Wheel
07-08-06, 05:50 PM
#1
Crankenstein
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Wheel
Meh... after replacing 6 broken spokes so far, and having another one break on me before I got it back on the road after the most recent replacement, I decided to look into replacing the wheel.
The CHEAPEST wheel I could find locally was $75.... that $25 more than I paid for the bike! Yeah, I'm cheap, but I'm on a TIGHT budget right now... so off I went to buy some new spokes. I'm about half-way through lacing the wheel right now.
I guess now is as good a time as any to learn how to build a wheel, right?
Thank heaven for Sheldon Brown's web page!
With luck, I'll have the wheel done and back on the bike for my commute Monday... Friday I used the wheel off of my '72 Schwinn. Had to switch the shifter from indexed to friction, but it worked nicely. Little wider tire than I'm used to, and lower pressure but it got me to work and home again. I trued the wheel when I moved it over, it hit both chainstays in the course of 1 revolution! There's only about 1/8" of clearance on each side as it is.
Well, wish me luck, all.
The CHEAPEST wheel I could find locally was $75.... that $25 more than I paid for the bike! Yeah, I'm cheap, but I'm on a TIGHT budget right now... so off I went to buy some new spokes. I'm about half-way through lacing the wheel right now.
I guess now is as good a time as any to learn how to build a wheel, right?
Thank heaven for Sheldon Brown's web page!
With luck, I'll have the wheel done and back on the bike for my commute Monday... Friday I used the wheel off of my '72 Schwinn. Had to switch the shifter from indexed to friction, but it worked nicely. Little wider tire than I'm used to, and lower pressure but it got me to work and home again. I trued the wheel when I moved it over, it hit both chainstays in the course of 1 revolution! There's only about 1/8" of clearance on each side as it is.
Well, wish me luck, all.
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"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
Last edited by bmclaughlin807; 07-08-06 at 08:07 PM.
07-08-06, 07:47 PM
#2
Crankenstein
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Hah! Nobody cares about my wheel. That's ok. Got it laced, and tensioned.... put it on the bike, and the dish is almost perfect, main work now is to true it up. It's kinda far off... then again, I've seen people RIDING on wheels that are worse!
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"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
07-08-06, 07:55 PM
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How many spokes is it (total I mean)? Unless it's really low, it makes me wonder about the build quality of the wheel. If you're doing it yourself now, do a good job 
.
.
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Now living in the land of the cheesesteak.
But working at a job where I can't surf BikeForums all day any more...
07-08-06, 07:58 PM
#4
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I recently saw a young girl riding on a path on a low-end early '90s mtb, and her back wheel looked like it had been run over by a car. I honestly don't how she was able to ride at all! Congrats on fixing it yourself, though. That's something most people would never even think of attempting on their own. 
07-08-06, 08:05 PM
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It's 36 spoke. Everything was fine till that big black SUV tapped my rear wheel. After the first spoke went, I just kept popping more. The axle is slightly bent, too... I hope the hub itself is ok... I guess I'll find out soon enough.
Anyway.... More experience with bike mechanics sure won't hurt me any!
Anyway.... More experience with bike mechanics sure won't hurt me any!
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"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
07-08-06, 09:47 PM
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Excellent. I'd still be working on the wheel 3 weeks from now.
I have yet to try my hand at rebuilding a wheel.
How about this:
https://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...cat=REI_SEARCH
Who in god's name could afford this?
I have yet to try my hand at rebuilding a wheel.
How about this:
https://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...cat=REI_SEARCH
Who in god's name could afford this?
07-08-06, 10:54 PM
#7
Crankenstein
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Certainly not me. Especially with the upgrade to a cassette, vs freewheel, and the fact that the current cassettes won't fit the spacing on my rear wheel... and it's aluminum, so you can't cold-set it to a wider spacing like you can with steel.
But there are plenty of people out there that can afford 'toys' like this... Most of them probably only put a small fraction of the miles on thier bikes that we do.
PS: Had to take it all apart and start over... didn't notice that the left-right offsets of the spoke holes on the rim was the opposite of what the drawing showed on Sheldon's web page.
but... looks good now, and I'm truing it up.
But there are plenty of people out there that can afford 'toys' like this... Most of them probably only put a small fraction of the miles on thier bikes that we do.
PS: Had to take it all apart and start over... didn't notice that the left-right offsets of the spoke holes on the rim was the opposite of what the drawing showed on Sheldon's web page.
but... looks good now, and I'm truing it up.
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"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
Last edited by bmclaughlin807; 07-08-06 at 10:59 PM.
07-09-06, 04:01 AM
#8
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Truing wheels isn't too hard, just take it easy on turning those spokes,when you get close no more than a quarter to half turn. Sheldon's page is an excellent resource! I build my own wheels too when I have the time, usually using old parts
I don't normally re-use spokes, but it has been done before. I am getting ready to build up wheels for my "city bike" but can't decide if I want to buy new Sun CR's or reuse an old set of Wolber rims that I have. FWIW they are still laced up to a set of LePre hubs (suntour?) with an ancient 5 speed freewheel. I just hate to cut down a decent wheel, but the bike they were on is long gone. So out will come the wire cutters!
Aaron
I don't normally re-use spokes, but it has been done before. I am getting ready to build up wheels for my "city bike" but can't decide if I want to buy new Sun CR's or reuse an old set of Wolber rims that I have. FWIW they are still laced up to a set of LePre hubs (suntour?) with an ancient 5 speed freewheel. I just hate to cut down a decent wheel, but the bike they were on is long gone. So out will come the wire cutters! Aaron
07-09-06, 05:50 AM
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
Excellent. I'd still be working on the wheel 3 weeks from now.
I have yet to try my hand at rebuilding a wheel.
How about this:
https://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...cat=REI_SEARCH
Who in god's name could afford this?
I have yet to try my hand at rebuilding a wheel.
How about this:
https://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...cat=REI_SEARCH
Who in god's name could afford this?
I am rotten at wheel building, so I aggree with you! My back wheel is griefing me something fierce and has been rebuilt a number of times by the LBS where I got the bike from. It is very strange - even the guy at the shop agrees.
My long term plan is a Mavic wheel set like this: https://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...cat=REI_SEARCH
It seems a nice wheel set and costs very little in comparison to some others (in fact, compared to a good mavic road rim, and good sealed cartridge bearing hubs, it is cheaper than a built up wheel set.)
It is more or less the road equivelant of what is on my mtn bike which has not gotten out of true in 5 years and has had no hub maintenance in that time either....
07-09-06, 08:49 AM
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That cost seems a bit more in line with what I could afford. My mavic wheelset has taken a fair amount of abuse on my touring bike. Good wheels in my opinion.
07-09-06, 10:31 AM
#11
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Well, it's done. Back on the bike, gonna go take it for a spin in a bit.
Had some problems, but nothing TOO bad. It's just a slight pain. The hub is definitely damaged, but it should last me a few more weeks, untill I'm in a better position financially to be able to go looking for a new wheel.
Had some problems, but nothing TOO bad. It's just a slight pain. The hub is definitely damaged, but it should last me a few more weeks, untill I'm in a better position financially to be able to go looking for a new wheel.
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"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
"There is no greater wonder than the way the face and character of a woman fit so perfectly in a man's mind, and stay there, and he could never tell you why. It just seems it was the thing he most wanted." Robert Louis Stevenson
