Bicycle Mechanics - Good ref for building wheels

Subject line says it all. Anywhere good to learn wheel building?? Any recommendations on the best thing to start on? Not an expensive wheel I guess ;)

Sheldon Brown has a webpage (about 10 pages long) which will give you an excellent start on this. I don't have the link, but do a Google search with his name and wheel building and you will get. If not, send him an e-mail. He is a great, very knowledgeable gentleman and always responds. Enjoy!!

Probably the definitive book on 'how to' is Jobst Brandt's book "The Bicycle Wheel" http://www.avocet.com/wheelbook/wheelbook.html

Maybe a good way to start would be to procure an old beater wheel, disassemble and then reassemble to see if you can make it good again.

Wheel building shouldn't be difficult, but it does take knowledge, patience and attention to detail

Agree that the Brandt book is about the best out there.
I also used the chapter in the Bicycling Magazine's maintenance
book to help when I started building.
Park Tool web site also has some good info
on Truing and spoke tension.
you can find it at:
Wheel Truing and Spoke Tensioning (http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/howfix_truing.shtml)

Marty

There are some good books out there on wheel buuilding such as Jobst Brants book. Also in one of the forums there is a link to the Barnetts manual which is also very helpful on wheelbuilding
byron

If you just want to learn the basics, try the section in Zinn and the art of bike maintenece; it'll get you started with your basic three-cross wheel. The Brandt book can be a little overwhelming at first and has lots of stuff a begginer won't need.

I'd get an inexpensive hub and rim (these can be older, but a new rim is better), buy some cheap new spokes (of the proper length) on ebay (i'm against re-using old spokes), and build an actual wheel from these parts. Ride on it a bit after you build it. To get your spoke lengths, there are online spoke calculators like this one:
http://www.geocities.com/d_halem/wheel/wheel.html
Toolwise, I've found a good set of metric dial calipers help if you need to figure out the hub measurements (actually, I'd call them an essential tool for any bike mechanic); you can get the rim diameter by using a piece of string and a ruler. Simply run the string from one spoke hole to the one directly opposite it on the rim, mark the string at both ends at the spoke hole inside the rim, and find out how long it is between the marks using the ruler. Also, there are the obvious: a good truing stand (I use a Hozan), spoke wrenches, and a dish tool. You can build an acceptable wheel in a fork turned upside down, but if we weren't tool geeks, we wouldn't be posting on this forum.

Take your time and be patient; that's the most important thing when learning to build a wheel.