Where to get a handbulit wheel?!

pb21
pb21 Posts: 2,171
edited January 2011 in Road buying advice
I need a new rear wheel for my winter bike. I would like a hand built wheel but don’t want to spend too much. I guess something like a Mirage hub, a Mavic rim and 32 standard spokes would be appropriate.

Thing is I don’t know where you go to get this, my LBS don’t do it. Is it just a case of finding one that does? Online places look set for race wheels more.
Mañana

Comments

  • fleshtuxedo
    fleshtuxedo Posts: 1,858
    In Djibouti?
  • Nuggs
    Nuggs Posts: 1,804
    Buy a copy of Schraner's book The Art of Wheelbuilding and do it yourself. Very rewarding and you'll be able to keep your wheels in good shape with the skills you learn along the way.
  • Wooliferkins
    Wooliferkins Posts: 2,060
    Paul Hewitt built mine on the tourer. You'll struggle to get Mirage hubs now as Campag only do Record hubs now as a separate item
    Neil
    Help I'm Being Oppressed
  • schweiz
    schweiz Posts: 1,644
    +1 for Paul Hewitt

    +2 for building yourself if you have the patience. I used Roger Musson's book
    VN BMC Cube SS
    http://app.strava.com/athletes/30000
  • pb21
    pb21 Posts: 2,171
    Wooliferkins wrote:
    You'll struggle to get Mirage hubs now as Campag only do Record hubs now as a separate item

    Feck! What other cheap hubs are out there for Campag users then?!

    I would like to learn wheelbuilding but I am on a budget and all those stands tools you need means I would be spending major bucks!
    Mañana
  • Wooliferkins
    Wooliferkins Posts: 2,060
    Miche Primato?
    Neil
    Help I'm Being Oppressed
  • infopete
    infopete Posts: 878
    Planet X have some Tune hubs for 99 quid and ambrosia rims in their sale.

    They would make nice winter wheels :)
    Oh and please remember to click on my blog:

    http://americanbicyclegroup.wordpress.com

    The more clicks I get the higher it creeps up the google radar :)
  • Nuggs
    Nuggs Posts: 1,804
    pb21 wrote:
    Wooliferkins wrote:
    You'll struggle to get Mirage hubs now as Campag only do Record hubs now as a separate item

    Feck! What other cheap hubs are out there for Campag users then?!

    I would like to learn wheelbuilding but I am on a budget and all those stands tools you need means I would be spending major bucks!
    Apparently Roger Munsonn's book (see linky in schweiz's post above) has instructions on how to make your own tools etc.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,573
    Wooliferkins wrote:
    Miche Primato?

    Just built a pair of wheels with these and so far I'm impressed with the quality of the hubs, especially given the price.
  • fleshtuxedo
    fleshtuxedo Posts: 1,858
    pb21 wrote:
    Wooliferkins wrote:

    I would like to learn wheelbuilding but I am on a budget and all those stands tools you need means I would be spending major bucks!

    The only tool you really need to build a wheel is a spoke key.

    Once you've laced it up and put a bit of tension on the spokes, you can put it in a frame and use the brake blocks as a reference for truing. It takes a bit of patience, but it's quite pleasant really. I've made do without truing stands and dishing tools and done fine. If you copy another wheel with the same lacing, you'll get it thereabouts pretty easily, and then you can fine tune it.

    Have a go - your wheels will NOT suddenly fold and crumple on your first test ride!
  • Wooliferkins
    Wooliferkins Posts: 2,060
    FleshTuxedo wrote:

    Have a go - your wheels will NOT suddenly fold and crumple on your first test ride!

    Well said Sir. Someone else mentioned the tool costs, having a workshop on the business make the posher tools worthwhile.
    Neil
    Help I'm Being Oppressed
  • Bobbinogs
    Bobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    FleshTuxedo wrote:
    pb21 wrote:
    Wooliferkins wrote:

    I would like to learn wheelbuilding but I am on a budget and all those stands tools you need means I would be spending major bucks!

    The only tool you really need to build a wheel is a spoke key.

    Once you've laced it up and put a bit of tension on the spokes, you can put it in a frame and use the brake blocks as a reference for truing. It takes a bit of patience, but it's quite pleasant really. I've made do without truing stands and dishing tools and done fine. If you copy another wheel with the same lacing, you'll get it thereabouts pretty easily, and then you can fine tune it.

    Have a go - your wheels will NOT suddenly fold and crumple on your first test ride!

    Yepp, I did mine this way along with a steel rule taped across the forks for a vertical ref. All a bit Heath Robinson but it worked and I now have a set of winter wheels that I still make me smile when I look at them. I found the Sheldon site useful too BTW. The best tool is patience, but you cannot buy that.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Miche or Ambrosio Zeniths are both decent quality hubs. Built a pair of wheels with Miche hubs and they've survived 2 seasons of cross
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • pb21
    pb21 Posts: 2,171
    Hmmm, now very tempted to give it a go!

    The main question I have, which I suppose would be explained in the books etc, is how you know when the tension is correct?
    Mañana
  • balthazar
    balthazar Posts: 1,565
    pb21 wrote:
    Hmmm, now very tempted to give it a go!

    The main question I have, which I suppose would be explained in the books etc, is how you know when the tension is correct?

    As you say, that is explained in the books. There is a theoretically perfectly accurate method detailed in Jobst Brandt's book The Bicycle Wheel (which involves raising tension until the rim begins to collapse, then backing off a small amount), although that can be time-consuming. Otherwise, you'll need a spoke tensiometer, which measures spoke tension, so you can use rim manufacturer guidelines.

    I have used Jobst's method in the past, which I think has calibrated me roughly for repeats of wheels with the same spoke counts and similar rims. Everything I ever build has 32 spokes and simple box-section rims, so that's ok. Plucking spokes gives you a tone which can be very accurate if you have a good ear and know what pitch you're aiming for.

    I'd like a tensiometer, but I don't build wheels often enough to justify the expense. Till then I'll use "informed guesswork", or Jobst's long-winded method again.

    I highly recommend that book (The Bicycle Wheel), though I have it on good report that Roger Musson's ebook is comprehensive and straightforward. I'd give the Schraner book a wide berth.
  • schweiz
    schweiz Posts: 1,644
    I bought a Park Tensiometer in the states ($60 instead of 60 quid!) as I was building a wheel with bladed spokes which seemed more 'floppy' than round spokes so I was a bit nervous about getting the tesion correct.

    However, previously I'd built a set of wheels for the Singlespeed (Mavic CXP22, Halo Track Hubs and DT PG Spokes) and when I checked them with the tensiometer they were about 90kgf which was a little on the low side but not too bad a guess. When you think you've got it right, maybe a LBS will lend you a tensiometer for 20 minutes in exhange for a packet of chocolate hob-nobs!
    VN BMC Cube SS
    http://app.strava.com/athletes/30000
  • harrywolper
    harrywolper Posts: 95
    I have 2 x Harry Rowland wheels. Both Ambrosio Excellight rims with Dura-Ace / Ambrosio hubs and sapim spokes - I think they are very cheap (£220 - 250 a pair) for what I got and how they perform. See http://www.harryrowland.co.uk/ (fairly old website but contacts are still OK I think). Harry will ask what you are looking for in a wheel and then build to suit you. I've had mine for about 3 years and never had a problem at all.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    +3 Paul Hewitt, has a rear wheel rebuilt by him two years ago and is fine.
  • eiger30
    eiger30 Posts: 39
    +1 for Harry Rowland

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