psycho d

i just got the itch to build up a set of wheels. i have an old steel lugged frame that might be fun as a single speed. i did find the search button and found the following:
1. Good resources include Sheldon Brown's website and books by Gerb Schraner and Jobst Brandt.
2. CXP rims with Ultegra 32 hole hubs would be a good place to start.
3. Necessessary tools-GOOD spoke wrench mandatory; nice to have tools include a decent/nice truing stand, tension meter, and maybe a dishing tool
4. Also need time, patience, and no inking of saving money but rather looking for an enjoyable hobby

i think that about covers what i currently know, which is really nothing. Did i miss anything to get me started??? i'll probably order up a book today or two today (i am inclined to learn by books for sure). Any suggestions as to which tools are the best for the money, or even would be worth the money to make this more of a hobby than a chore? Thanks.
Ashe.
d

huytheskigod

If you want it to be a hobby and not a chore, I'd definitely get a truing stand. You can get a cheap one and it should do you fine. Also, it is good to have or borrow a already built wheel similar to the one you're building for comparison of tension (pluck method). Just make sure it is a wheel in good shape true and tension wise. My first wheel build, I did next to a piano comparing tones generated by plucking. This is a little extreme though. If you want to buy the tension meter, it would be great. That would be my next wheel building purchase. The Park one should be adequate for hobby building. Dishing too isn't that necessary. Just flip the wheel around in the truing stand. You summed it up in number 4.

triplebutted

Park Trueing stand and Park spoke wrenches. Brandt's book is the mandatory reading:
https://tinyurl.com/6cmhlt
Before laptops and innernet surfing in front of the TV in cold nights, I built/trued wheels in front of the TV.
I never used a tension meter but a dishing tool is important as well. Oh, get one of those nipple wrenches as well, looks like an old fashioned manual drill.
Nothing more satisfying than looking at a perfectly straight, trued rim on a Park stand. You say to yourself "wow! I did that!"

hammond9705

I've never done it, but I've heard that a good first lesson is to take an old wheel apart and put it back together again.

stapfam

Cheaper than messing up new parts first time out. I tried wheel building but With the "Cheap" trueing stand- I finished up with an Oval wheel. May have done better with a quality stand- but I leave the Wheel building to the experts. They can do a far better job than I will ever do.And a lot quicker.

Retro Grouch 

That's what everybody says. Naturally, I disagree.

I could train a chimpanzee to physically lace the spokes. The real task of wheel building is in the tensioning and trueing. An old wheel is probably not going to have a very straight, round rim. Consequently, to make it halfway true, you are going to have to use a lot of spoke tension variation. That's NOT a very good way to teach yourself about tensioning and trueing.

My advice is to have the self confidence to use moderately good, brand new components for your very first attempt. If you start with good stuff, it's just not that hard.

FLIT Christy

this is good idea to do before you use your new parts.

mihlbach

Good advice. I did that, actually. I went to the LBS and asked if they had any junk wheels for me to practice on. They gave me some piece of garbage with a worn-out rim that was headed for the dumpster. I took it apart and rebuilt it. It gave me enough experience to confidently built my first real wheels. I wasn't necessary, but it was a good confidence builder.

jonestr

spoke prep. Some dont use it, but it definitely cant hurt. I have one of those stupid 1 sided truing stands and it is supposed to be good for dish, but it is horrible. A dishing tool is nice if you can afford it, but not necessary

531Aussie

You don't need a dishing tool or a tension meter, but definitely get a truing stand.
I just get the dish close in the stand, up to about 3/4 tension, then put the wheel in the bike to get it right. The most important thing you need, especially when you start (as you mentioned) is patience. I do mine in front of the TV, and if a particular wheel isn't coming together as quickly as I feel it should, I don't lose patience, I often just put it aside and get back to it the next night.

531Aussie

Yep, lacing is easy, but it's not hard to make mistakes if you're not concentrating.

I like 'my' way of lacing (it's not exactly original ), coz it invloves less threading and twisting. It's bascially: right side heads out (leading spokes); left side heads out (leading spokes); then the rest is kinda obvious: one side of crossing 'rear pointing' (or "trailing") spokes, followed by the other. If you do one complete side, then the other, more annoying twisting and threading is required.

Starting on the right side of the wheel: spoke head on the outside of the hub flange -- this spoke goes to the hole right behind the valve hole. Then finish this sequence of 8 (if it's a 32-hole wheel), or how ever many.

Then do the exact thing of the left side of the wheel. The spoke head goes to the outside of the left side of the flange. Looking across the hub from the right side, you start with the hub hole of the left flange which appears 'just' behind one you started with on the right flange. Again, looking from the right side of the wheel, this spoke goes right behind the first one, which is two holes from the valve hole.

The rest is obvious: one side of crossing 'rear pointing' spokes (heads inside the flange), followed by the other side.

It's a handy idea on 'normal' hubs to bend in the spokes which have the heads on the inside of the flange.

Oh yeah, if you're using CXP33s it's best to use 14mm nipples (instead of 12mm) to avoid scratching the rim when using the spoke tool. The sleeve/eyelet things in the CXP33 make the nipple sit a little higher in the rim