he will not be presenting the course in the future....and I found out to late about it. :-( Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighter-Lights Posted October 15, 2013 Share If you just want to build one set of wheels, it might be better to have it done by someone who's already set up. If you own several sets of wheels and would like to be able to tune all your wheels it might be worthwhile as you'll need some special tools and a truing jig - but that can also be made easily. I highly recommend Roger Musson's Wheel Building book. There's a reason so many reviewers online say it's the best wheel building book. Once you understand the fundamentals and have made the special tools he recommend, with some practise you can build wheels that won't need adjustment for several seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillon Posted October 15, 2013 Share My son and I just built our new wheels, took 1 evening. Youtube has some great videos and there are a number of online spoke calculators that work very well. You can't stuff it up if you follow the video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed Posted October 15, 2013 Share Start with lacing. Even an idiot like me can get that right. Consuly a book or Youtube vid like mentioned above, but then take to a bike shop for a final check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted October 15, 2013 Share Agree with the above comments. It's relatively straight forward to build wheels up, but VERY fulfilling once it's done. It may take a couple of times to get the lacing right, but once it's there you're a for away. As for the truing jig - all you need is the fork and seat stays / chain stays and a ruler with some electrical tape. VERY simple solution to a problem that's not really a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big H* Posted October 15, 2013 Share Download the e-book at the link below...... http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/ It even has instructions to build your own wheel truing stand. It is easy to build, I built mine with very basic power tools while living in Angola. Wheel building is not a dark art as many would try to make you believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighter-Lights Posted October 15, 2013 Share Download the e-book at the link below...... http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/ It even has instructions to build your own wheel truing stand. It is easy to build, I built mine with very basic power tools while living in Angola. Wheel building is not a dark art as many would try to make you believe. Best book on wheel building + Roger will reply to email questions. Money well spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djr50 Posted October 15, 2013 Share Perhaps I can help you on say a Saturday afternoon. Some of the equipment you need. Give a shout if you are interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel J Méssem Posted October 15, 2013 Share Best book on wheel building + Roger will reply to email questions. Money well spent. +1 Read this and rebuilt my wheels last weekend, big difference between the factory built wheels and my new 'hand built' wheels.Having the right equipment is awesome, but it can be done without (as the book explains) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillon Posted October 28, 2013 Share followed a few youtube videos and built 4 wheels in an evening. The lacing and building part is the easy part. On sunday I thought I would true the wheels, so I got out the stationary trainer, put it on the dinning room table, stuck a piece of wire into a block of wood and wrapped a bit of duct tape around the end of the wire (so i don't scratch the rim). The block of wood and wire was my gauge, slide it close to the rim and you can see which way the rim is buckled when you spin the rim, or move it under the rim and see the "roundness". Not sure what tolerance I got, but it was about the thickness of an piece of printer paper in some spots. Took me around 5 hours for 4 wheels, but was far more difficult than lacing the wheels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipsqueak Posted September 23, 2014 Share So I have a question and it may be a dumb one. I have a wheel (factory built Novatec Flowtrail) and the spokes are imploding. Ordering DT Swiss, but when I look at the wheel specs the one side has longer spokes than the other, but when I measure the spokes on the wheel, they're all the same length. What gives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Mulholland Posted September 23, 2014 Share Perhaps I can help you on say a Saturday afternoon. Some of the equipment you need. Give a shout if you are interested. I want your work station. Tell me there's a bar fridge under that counter and I'll have a complete image of my personal heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatGusto Posted September 23, 2014 Share So I have a question and it may be a dumb one. I have a wheel (factory built Novatec Flowtrail) and the spokes are imploding. Ordering DT Swiss, but when I look at the wheel specs the one side has longer spokes than the other, but when I measure the spokes on the wheel, they're all the same length. What gives? This is fairly normal on a rear wheel where the spokes have to make way for the cassette, so they are closer to the vertical plane, and therefore shorter. Also check the number of spoke crossovers, if this varies, there will be large differences in spoke length between the one side and the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterF Posted September 23, 2014 Share So I have a question and it may be a dumb one. I have a wheel (factory built Novatec Flowtrail) and the spokes are imploding. Ordering DT Swiss, but when I look at the wheel specs the one side has longer spokes than the other, but when I measure the spokes on the wheel, they're all the same length. What gives? The difference in spoke length is usually only 1 or 2mm, so you can actually get away with the spokes all being the same length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marshall Posted September 23, 2014 Share The quality of the wheel builders work will only show after months or even years of riding (maybe the reason I haven’t hit the Hub’s Best Wheel Builder in____ list as yet!) Any new, true wheel will feel good on the bike - especially if the hubs and tires are new as well.For a once off wheel build I would recommend “the Bicycle Wheel” by Jobst Brandt. May not be in print but plenty of second hand copies around and possibly available as an e-book. His directions for lacing are fool proof.Other advice I can give: -Check, recheck and check again your spoke length calculations. 1 mm off is too much. The rim tape will hide your errors - but not for long.Stress relieve the spokes – (which will obviously be double butted). Follow the wheel build link on Sheldon Brown’s site for the best method.Work in small increments, alternating between truing laterally, then radially until you reach the desired spoke tension and trueness. On a rear wheel I find it easier to build up the wheel with the dishing biased to the right. It is then easier to carry out the final dishing to the left as the tension on that side is a lot lower.If you are re building a wheel do not try to measure the spokes on the wheel. Remove the rim tape and check that the spoke length is good (end of spoke flush with the nipple slot). Then remove one spoke from each side and measure.Enjoy the finished product! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipsqueak Posted September 25, 2014 Share OK, so my next dumb question is where do I get 272 and 274 spokes? Pref DT Swiss or some other decent brand. 18 of each. No one seems to have these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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