finally building my first wheelset
I've been wanting to learn how to build a wheel since I started riding in jr high, but never got around to it. My mechanic skills have gotten good enough that I decided it was time, so today I ordered some parts from the LBS. Right now my fixed gear town bike has the worst wheelset in the fleet (cheap-o prebuilts for $40 each), so I'm building a set for it. I want a rear hub with a track lockring, instead of just using red loctite. I'm building up a pair of Suzue Basics with Mavic MA3 rims, 14 guage spokes (36 of them) and brass nipples. I'm using Zinn's road bike maintainence book to start, and I'll move on to more wheel specific books if need be. I'm pretty psyched about it. I've always viewed a good wheel builder as being just a step below a god (like Hercules). The parts won't be in for a few days and classes start on Jan 3, so I might not actually get to build these wheels until spring break in March, but at least I'll be ready. Wish me luck, I'll let you all know how it goes.