Mountain Biking - building a wheelset

i'm looking to save a little bit of money and learn something new. i was looking on ebay today and found a set of rims i like and was just wondering how you would bo about building this set. which hubs and spokes and whatnot. im 140lbs and do xc exclusively. I want a light set of tubeless wheels, without spending 800 on a prebuilt set. I think this covers everything, i just want some opinions on how some of you might set these up. please dont link to some site with a mass produced set that you think is better. This is going to be a learning experience as much as an upgrade for the bike.

here's the set http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58087&item=7112570624&rd=1

Not sure what model those are based on the auction details and pics. I will say that 24 hole isn't really enough spokes. For the weight you save on lack of spokes you will gain back in weight per spoke to compensate.

I do like the new Mavic 819 UST rims. I have them with a set of Chris King hubs and DT Revolution spokes. You can get all these parts and hove some really nice and lightweight UST rims for less than $800. Plus they are nicer than any prebuilt set I have seen. That said you are looking at about $525 from somewhere like Larry at www.mtnhighcyclery.com or www.123bikes.com. Larry might cut you a deal to not have to build them but probably not much.

Trey

24 spoke is OK for the front but even for a lightweight, I would like to see 28 on the back. Problem may be in getting hubs, in particular a 24 spoke rear hub. Still, if you do go for them, rebuild using a top quality stainless steel spoke and even go for straight gauge.

i'm looking to save a little bit of money and learn something new. i was looking on ebay today and found a set of rims i like and was just wondering how you would bo about building this set. which hubs and spokes and whatnot. im 140lbs and do xc exclusively. I want a light set of tubeless wheels, without spending 800 on a prebuilt set. I think this covers everything, i just want some opinions on how some of you might set these up. please dont link to some site with a mass produced set that you think is better. This is going to be a learning experience as much as an upgrade for the bike.

here's the set http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58087&item=7112570624&rd=1

Building a wheelset yourself, especially a tubeless wheelset is hard and can wind up costing you more than getting a prebuilt set. You also need to know what you're doing, you need to know how to set dish, the amount of spokes that cross between each parallel spoke. You need to know inside diameter of rim, the dimensions of the hub(As in flange size for each side, left/right distance to center of hub.) Not to forget the factors of how many spokes, what cross pattern are you going to use or if you are going to do a radial build.

thats mad complicated, i didnt know that much went into building a whell, but then again, it is probably the most comple peice of equipment on your bike....oh ya, back to my point, if you build your own wheel, even if you do that stuff rite kona, if you F up the tensioning on the rimms cant you seriously screw up the rims hub etc..?

thats mad complicated, i didnt know that much went into building a whell, but then again, it is probably the most comple peice of equipment on your bike....oh ya, back to my point, if you build your own wheel, even if you do that stuff rite kona, if you F up the tensioning on the rimms cant you seriously screw up the rims hub etc..?

You are absolutely correct.

The rims will be screwed regardless on how strong the rim is if the tensioining is screwed up. Hubs are really tough though, it would have to be over tensioning that would hurt the hub, but before the hub would break, usually it will pull the spoke(Nipples) through the rim, thus turning an expensive rim into scrap metal.

all good points people, thanks for the information. I'm not juming on those wheels i had linked to, but was more or less trying to get an idea as to if it was worth it. Thanks for sticking to the subject at hand and i'll keep all of that into consideration. This will probly be a long project for me, but i'm sure i'll have more questions. In the mean time, anybody know where i can find info on how to build wheels online? are there any articles or write ups that u could recomend.

thanks,
mike

all good points people, thanks for the information. I'm not juming on those wheels i had linked to, but was more or less trying to get an idea as to if it was worth it. Thanks for sticking to the subject at hand and i'll keep all of that into consideration. This will probly be a long project for me, but i'm sure i'll have more questions. In the mean time, anybody know where i can find info on how to build wheels online? are there any articles or write ups thatyou could recommend.

thanks,
mike
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

Also, do you have disc brakes, if so, you will need to use a 3cross pattern min. And I'd like t see more than 28 spokes if you had discs.

Also some bike frames are designed, with the right hub, so that you don't need to dish the rear wheel.

I just finished my first wheel build - not as hard as people here make you think, but I have a park TS-2, which makes dishing infinitely easier (self centering, so no dishing tool necessary). If nothing else, build it up as best you can, then have either a buddy (hopefully) or a shop fine-tune your build. (My LBS charged my $5 to fix a few tension problems with my build - easy, cheap peace of mind)

edit: oh, yeah, yahoo search for spoke calculators - good, free ones are all over the place

Never said it was hard, tubeless is a royal pain to build though. All you really need to know once you are past getting the proper spoke lengths is how to count to 9. Finding dish is a peice of cake as well. If you are going for a 28 spoke, the magic number is 7, 32 is 8, 36 is 9. After that all you need to do is make up your mind on is what lacing pattern do you want to do?

Building a wheel is not that Hard , dont letthem scare you. it is one ofthe best things you can ever learn to do for your own bike. Once you have gotten good at building your own wheels , you'll see just how crappy machine built wheels really are.


My advice though!! find an Old crappy set of wheels take them a part completely , and rebuild it , do this 3 or 4 times till you get the hang of it . It is possible ( but unlikely ) that you can damage arim. but most of all have fun.

one other thing , to help with things go Here

http://www.dtswiss.com/index.asp

and use the spoke calcultor ,it really helps ( and they re-did it made it much fancier than it was )

Thanx splat. I have the winter to learn this. Then, bam...wheel making time :)