Wheel building

spasypaddy

How hard is it to build your first wheel?

I need to replace the front wheel on my road bike as ive worn out the open pro rim (supposedly its caving in due to not being used for 4months). So i need to replace it.

Built on a 105 hub.

veronese68

Not as hard as you'd think. Read up on it, follow the guide and be methodical. I'm almost completely tone deaf and was struggling until I found a phone app that uses the mic in the phone to measure tension when you pluck a spoke. I don't know how accurate the figures are, but good enough to help get even tensions. A stand makes it a lot easier but is not essential. You could use an old fork.
But yours is worn due to not being used? Sounds odd.

spasypaddy

i can probably get hold of a stand to borrow.

the shop claims that the rim is worn (im not convinced) and they explained that when i was keeping the tyre pumped up it stopped the rim from blowing out as it was under constant pressure, but because i let the tyre down it was no longer pushing it out so its now about to cave.

i think its bollocks...

ugo.santalucia

Go for it man... I know folks who can't build a decent wheel for the love of God but sell thousands of them...

UndercoverElephant

Yep, dead easy. If you can tune a guitar, than wheels are easy. If you can't, then Veronese's app should be fine. Do a search for Roger Musson's e-book. Well worth a tenner.

spasypaddy

can i reuse spokes and nipples?

ugo.santalucia

spasypaddy wrote:

can i reuse spokes and nipples?

You can re use the spokes if you leave them in the hub and not swap them. You should replace the nipples, as they are probably dirty, oxidised and have a lot of friction in them. You should also clean the threads of the spokes with oil

rower63

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Go for it man... I know folks who can't build a decent wheel for the love of God but sell thousands of them...

I take it you're referring to DT Swiss for one

ugo.santalucia

rower63 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Go for it man... I know folks who can't build a decent wheel for the love of God but sell thousands of them...

I take it you're referring to DT Swiss for one

No, but that's a good one too...

spasypaddy

ugo.santalucia wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

can i reuse spokes and nipples?

You can re use the spokes if you leave them in the hub and not swap them. You should replace the nipples, as they are probably dirty, oxidised and have a lot of friction in them. You should also clean the threads of the spokes with oil

thanks. i might just rebuild it from scratch so im learning the whole process.

my friend is going to lend me his truing stand. so in the next few weeks i'll buy a rim, spokes and nipples.

as im doing such a standard build i would guess i can just google the spoke length to order them online?

open pro rim, 105 hub?

timothyw

spasypaddy wrote:

open pro rim, 105 hub?

That is such a common build that I'm sure google will tell you, however generally you can use these two to work it out:

http://www.prowheelbuilder.com/spokelengthcalculator/

https://leonard.io/edd/

You probably want a 2 cross build.

spasypaddy

thanks

ugo.santalucia

32 x 3 cross you want 295

tgotb

If you want to learn how to build a wheel, I'd suggest you calculate the spoke lengths yourself. All you need is:
ERD - 602mm for Open Pro, or measure yourself (you'll need a couple of spokes/nipples)
Hub measurements - measure this yourself
Spoke calculator - I normally use both of these, as they use slightly different hub measurements; if the results come out the same, you can be fairly confident you've got it right:
http://www.sapim.be/spoke-calculator
http://spokes-calculator.dtswiss.com/We ... anguage=en
Spoke pattern - go for 3x as Ugo suggests

The spoke length should come out the same as Ugo's number; if it does, you'll have more confidence in the process to calculate your own next time (when you might be using a less common combination of components). If it doesn't, and you can't figure out why, post on here and someone can help figure out where you've gone wrong.

That said, every time I've done a like-for-like rim replacement, I've taped the old and new rims together and transferred the spokes over one at a time, normally replacing nipples as Ugo suggested. Much less effort...

The Rookie

I agree, for a rim swap that is much the easiest way to do it, remembering not to do up the first side spokes too much so the new rim can be pulled over to the middle!

I've never found a rim yet with the ERD as advertised, I even have a hub that's wrong to manufacturers numbers.