Feedyoupoptarts

How much would it roughly cost at a bike shop to replace all the spokes on my carbon clincher if I provided them with the spokes?

Haven't gotten spokes yet, are there any cheap and good spokes anybody recommends?

cny-bikeman

1. Call local shop(s)
2. Ask them

Good - Any brand name is good - Wheelsmith, DT, etc.
Cheap - Google bicycle spokes, check ebay. But 1st you have to decide on gauge, butting, aero, nipples, etc.

Al1943

Are you sure you know what spokes are compatible with the hubs and carbon rims?

Feedyoupoptarts

Thank you!

Feedyoupoptarts

Nope, I do not. But I contacted the person I bought them from and hopefully they'll get back to me soon.

Drew Eckhardt 

$25 - $100 + tax. Labor costs vary radically and there can be a dis-assembly fee.

The tangential issue is the high chances of your local shop doing a bad job producing a wheel which doesn't stay true and breaks spokes.

At the low end shops sell people cheap ($25 will do it) wheels from Quality Bike Parts with no wheel building skills required.

Moving up the food chain, most people get factory built wheels with no wheel building skills required.

There isn't much demand for wheel building so mechanics don't do it, and when they do there's pressure to do it quickly because there are more profitable uses for their time.

I strongly suggest doing it yourself (wheel building is comparable to adjusting front derailleurs in difficulty, but takes much longer) or finding a reputable one-man operation that may not be local.

(The last two wheels a reputable bike shop built for me didn't turn out well - the rear never stayed true because it wasn't tight enough, and the front folded on a small bump likely due to low tension. I felt lazy and let another shop build a wheel for my wife, and in spite of it being an IGH with relatively balanced tension they left some spokes too loose for it to stay true and took more work to make right than if I just built it myself).

Feedyoupoptarts

My shop won't work on my wheel because I bought went the cheap route and bought a light and aero wheel set from china for 480. Saved 1000-1500 and it was worth it. They said it was due to liability issues and don't want to be responsible if something goes wrong.

I recently trained on them for a week and did a duathlon a few days ago with no problems. Checked for cracks before and after each ride, etc. I went home and noticed that the new saddle I ordered had arrived and tried it out. I ran over an electrical cord in my front yard and the wheel rolled the wrong way and I lost control of the bike and went down pretty hard trying to regain balance. The wheel wobbled to one side so I tried truing it but to no use (I'm pretty new to road biking) and when I took my bike to the shop (because there's a dent in the bottom tube by the derailer) the mechanic said the bike would be fine but the wheel won't. Then a day later I get a call from the owner saying that they can't work on that wheel because of liability issues and that while trying to tru it I broke all the spokes but they can't work on my wheel. >:/

Feedyoupoptarts

I would do it myself but I've lost confidence in my handy work. Didn't even know you could break spokes while truing.

cny-bikeman

It was worth it for what - bling value? How many hours are you going to deal with this issue when you could have been on the bike? Is the increased chance of a problem during a race worth the .2% advantage?

BikeWise1

As a professional wheelbuilder, I do not build with customer's spokes unless they came directly from the wheel manufacturer and were intended for that specific wheel. The calculations of spoke length are too critical! Plus, building with cheap spokes is just plain stupid.

Bikes can achieve the take-off velocities of small aircraft....why in the world would you want to cheap out on one of the single most critical safety components on a bike?

surreal

If your shop refuses to work on your wheel for vindictive reasons, consult another shop.

That being said, if you do not yet have spokes, do the right thing and purchase spokes thru the shop doing the labor.

Pico Triano

I would just let the place rebuilding your wheel participate in choosing the spokes. In my experience the spokes themselves aren't the most expensive part of the job.

FBinNY 

I build wheels for others from time to time more as a sideline/hobby than as a real business, but I do charge.

I almost categorically refuse to build using spokes the client brings me. To me it's like bringing your steak to the steakhouse.

My reasons go beyond simply being churlish.

1- part of my revenue comes from the profit on the components, so without that I need to charge more fo the labor.
2- more important, even top quality spokes are slightly different brand to brand in thread quality, and resistance to twist. Working with spokes I'm less familiar with slows me down, and makes the job harder.
3- spoke/nipple thread length and nipple thread relief varies, changing the margin of error beyond the top of the nipple, from zero to about 3mm. Since I try to have spokes end as close to the top of the nipple, a mismatch can mean running out of thread.

So, while I'll occasionally let folks bring me spokes, it's the exception, and anyone doing so will be quoted higher.

AnkleWork

Since the OP wants cheap, it's probably cheapest to buy a new wheel from the same seller.

dsaul

I find it hard to believe that the OP broke any spokes while trying to true the wheel. It's also hard to believe that he wouldn't notice said broken spokes and had to be told about them by the shop. Most of those Chinese carbon wheels use Novatec hubs and Pillar spokes, both of which are good quality and not prone to breaking. I smell troll.

FBinNY 

Some people see a troll under every bridge.

prathmann

I don't see anything "vindictive" in being reluctant to work on a wheel with which they are unfamiliar and for which the technical specifications are probably not available. What range of spoke tension is allowed on this unknown rim? Guess wrong and you end up with an angry customer and possibly one who was injured when the wheel failed and now wants to be compensated.

surreal

So, this is an issue b/c the rim is made of carbon, or...?

FBinNY 

A dealer or mechanic can refuse to service any item, except for those which they're obligated to service, ie. bikes sold with warranty. I don't believe they need explain their reasons, which can be just about anything from a rim that's a PIA to work with, to the knowledge that their designated wheel guy is pretty crappy, and they'd rather avoid that kind of job.

Blaming the insurance company is a convenient cop out, but it's their cop out if they choose to use it.

surreal

I agree; the shop absolutely has the right to refuse service to anyone. But, the unintended consequence of that is that customers reserve the right to make judgments about the shop for the refusal.

That's the awesome thing about freedom; it works both ways.

FBinNY 

Just to be clear, I didn't say anyone, I said any item. There are many legitimate reasons not to do some work, but few legitimate reasons to refuse a person's business. In some cases, such as race, refusing to deal is illegal.

But you're right, customers can take their business anywhere, any time for any reason (or no reason).

surreal

AFAIK, a business can refuse business to anyone, but emphatically not for any reason. Race, as you mentioned,
is but one example of a legally protected classes. But, generally, a shop owner can tell a customer "no" if he likes, so long as no illegal reason is cited.

Of course, it's bad for business to do that.

surreal

Occam's Razor: it's only pretty about half the time.

zukahn1 

Herses th thing lesser Carbon fiber plus new spokes could be a a seriouse PITA for any mechanic and likely run labor costs well above standard say $40 per wheel and they are dealing with spokes and rims they have no guarantie on so it is likley that most shops will pass on this work. If you want this kind of wheel work at an afordiable price you will have to do it youself.

Kimmo 

If you look hard enough you might find a torrent of technical bike books containing Jobst Brandt's The Bicycle Wheel.

Read that, and you should be able to build decent wheels first time. His kids did.