Building Wheels
Chris65
Posts: 41
I have been looking at wheel Jigs with a view to getting one for truing wheels. Reading reviews on them it would seem that buying a cheap one is not a good option as they can be flimsy. I did fancy the Park TS-8 which Merlin have for £72 but some reviews say that is not too good an option (I am suprised as all the Park tools I have are quality). The next up the line is the Park TS2.2 which costs £200 a heafty rise. That's a lot for truing
What I was realy considering is it worth building wheels at all when a decent set can be got for £250.
What I was realy considering is it worth building wheels at all when a decent set can be got for £250.
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I've been using the webbline stand which cost £62 including delivery. It was nice and sturdy and I've not had a problem truing up the wheels I've built with it.
I did um and ah about which one to get. Nearly spent £160 on a parks TS2 but I'm now glad I didn't. I don't think it would have made too much difference to my wheel building skills...
I did get the Parks tensiometer. I know in the wheelpro book he says you don't need it, and you can do the whole thing through the tone, but I found I was a lot more confident knowing what tension I had, and also that the spokes were all (relatively) equally tensioned.
Spoke keys were cheap, but it took me a while to work out that I was using one slightly too big. I had looked at the pictures where he was using a red spokey. The ones I bought the red spoke key was the larger size, and I should have been using the Blue spokey... So some of the nipples look a bit scratched
First wheel I did lace up wrong first time round :-) but eventually got there. I'm building two pairs, the first pair was archetype rims on some 105 hubs I got off my old wheels, and so I treated them as a bit of a practice. These I'll use on the winter/commuter bike.
I got a pair of 7900 2nd hand but unused hubs for £180 of ebay, and I'm building those up with archetype rims too. These will be for the best bike.
I've actually really enjoyed making them, even after having to undo the front wheel to get it right,. I've probably not saved any money, but I do have the tools now, and I wouldn't mind making some more, and I would not have any problems fixing them when they do go wrong
Get the Wheelpro book if you need a basis for your design.
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All the toys and gadgets are nice and make your life easier, but the end result is the same
Read whatever you want into that...
Roger Musson says you CAN'T tension spokes by tone!
He does include a design for a DIY truing rig however. So you can build one yourself for next to nothing, if you really want to save money!
I've got the IceToolz one. Clamping the wheel is a bit fiddly as it only has one arm, but it does have truing guage (not sure how accurate it is, but I have no reason to believe it isn't).
I suggest you read the book again
I totally agree that you can build a wheel in a bicycle fork if you like but it's nicer using a good stand.
What Paolo says about people charging a premium for building wheels in super duper jigs is true, you would only be contributing to pay for a nice toy but you wont get a better wheel
I bought a webbline jig once and I had to send it back..... it was totally CR*P - I probably got a bad one, still the workmanship was very poor indeed to say the least.
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I think if you had the DIY skills and tools the jig in the Wheelpro book would be cheap and good. However, I don't have those skills or tools... After I bought the Webbline jig, I found someone at work who said he would knock me up a wheelpro one. When I get it I'll post how it compares
For a while I've been wanting to have a go but not known where to start. This ebook looks like a good start but I'm wondering if its a total non-starter for someone without any experience in this sort of stuff? My old man could knock me up the stand from the book in no time and I really fancy building a set of tubs to ride on
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I understood the OP to be referring to the final spoke tension as he referred to the tension meter. In this regard Musson clearly says "you cannot use tone to quantify tension" (page 60).
it's obvious that tone won't give you that kind of information. However, once you get a couple of spokes at the right tension (I have to use a tension meter to confirm that) you can go round using tone to check the rest of the spokes have about the same tone, you won't get the same pitch everywhere but I found that I'm not further than 4% or 5% from the average tension. The method works well for me.
CTC
The one I got sent was unusable - the two arms were not on the same level - only fit for scrap metal if I'm honest. I have to say that Mr Webbline, the store owner, took it back without any trouble, he even sent me a metal spoke key for my troubles. It's a lovely spoke key, it feels nice in the hand but unfortunately it can scratch the rim if you are not careful.
You must have got a dodgy one. I spent a bit of time with a spirit level and ruler after I set it up checking that the arms were parallel and everything was equal in height, so was reasonably confident that it wasn't lopsided
Yeah, I'd like to think it was the odd one out cause I can't see anybody honestly selling such poor quality tools on purpose. However, I have my doubts that your jig looks as good as the jig advertised in the pictures of the website.
I have some handbuilt 32h wheels on a bike so will be studying those to look at how they are laced, tensions etc but dont really want to take them apart. I guess a rim, some spokes and an old/cheap/used hub might be the way to go to practice with, or is it worth buying the hub/rim combo I'd like to build up anyway and just getting stuck in? TBH the whole spoke length thing is a little intimidating right now and I'm not sure where to start?
Make your tools (esp. the ERD measurement tools). It's worth getting a tension meter IMO.
It's easier to build a 32-spoke wheel with a reasonably strong rim as the rim will be more tolerant if you overload it. I started with a Rigida Sputnik, which is probably overkill in that department.
I don't know if anyone else will agree with this but I now use a short checklist to help me with my builds:
1. Check nipples for size (I've been supplied with mixes of nipples sizes before now) 2. Oil rim holes 3. Oil spoke threads 4. Lace wheel to desired pattern 5. Set a low tension (just enough to be able to pluck an audible low note) 6. Set radial true (much easier to do when the wheel is loose as you need a relatively large displacement to correct it) 7. Set lateral true 8. Check dish and adjust if required 9. Stress relieve wheel 10. Check tension Around 100kgf to 110kgf for the front wheel No more than 120kgf for rear wheel drive side 11. Repeat steps 6 to 11 until you're happy
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