edelay

On both of my folding bikes, I use internal hubs. Because of this I can't simply purchase a new rear wheel when the rear rim wears out. Instead a new rim has to be installed. I've been riding bikes as an adult off and on for about 30 years and I've always done my own maintenance but have shied away from building a wheel since I considered beyond my abilities and limits of patience.

I would look at lacing patterns and truing methods and would just get overwhelmed.

Here is how I was able to put the new rim on:
- first I taped the spokes together where they crossed. When the rim was then removed, the spokes stayed in their lacing pattern. Lacing problem solved
- then using a drill with a slot bit, put the new rim on and tightened up until spokes weren't wiggly
- using Sheldon Brown's article Wheelbuilding started truing the wheel
- Sheldon indicates to true in only one dimension at a time, then switch to the other and repeat until done. This solves the problem of having to think in three dimensions
- Sheldon also indicates to use the 1/4 and 1/8 turn technique for each spoke
- I found it easier to remember which direction was loosen or tighten using a slot screwdriver than a spoke wrench
- put tire lever near rims and whenever I heard them scrape, adjusted the spokes to either side
- once side to side was done, put a ruler along the top edge of the rim to true the wheel vertically (how close the rim is to the axle). Did that until it was true.
- alternated the horizontal and vertical truing until done

If I hadn't taped the spokes, I think I would have quickly gotten confused during the lacing process. As well, using Sheldon's technique of only worrying about one dimension of truing at a time turned that process from an art into a science. In addition, sipping a pint of beer while doing this and just surrendering to the fact that this was going to take a few hours, prevented me from rushing and ruining the rim.

I'm not a mechanical or handy guy at all, but have done bike maintenance for years just out of a sense of self reliance and being a bit cheap.

I hope this post helps others to tackle the installation of a rim or the building of a full wheel. Let me know your feedback on the techniques that I used.

jur

Great going! I think building wheels is not dead easy at all; I have built a fair number over the years but it takes a while for each one. I also started with the Sheldon guide. Building your own wheels puts you in a different class of bike mechanics.

What did you do to get the tension in the right ball-park?

edelay

Thanks Jur.

Before I removed the rim on the rear wheel, I squeezed the spokes. I then compared that to the front wheel and they were close to being the same. When I installed the new rear rim, and gradually tightened (without yet truing) until I got it close to the spoke tightness of the front wheel. During the truing process, I then focussed more on tightening that loosening. Seems pretty close by the end of the build. Hopefully this will work.

linberl

I thought it was pretty amusing and clever in that my son, a guitar player, used his tuner to determine the tension of the original spokes and to then tune his new ones. The frequency of each spoke varies due to tension. He drew a chart and noted each value and replicated that on his new wheel. Pretty darned close apparently to correct.

SkunkWerX

THAT is pretty darned clever! He may be able to patent that idea!

Aaron_F

When I need to rebuild a wheel due to the rim, I literally just set the new rim on top of the old wheel, and one-by-one, remove the nipples, and move them--and the spoke--up to the new rim (use painter's tape if you want to make sure they stay together). It takes out all the guess work, and once it's laced, just pick it up and give the old rim a look of shame before you kick it out of the way and begin tensioning.

edelay

Excellent idea.

jur

Nope, been published:
Check Spoke Tension by Ear

leoho5

There's also a smartphone app for the Gates Carbon Drive that measures belt tension by plucking the belt while the phone measures the frequency.

- Gates Carbon Drive Belt System

Azreal911

I have to give the OP a thumbs up for this, I never thought about taping the spokes together and just move it to a new rim. this will save a ton of time when I wear out the rim and need a new one.

leoho5

I agree that it is a clever time-saving way to build a new wheel. It is safest though to use the exact same rim model for the replacement because the effective rim diameter tends to be different from rim to rim based on how deep the channel is (or at least measuring the ERD of the new rim to make sure it is the same or very close to the old one). Otherwise there could be an unfortunate surprise that all your spokes are slightly too long or short.

xraytech

Nice Tips, I'll keep that in my back pocket the next time I taco a rim.

But I have to say, it's nice to learn how to lace a wheel from start to finish.