Building my own wheels!!!

gkerr4

Hello - couldn't think of the right section to put this in - hope this is ok..

I'm going to have a bit of a forced 'off' in a couple of weeks when I go in to get my knee done - keyhole to repair a meniscal tear. It'll mean a week and a bit off work - probably on crutches - so sitting and not doing a whole lot are the order of the day.

In order to pass the time, I want to have a go at building my own wheels!

Although I'm not a fan of handbuilts (as some might know..) I think it is is important to have a go and I quite fancy trying it out. I'm not going to replace my lovely Eurus wheels though - I'm going to have a go at building a set of 'fixed' wheels for my langster.

I'm thinking of a set of Miche Large flange track hubs (£49.82)
with Either Mavic CXP22's or open sports (around £18 each - unless anyone can convince me it is worth getting the pro's for an extra £10 each!)
spokes - not sure - ribble have boxes of ACI Alpina Double butted ones in stock - any others to look out for?
I just need to find a decent spoke length calculator to find out the length I need and some nipples to go with the rims (who sells these btw?)

In many ways though - the materials are pretty easy to get - it's the required tools I am wondering about.

So I am thinking I need:

a wheeljig to start like this tackx one (£28)
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productde ... 0000000000


then a wheel dishing guage:
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productde ... 0000000000

and obviously a spoke key to fit the nipples I end up with.

So - am I right in the tools required? does anyone make or sell cheaper ones? (as the tools are a large part of the project cost!) do I need anything else?
what do people do about measuring spoke tension?

Any other tips out there? anyone think I should use different rims / hubs?

All advice welcome!

Thanks,

Graham

keef66

Have you really been told you'll be off for a week and on crutches? I'm going in to have mine done this afternoon and I was hoping to be mobile much sooner than that!

No advice on wheel building, sorry. Good luck though

gkerr4

well - I've been told to expect 7 - 10 days off work - and so this is what my work are expecting :-)

the crutches thing - like you, I'm hoping to be mobile much earlier. a couple of days on them probably.

Apparently though your mobility will come back quickly as the swelling & bruising dies down but you won't be able to bend your knee fully for a while and things like kneeling down can take a number of weeks.

keef66

Good luck with the wheels and the knee then!

prince_madog

gkerr4 wrote:

well - I've been told to expect 7 - 10 days off work - and so this is what my work are expecting :-)

I was off work for a fortnight and then had three weeks or so of physio a couple of times a week.

Good luck with it - and the wheels!

shazzz

[caveat] I've never built any wheels [/caveat]

I'd go for the CXP22 rims - they should look good on a fixie!

Sheldon Brown posted an excellant 'how to build wheels' guide on his site. This is what I will follow if I ever get the urge to build a set myself. I think there is also a spoke length calculator (or link to one) on his site.

alan_sherman

I use the Sheldon Brown guide - printed out to get grubby!

DT swiss spoke length calculator

Rims and hubs from whereever (often re-using ones I have)

Spokes (with nipples) from Velomax - the double butted ones are fairly cheap (22p each I think), not DT quality but seem fine for training wheels.

I use the brake blocks on a bike set up against my cosmic carbons (assumed to be true and dished correctly)

Enjoy! I find it quite theraputic. Although I would recommend getting the wheel laced and tensioned then having a break before the final tensioning / tueing and releiving. I tend to build in the evening and leave the last bit to the next day when I am fresh.

gkerr4

thanks for the responses ( and supportive comments about the knee!)

I am planning on building either 32 or 36 spoke 3-cross and was planning just using the Sheldon website details - will this be enough or should I look for a book too?

alan - is the wheel truing stand all i need then? is the dishing tool worthwhile - it seems a lot of money for what it is but if it is needed then it is needed.

I agree that CXP22's are good looking, but they are a bit heavier and do they change the difficulty of the build by being deeper?

also - how do you specify the spoke nipples? - are they all pretty common in size? do deeper section rims (like the CXP22's) need different length spokes?

sorry - I get the feeling it would e easier to just buy some new wheels from a shop - but where's the fun in that?

acorn_user

I think I would use Rigida or DRC rims before Mavic Open Sports...

dennisn

gkerr4 wrote:

what do people do about measuring spoke tension?

Park makes a spoke tension guage.

The Art of Wheelbuilding by Gerd Schraner is very good.

You might also need a nipple driver - very handy.

I buy all my spokes and nipples from a bike shop. They usually have an online spoke
calculator and will get you the RIGHT length. Plus you get to know the bike shop people
and they can be very helpful. You might pay a bit less buying spokes online but for me
I like to at least try to keep the local shops in business.

Good luck.

Dennis Noward








Dennis Noward

gkerr4

Hi Dennis - the links I gave were for Ribble cycles - which is my local bike store in a roundabout kind of way - they are about20 mins drive away.

Does anyone know how the nipples are specified? same thread as th spokes obviously but what about the length? and is it worth paying for the alloy ones? or stick with brass / coated brass?

ta

Doobz

hi mate. I have pm'd you a link to one of the best books I have read on wheel building - enjoy

adios
Doobz

dennisn

gkerr4 wrote:

Hi Dennis - the links I gave were for Ribble cycles - which is my local bike store in a roundabout kind of way - they are about20 mins drive away.

Does anyone know how the nipples are specified? same thread as th spokes obviously but what about the length? and is it worth paying for the alloy ones? or stick with brass / coated brass?

ta

I would do brass nipples on you're first set of wheels. Once you get the hang of things alloy can give you a bit lighter wheel.

Dennis Noward

El Gordo

I built a set a few years ago without the aid of a dishing tool or tension meter.

For dishing you can flip the wheel round in the jig to get a good measure of how well centered it is. For tension I just wound them all progressively up to what felt like a simlar tension and close to the point where I thought the nipples might round off (ouch). The final truing was just small adjustments from there.

Not very scientific but they ended up perfectly true and correctly dished and since then have covered over 10,000 rough commuting miles and are as good as new (which is more than I can say for any other wheels I've ever owned).

alan_sherman

I don't use a dishing tool or jig - I use the brake blocks on a bike calibrated against a known straight wheel (i.e. my cosmic carbon). Not ideal perhaps but will do the job and free.

Spokes often come with std nipples that work on open pro / other type of box rims. Not sure about the CXPs as I've never used them.