Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - where can i get parts to make a wheel?

just as the the title says. where is the cheapest place for me to get parts such as spokes and nipples? also what kind of spokes should i get if i want to build a velocity deep v elvs? last question. bladed or not?

First of all, where are you?

nope just dont know where to look. it'll be my first build.

If you don't know the answer to those questions, I doubt you know how to build a wheel.

Just sayin'

again its gonna be a first time thing. i want to learn. lol

did you try a bike shop?

first build a bike then you can try wheelbuilding.

teh interwebz

Go to a bike shop. They exist for a reason. They will get you the rims and hubs you want with the right length spokes.

IRO has front and rear hubset for $30.
Spokes and nipples--EBAY?

just as the the title says. where is the cheapest place for me to get parts such as spokes and nipples? also what kind of spokes should i get if i want to build a velocity deep v elvs? last question. bladed or not?

Building a wheelset is not rocket science, but it is one of the trickier things to do in the world of bike repair. Are you extremely comfortable truing a wheel (side to side and hops)? Replacing a broken spoke? Dishing a wheel? Work on these first. Set a goal of a few months of work on the previously mentioned skills before tackling a build. Offer to do all this stuff for your friends or volunteer a bike coop or something to get the wrench time. You may very well be comfortable with lots of this, in which case, go for it. I just am amazed by the number of people who have never trued a wheel but expect to build one from scratch. Particularly if you want a well build set, there are lots of places that need careful attention. Sheldon's site is good. There are others as well, but having someone actually helping you can really help, because things like spoke lacing diagrams sometimes look crappy online. Also, do you have the correct tools for the task? These aren't cheap, so either plan on building lots of wheels or find someone else's you can use. If you are not sure what tools you need, you are not ready. It's nothing personal, just a litmus test.

OK, if you know what you are doing, and the above paragraph is totally wasted (sorry), and you really are just looking for cheap parts - I don't know. I will say that I think bladed spokes are harder to build with, because I think they twist easier (they definately show twists easier), and their benefit is negligable/debatable. Oh, and you definitely want butted spokes. They are lighter, stronger, and only very slightly more expensive. I see no advantage to using straight gauge spokes.

Building a wheelset is not rocket science, but it is one of the trickier things to do in the world of bike repair. Are you extremely comfortable truing a wheel (side to side and hops)? Replacing a broken spoke? Dishing a wheel? Work on these first. Set a goal of a few months of work on the previously mentioned skills before tackling a build. Offer to do all this stuff for your friends or volunteer a bike coop or something to get the wrench time. You may very well be comfortable with lots of this, in which case, go for it. I just am amazed by the number of people who have never trued a wheel but expect to build one from scratch.

i disagree.

i don't think you need prior wheel experience in order to build a good wheel. i think you need a brain, access to the internet, maybe a book or two, and a couple of tools.

building a wheel is not hard. its a step-by-step process that involves 95% following directions and 5% judgment. as for the lacing: 10 year old should be able to lace a 3x wheel after reading sheldon's guide. as for the tensioning/truing: if you do everything right (follow the directions!), the wheel should basically true itself. the only judgment call is knowing when the wheel has enough tension, but there are tricks to this as well. just do what sheldon says, and you can build a professional quality wheel.

being comfortable with truing/replacing spokes/dishing would certainly help speed things along, but these are things you can learn very quickly by building a wheel.

i disagree.

i don't think you need prior wheel experience in order to build a good wheel. i think you need a brain, access to the internet, maybe a book or two, and a couple of tools.

building a wheel is not hard. its a step-by-step process that involves 95% following directions and 5% judgment. as for the lacing: 10 year old should be able to lace a 3x wheel after reading sheldon's guide. as for the tensioning/truing: if you do everything right (follow the directions!), the wheel should basically true itself. the only judgment call is knowing when the wheel has enough tension, but there are tricks to this as well. just do what sheldon says, and you can build a professional quality wheel.

being comfortable with truing/replacing spokes/dishing would certainly help speed things along, but these are things you can learn very quickly by building a wheel.

You know...that is true. its just a matter of time, taking 2 days for the beginner or 1hr for the professional.

just as the the title says. where is the cheapest place for me to get parts such as spokes and nipples? also what kind of spokes should i get if i want to build a velocity deep v elvs? last question. bladed or not?

I don't know where the cheapest place to get parts is, but I would try to get them locally if I were you. That way you can be sure everything is the right size/length.

To answer your other questions, you should get either straight gauge or double-butted spokes, the length of which will depend on the hubs and rims you are using. You shouldn't use bladed spokes because that will require filing notches into the spoke holes on the hubs which I wouldn't recommend for a first build (unless you get custom drilled Phils or something like that).

where is the cheapest place for me to get parts such as spokes and nipples?

[Insert cute little graphic that says 'why can't anyone answer the question?' Preferably involving Cookie Monster. Maybe holding up the vegetables they make him eat now instead of cookies.]

Seriously, I go my LBS for spokes and the guy's like 'no one uses those kind of wheels anymore.' Like he literally doesn't have 32 of anything 292-295.
The other shop I went to said they droppped all their spokes in the floor and would take forever to find the right ones. I've given up. I was reading this because I, also, just want to find a place on the internets that sells cheap spokes.
:bang::bang:

I was thinking about buying from thios guy next time I need some:
http://cgi.ebay.com/72-Sapim-Race-14-15-DT-Spokes-Washers-SILS-Nipples_W0QQitemZ220253910868QQihZ012QQcategoryZ36144QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
but his size selection's not as good as it was when I checked a couple weeks ago. You get 72, pick and choose up to 4 different lengths.

the only judgment call is knowing when the wheel has enough tension, but there are tricks to this as well.

It's not a judgement call. There's a tool called a tensionmeter which can objectively quantify and present to the user the exact tension on the spoke.

yea i dont really know what im doing. but it was the same thing with everything else i have ever done. i want the experience and i do have people to check it out after im done so im all set on that. now for me to figure out the spoke length what do i need to check?

yea i dont really know what im doing. but it was the same thing with everything else i have ever done. i want the experience and i do have people to check it out after im done so im all set on that. now for me to figure out the spoke length what do i need to check?

Spoke length is a function of the hub, the rim and the lacing pattern. There are calculators for this online, which I'm too lazy to do a search for right now (but hopefully you are not). Otherwise go to a shop and tell them what rims/hubs you have and how you intend to lace your wheels and they should be able to give you the correct length spokes.

It's not a judgement call. There's a tool called a tensionmeter which can objectively quantify and present to the user the exact tension on the spoke.

haha sorry to turn this into a wheelbuilding debate thread.... but....

a tensiometer is useful to make sure all your spokes are the same tension relative to each other, but it doesn't tell you when your wheel is at the right tension as a whole. thats more a matter of feel, a.k.a. judgment.

what i mean is, every combination of spokes/rims is going to need a different overall tension. no chart or graph can tell you "bring all your spokes up to exactly X Kgf." so there is still some judgment needed. but my point still stands -- its not a hard judgment to make. OP should definitely give it a shot!

Spoke length is a function of the hub, the rim and the lacing pattern. There are calculators for this online, which I'm too lazy to do a search for right now (but hopefully you are not). Otherwise go to a shop and tell them what rims/hubs you have and how you intend to lace your wheels and they should be able to give you the correct length spokes.

+1000, stores will have a legit copy of spocalc or another spoke calculator program which, from what I understand, regularly updates its hub/rim database. better and more trustworthy than a calculator online.

the debate is fine. it just allows me more opinions.

the wheel should basically true itself.

"should" being the key word here. There are plenty of times where things don't quite go according to plan, but those occassions are just learning opportunities.


the only judgment call is knowing when the wheel has enough tension, but there are tricks to this as well.

I agree with you on this. I used a tensionmeter on my official shop builds, but I usually just use spoke tone (pluck a spoke) and/or feel when building a wheelset for me (mainly since i do not own a tensionmeter or work at a shop anymore). I can't say the tensionmeter really helped that much. Early on I liked it, because it did give some benchmarks to make sure i was in the right ballpark, but that is about it.


just do what sheldon says, and you can build a professional quality wheel.

I think this is a bit of a stretch, especially considering the range of quality amongst "pros." However, I am pretty sure I know what you mean - if you are careful (probably will take time), you can most likely get close to the quality of your average lbs build. OK, now that I re-read that last sentance I wrote, I guess I sort of agree with you.


being comfortable with truing/replacing spokes/dishing would certainly help speed things along, but these are things you can learn very quickly by building a wheel.

It still seems strange to me to try building a wheel without ever truing a wheel, but give it a try. If you are doing this to save $$, you are probably not going to come out ahead much, but the feel and durability of hand build wheels really is great and worth the work.