WalksOn2Wheels

And promptly rebuilt it later that evening.

I was swapping hubs on my commuter rim. It was a relatively fresh build, about a year on the rim and spokes, so I reused the spokes. I made the mistake of telling myself I didn't need to read anything in advance and just went with instinct the first time. Surprisingly, it went pretty smoothly, about lass than 30 minutes to lace up, and the lacing came out correct. I tensioned and trued it, but something just felt wrong. It was straight and dished properly and tension overall was good, and I pre-stressed the spokes, but something just wasn't right.

So a few hours later I sat down and read the late Sheldon Brown's wheelbuilding article and discovered my mistake. I had totally missed the asymmetric eyelets on the rim. So I tore it down again and rebuilt it with Sheldon's article as a guide. His method was a little easier than my "instinct" as well. I initially laced one ful side and then laced the other, where it's much easier to lace the spokes you insert from the outside of the hub on both sides first.

Once I got it trued up and pre-stressed the spokes, I put on a tire and took the worst road I knew to see if it would implode or not. So far so good! Even kept its true.


All in all, a pretty exciting moment for me. It was the one last skill I was truly lacking in. Not that I don't learn new things almost daily, but this was the one big barrier that stood before me and had me paying a local shop big bucks to do wheel work for me. Plus, it's that nice sense of self sufficiency when you're bouncing down a cratered road on a wheel you buit up yourself.

whatwolf

Congratulations! I've yet to take that step.

Soon, though...

sonatageek

Still on my list of things to do.

seedsbelize 

I have nearly 1000 miles on my first set. I had to re-true the rear one once, after a pothole incident on a night ride. And just this week, I was able to correctly adjust index shifters for the first time. Having a functional workstand really helped on that one.
Congratulations on your first build.

puchfinnland

2 years ago I finally got around to do it, after 20 years of being scared, I have now 3 wheels under my belt,
I get used abandoned bikes with bent wheels all the time, I was streightening pretzels, just got tired of it so I finally just swapped rims by laying the new next to the old, all the nipples tighten exactly untill the threads are hidden, then its just a case of counting how many rotations per nipple.

it is really not that hard!


got 2 waiting to do but as I bother my LBS so much and buy very little I will take them to him.
I have an appointment on tuesday-the slow day

Watch the vids on youtube, very helpful and very rewarding after you use a spoke calculator and DIY!

Italuminium

Waiting for the next paycheck to finally start building one... Thanks for the admission of the mistake, I'll be sure to double check the eyelets!

Rabid Koala

Congratulations! It is a great feeling to build your own wheel, isn't it?