Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - my friends wheel exploded

my friend wanted to try my bike. we traded pedals and he went around the block. i was about to get on his bike and noticed his tires were low. i pump them up while he goes around the block on his first fixed gear ride ever. i start to get on his bike and hear a weird sound. a kind of *clunk* and look down just in time for the next noise which almost burst my f'ing eardrum. the rim on his rear wheel gave out, crazy! never saw that happen before. so he rolls up and says 'woah your bike is rad.' i have to break the news that, yeah, his sucks. but he wants to turn it into a fixie anyway so i get the idea, 'hey you want my rear wheel?" now i can get a new one! i am thinking phil and open pro (like everyone else on this board, it seems). :D
so a question: how hard is it to build a wheel? ive never done it. also if i decide to let someone else do it for me, should i order the parts and let a lbs do it or order a whole prebuilt wheel from harris or some other shop? i havent lived here long and i dont really trust any of the lbs in town...

what kind of spacing does your frame have? There are plenty of affordable options out there that don't include the high price of a phil hub.

yeah but i want one so... why not?

Oh ok. Just thought I would put that out there.

I was warming up in the parking lot ten minutes before the start of a mtb race and my tire blew off the rim. The brake pads wear the rim thin and then BOOM!!!! Scared the crap out of me and they wouldn't refund the entry fee!!!

Wheel building is easy for people who have patience. You also need a few pieces of equipmnent (some kind of truing stand, spoke wrench).

A good way to start is to buy the rim, hub and spokes then lace the wheel. Then take it to a shop and have them finish the job by truing and tensioning. You will save a few bucks this way and learn about wheel building. You also don't need any tools for this.

yeah i think im gonna try it. rim failure is a good argument for going brakeless! :p

i just gotta decide if i want some pretty color finish on the rim or just plain black. i just got some pink bar tape... maybe i should go for pink rims? and then spokes are.... white. it could match my zoobomber bike. ;)

I just built my first two wheels in Dec. Sheldon's site was invaluable. http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html . Now I build wheels for my friends, it's not difficult. I would recommend a radial for the front (just looks good) and a triple cross for the rear. Fixed wheels are usually easier to build because they are symmetrical.

Good Luck

Chris

I've built good wheels just fine without a truing stand. Just hang your bike from a door jam with a rope and use the break pads as calipers. It's not as convenient, but it works just fine.

Great source of satisfaction. Once you've got confidence in your skills it's like packing your own parachute. You wouldn't let anyone else do it.

so a question: how hard is it to build a wheel? ive never done it. also if i decide to let someone else do it for me, should i order the parts and let a lbs do it or order a whole prebuilt wheel from harris or some other shop? i havent lived here long and i dont really trust any of the lbs in town...

It's generally cheaper to buy custom wheels than it is to buy parts and build them yourself. Build them for the learning experience, not the savings. And yes, this really bothers me.

i built my own wheels just from sheldon's page, miche hubs onto open pro's. It's certianly a good learning experience, though I won't pretend mine are well done but they do they job fine. The only problem was the first time I tried the wheels, I hadn't done the nipples up tight enough and they started undoing. So i'd recommend taking a spoke wrench out with you the first couple of rides after buildingt just in case.

I built a set for my fixie. Both 3 cross lacing. Sheldon's website has all the info. I bought a truing stand (a minoura on sale from nashbar for $40). It is better to use a screw driver than a spoke wrench while building wheel (before putting on the rim tape). One piece of advice that helped me was that, while truing it is helpful to use two pieces of tape on spokes to mark the beginning and end of 'out of true' portion of wheel. Tighten nipples by increasing the turning angle gradually from one end and decreasing when you reach other end. I got mine true to less than 1mm from all angles (sideways, up/down), and it is perfectly centered. I prefer 3 cross lacing (even for front wheel) since you can easily feel the spoke tension by eyeballing the distance the crossing point of spokes move when you pinch the spokes. Remeber, wheel building is not art, it is pure science.