Bicycle Mechanics - Shimano WH-7700 Rebuild

I am about to rebuild a set of Shimano WH-7700 that had some sort of serious corrosion issue with every spoke on both wheels. I already have all the parts from Shimano.. None of the spoke have failed yet and the wheels are perfectly straight. I am basically just looking for any pointers from someone who may have rebuilt a set of these wheels. I've built quite a few sets of traditional wheels and replaced spokes on a few high-tension wheelsets but this will be a full rebuild and these are obviously not traditional wheels. Shimano provided all the spoke tensions and specs we need so I am hoping it will be possible to just measure tensions and just go down the line replacing one spoke at a time.

You already have all the spokes? How much did that set you back? My LBS wants $7 per spoke.

Frankly, I would have recommended a new wheelset rather than a rebuild. These do wear out. Usually the rim holes wear and there's nothing you can do about it.

I am not exactly sure how much they were per spoke but I wnat to say $7-$10.

These wheels have less than 500 miles on them. I really like the wheels they just havent been riden alot. Something caused corrosion to build up on the spokes. I am assuming something they were coated with or just a bad batch of aluminum...idk. Other than that wheels are like new.

I say ride them until you start breaking spokes. These are some of the strongest spokes ever made.

The corrosion has set in to the point that if one spoke failed I think there could be a chance for multiple spokes to "pop" because of the shift in tension under riding stress. Plus the wheels look horrible because of it. Every spoke has a thich coating of white and greenish corrosion.

I'm not too worried about rebuilding them. Was just looking for any pointers...

Rebuilt my rear wheel. Hi tension. Good spoke wrench. It's not a standard one. I borrowed a Shimano one from my LBS and still "dented" the sides of it. Overall not too bad a build, however.

I have 2 of the shimano wrenches that were provided with this wheelset so hopefully I'll be fine. Were you able to just replace one spoke at a time and bring it up to tension then fine tune?

I am not familiar with that wheel, but I have repaired the 105 version for a friend. If the spokes are stainless I don't understand what they have been exposed to to cause the corosion. You should be able to clean them up and use the wheel until it begins to break spokes. They quit making the wheel because bringing the spokes out of the side of the rim was not a good idea. They have also stopped having the nipples at the hub. When shimano has a bad idea they don't admit to it, they simply phase it out.
If you replace all of the spokes release the tension on the wheel and then replace the spokes and retension and retrue them.

I dont think they made a 105 version exactly like these but I could be wrong. I cant figure out what caused teh corrosion either considering they were stored next to several other sets of high end wheels and none of them displayed any of this corssion. I'll post a few pics. I know they have changed the design of their wheels but until these really give out I'm going to continue to ride them. It really is a nice riding set of wheels.

bump

Don't know about that particular wheelset but I have rebuilt a Shimano Sweet 16 tandem wheel for a customer. My advice is definitely to get a tension spec from Shimano. Those things require a TON of tension.

Oh - and another poster's advice to acquire the long armed, shop quality wrench for those wheels is a good one too. You'll tear your fingers up trying to get to the required tension using that consumer wrench that comes with the wheels.

We have the tension specs from Shimano. Were you able to just replace one spoke at a time and bring it up to tension or did you "de-tension" the whole wheel and then start replacing spokes? I know we have the short wrench but the other one may be a long arm...

We have the tension specs from Shimano. Were you able to just replace one spoke at a time and bring it up to tension or did you "de-tension" the whole wheel and then start replacing spokes? I know we have the short wrench but the other one may be a long arm...

The customer brought me a hub, a naked rim, and a bag of spokes.

Laceing the wheel from scratch very hard because there's really only way it will go together. For me the hardest part was remembering which way to turn each nipple since they are oriented in the hub different ways. I'm a believer in sloooowly walking the spokes up to tension. I don't remember how many times I went around the wheel tightening each spoke 1/4 turn at a time.

The customer brought me a hub, a naked rim, and a bag of spokes.

Laceing the wheel from scratch very hard because there's really only way it will go together. For me the hardest part was remembering which way to turn each nipple since they are oriented in the hub different ways. I'm a believer in sloooowly walking the spokes up to tension. I don't remember how many times I went around the wheel tightening each spoke 1/4 turn at a time.

ahh understood...

Since the wheels are still in 1 piece and perfectly straight we were hoping we would just be able to measure tension of the old spokes, slowly remove it, and slowly bring it back up to the pre-measured tension.... Just doing this 1 spoke at a time...

The 105 wheel is very similar and the Ultegra is identical, save for the logos.

That corrosion doesn't look too bad. Use some steel wool to get it off. I suspect it's only on the coating and doesn't affect the metal.

Fwiw, I've done the one-spoke at a time replacement and it works pretty well for one or two, but I've never tried all at once. I know these wheels are ***** to true, though.

You will want a tool to keep the spokes from twisting as you work the hub nut. I have one that looks like a white donut with slots in the sides that slip over the bladed section of the spoke. Forget who makes it...

You will want a tool to keep the spokes from twisting as you work the hub nut. I have one that looks like a white donut with slots in the sides that slip over the bladed section of the spoke. Forget who makes it...

I used a 6" Crescent wrench. I closed the jaws until they would just slide over the bladed portion of the spoke.

I figured it was just surface corrosion as well for a while but as I started to ride the wheels again I could here creaks and cracks from the wheels under load that I had never heard before. I'd rather just rebuild.

We have the tool to hold the bladed spokes straight.

One tool for holding bladed-spokes to prevent wind-up can be found here:

http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=180244260661&d=single&c=Tools&sc=Wheel-and-Rim&tc=Spoke-Holders&item_id=SA-BSK

You're welcome.

I used a 6" Crescent wrench. I closed the jaws until they would just slide over the bladed portion of the spoke.

There's a plastic tool that is designed to not mark up the spokes...

And you can bring tension up much more than 1/4 at a time (as long as your doing all spokes on one side then the other) etc.

There's a plastic tool that is designed to not mark up the spokes...

And you can bring tension up much more than 1/4 at a time (as long as your doing all spokes on one side then the other) etc.

Correct - I posted a link to it above:

Item #SA-BSK: Circular plastic tool with slots in each side for holding on to bladed spokes, and preventing them from twisting during wheel building and truing.

Well we have that spoke tool so should be good. The wheels are being rebuilt Thursday so I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

One tool for holding bladed-spokes to prevent wind-up can be found here:

http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=180244260661&d=single&c=Tools&sc=Wheel-and-Rim&tc=Spoke-Holders&item_id=SA-BSK

You're welcome.

Yeah, that's it. Thanks.

And you can bring tension up much more than 1/4 at a time (as long as your doing all spokes on one side then the other) etc.

I may have overstated the 1/4 turn at a time thing but, I've found over the years, that walking the tension up slowly and evenly like that greatly reduces the amount of radial trueing that I have to do. It's not uncommon for me to have to do no radial trueing at all.

I guess my question still is, can this just be treated as a "spoke-replacement" as if I had simply broken a spoke but after fixing that spoke we're gonna replace the next one, etc... until all spokes have been replaced. The wheels are straight now so if tension is measured before removing the old spoke and the new spoke is tensioned to that appx "pre-tension" then fine tuned I should be good right? I really do not want to de-tension the entire wheel and respoke it from scratch if I dont have to.

Let us know how it goes. I'm in the same position with similar wheels.

Wow... Spend 3.5 hours on the front wheel last night. It is back in 1 piece and tensioned but needs to be trued now. It looks like it would be simple due to the low number of spokes but no. You have to remove 2 spokes at a time due to the way that the hub flanges are designed. One spoke cant be removed without the opposing spoke being removed too since it blocks the hole for the nipple to back out of. Once we got on a roll it wasnt too bad but it did take us about an hour of looking at the wheel to figure it out.

The rebuild is done. I was able to get the front wheel true in about 30 minutes over the weekend. The rear got rebuilt last night. Instead of replacing the spokes 2 at a time with the rest of the wheel tensioned I just broke down the whole wheel. It was much easier this way and didnt take as long. I had the rear respoked and true in about 2 hours. Soooo... It took a while but it was a pretty cool project. Hopefully get to see how they ride today if the rain quits..

Thanks. If you can find a deal on the spokes, please PM me. At the prices I have found, the replacement spokes are a large fraction of the price of a new wheel...

The rebuild is done. I was able to get the front wheel true in about 30 minutes over the weekend. The rear got rebuilt last night. Instead of replacing the spokes 2 at a time with the rest of the wheel tensioned I just broke down the whole wheel. It was much easier this way and didnt take as long. I had the rear respoked and true in about 2 hours. Soooo... It took a while but it was a pretty cool project. Hopefully get to see how they ride today if the rain quits..
Glad to see that you got it back together. Hope it lasts a while.
Now that you are a wheelbuilder, build up a set with 32, even better 36 15-16-15 spokes, and have a dull boring RELIABLE wheel that will last years and tens of thousands of miles. When the rim wears out you can replace it and still use the hub and spokes.

Glad to see that you got it back together. Hope it lasts a while.
Now that you are a wheelbuilder, build up a set with 32, even better 36 15-16-15 spokes, and have a dull boring RELIABLE wheel that will last years and tens of thousands of miles. When the rim wears out you can replace it and still use the hub and spokes.

I actually managed and was the mechanic at one of the shops here in town for several years while I was in college and have built lots of wheels. Never a set of these though... I have no doubt that the wheels will last longer than I plan on riding them. Every spoke was tensioned to factroy specs and re-checked after truing. Before I had this corrosion issue they had never seen a truing stand once. You dont need 32 spokes for a wheel to be reliable. However, I know what you mean. I have a set of 32h Ultegra/open pros that I built several years ago that are unbreakable..

Put a 230 pound rider on the low spoke count wheels or put them on a loaded tourer. For most of us they are a waste of money. They are for marketing hype. The "new and improved".

Put a 230 pound rider on the low spoke count wheels or put them on a loaded tourer. For most of us they are a waste of money. They are for marketing hype. The "new and improved".

I weigh 200lbs. Never had a problem with any of the low spoke count wheels I've owned. Guess I've been lucky.