I've just laced my first wheel!

baccaman21

I feel like I've just passed another fettling milestone. Lacing my first wheel!

What fun... hurrah for me - Hurrah for Sheldon Brown!

Now to true the puppy up... anyone got any good tips?

do's and don'ts?

dirtbiker100

I'd love to have a go but only if someone else bought the parts for me! my truing of buckled wheels is very haphazard so i'd prefer not to give my advice

ride_whenever

Take your time and do it slowly and really pre-stress it. Wear thick leather gloves and squeeze pairs of parallel spokes till it hurts through the gloves, then re-true etc.

baccaman21

please explain "pre-stress"?

ride_whenever

It is in the what makes a wheel strong tech topic, which i'd suggest you read over. It basically evens out the stresses in the spokes and ensures they are all evenly tensioned. So you squeeze the spokes together really hard, then re-true the wheel and repeat until you don't get any change on squeezing the spokes. Probably the most important part of making a wheel.

baccaman21

ok... would I need to pre stress if the spokes have already been used? I'm replacing a knackered rim and I'm recylcing the previous components...?

ta

ride_whenever

If it is an identical rim then technically no, particularly if you didn't move the spokes around and did the tie two rims together and slowly move the spokes over jobbie. However it is worth taking the time to do properly as the wheel will be better off for it and if some spokes do require it and you don't then the first time you use it it will "ping" and go out of true and then you'll have to true it.

I'd just pre-stress them to be safe.

baccaman21

coolio... cheers for the info...

robbarker

You will need to stress relieve the spokes once the wheel has been rebuilt as you are releasing the tension and then reapplying it. Although some of the stress introduced in manufacturing will have been relieved, you are introducing more when you tension the spokes. Jobst Brandt explains why here:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/stre ... eving.html

If you haven't done so already, Roger Musson's ebook:

http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

is rapidly becoming the modern day newbie wheel-builders bible. Essential reading IMHO. Roger pops up in here occasionally too - see the sticky "what makes a wheel strong" thread if you haven't already read it.

Apart from al that, it's a nice feeling to build your own wheels isn't it? More people should give it a go.

supersonic

Jobst also has some other great articles, well worth reading.

baccaman21

robbarker wrote:

Apart from al that, it's a nice feeling to build your own wheels isn't it? More people should give it a go.

Well... I have to say, the joy I got from lacing it up so far is quite something... IMO bikes are about everything, not just the riding but the maintainance and the construction... I'm no expert - far from it - but I get a great sense of satisfaction from being able to strip something down, clean it, lube it up, reassemble it and stick it back on the bike again... and then ride it... it's a great buzz... knowing that you know your stuff from the low level... and wheel building is one of the last bastions (for me at least)... so yeah, it is a nice feeling.

roger-wp

robbarker wrote:

Roger pops up in here occasionally too

Greetings,

1) Just think - you'll never need to buy another wheel again. I bought a pair just once, a long long time ago and they were useless.

2) You'll never need to ask the question "does shop xxx build good wheels".

3) You'll go on to realise that all hubs and rims work, it's only the building that counts.

Anything you want to know about wheelbuilding?

Roger