nevertrustafart

Hey guys, i have a set of hubs and rims i want to have built up and i definitely do not have the skill myself and my lbs's prices are astronomical!! So i am curious if anyone here builds wheels and would be interested in me mailing you what i have and having you find the proper spokes and doing the build. Pm me if anyone is interested or has suggestions.

FBinNY 

I'll gladly build you a pair using your materials or mine (wheelsmith spokes). If you're open minded on rims, I have good quantities of NOS 700c rims in a range of prices. I'm in New York, so shipping won't be a killer.

Bill Kapaun

I'd suggest you specify which rims & hubs you have and if new or used.
I wouldn't be interested unless someone dropped them off/picked them up at my house and I could see what I had to work with FIRST.
If these are some old, rusty steel rims etc., I wouldn't be interested either.
Just saying.....

nevertrustafart

thank you for the advice, and they are brand new 38mm depth carbon rims(from china) and powerway r36 carbon straight pull hubs. i dont have spokes because i have no frelling clue how to measure for the exact length i would need. if i knew how to do that i might be tempted to attempt it myself. any good advice on how to calculate the exact length of spoke i would need?

reddog3

Had you put that info in your original post you replies would likely be zero, or a bunch of AYFKM(?). Without prior experience with those particular parts, no wheelbuilder I know of (including me) would touch 'em.

FBinNY 

So tell me, how does one gain prior experience with anything if they refuse to touch anything new?

Obviously it's advantageous to build with familiar rims and spokes, and that's the main reason I ask clients to let me spec the wheel to their needs. But an experienced builder should be able to make a rough judgement about a rim when he has it in his or her hands.

When I used to build lots of race wheels, I had an unpublished "I hate that rim" surcharge for certain rims, that I'd factor into any quote. Rims like Fiamme track yellow label road, and the tiny aero Araya track rim (one of the squirreliest) come to mind.

Bezalel

Would you build a wheel with a customer's carbon rim without published specs?

FBinNY 

I'd be willing to look at it, and make a call on it. Or possibly build it with a very limited warranty. I've done this before in other ways, like building light tandem wheels for some crossing the country with it, or wheels for very heavy riders.

In any case, what published specs would you be looking for?

ironwood

If you can lace up and tie your shoes, you have the ability to lace up your bicycle wheels. It takes some study and thought, but it is not a mystery.

mconlonx

I'd be supe curious if someone could build these wheels, plus shipping parts out/wheels back, for less than the LBSs "astronomical" pricing...

Retro Grouch 

True, but I wouldn't recommend that particular combination for anybody's first attempt.

FBinNY 

It depends on the LBS. I've seen wheel building pricing all over the boards varying by as much as 3:1 high to low. There's also the chance that the OP willbe quoted the "your own meat to Macdonalds" price. I know shops that quote outrageous prices to folks who they feel aren't 100% loyal.

Given that the OP seems to be very price driven, I'm not surprised that he's out looking for a bargain on the labor, but it's up to him to make judgements on where to go from here.

Myosmith

Just out of curiosity, what did your LBS quote you to build the set?

HillRider

Your point is well taken but in this case the components are truly "new". Carbon rims of unknown dimensions, carbon hubs no one ever heard of and required straight pull spokes of unknown length. This would truly be a learning experience for anyone who took on the project.

Soil_Sampler

Measuring the hubs/rims should not be too difficult.

Most wheelbuilding pros would not sweat it, but would charge accordingly.




https://power-way.com.tw/hub.htm

FBinNY 

Yes, it's an added bunch of challenges, and not for a 1st timer. However, I was responding to the comment that "Without prior experience with those particular parts, no wheelbuilder I know of (including me) would touch 'em".

The fact that these are novel, shouldn't present a serious challenge to an experienced builder. If I were to consider these, my concerns would be more related to things that don't affect a builder, such as delamination of the CF along the brake track. But puely from a builder's standpoint, my only concern would be the flatness and roundness of the rims, something I could confirm before I started.

gruppo

Quit avoiding the question - what's your lbs's 'astronomical' price? And think about this - you purchased some cheap stuff on the internet, hoping your lbs would provide technical support and a cheap build. Now the lbs has scoffed at you and you're scrambling because you're not capable of getting yourself out of this mess. Your problem is one that should not be on this forum.

What's needed is a forum for folks looking to get out of a mess they've gotten themselves into, aren't willing or able to help themselves, and don't have a clue why their lbs won't help. I'm not sure what the appropriate forum title might be but I'll suggest "Why don't you call the company you bought the stuff from?" or "SUCKER" for short.

Each forum's overseer could just hook threads like this and move them.

well biked

I think you have to have 50 posts before someone can PM you (not sure about that)......out of curiosity, what's the astronomical price your LBS quoted you?

FBinNY 

I believe that there's no requirement relating to receiving PMs, just sending them.

FBinNY 

What exactly did the OP do to you to draw this kind of acrimony?

Not commenting on the wisdom of his method of trying to get a wheel, whether the issue was price or cool factor, or whatever, but I can't see that he did anything wrong. Dumb maybe, but dumb doesn't draw this kind of anger.

People come here for help. Others can either offer the help, refer them to other options, or simply lurk on the sidelines. There's no reason to jump on anyone, especially not a noob, no matter how dumb you think they are.

As for those wanting to know what he thought was astronomical, I'm curious too, but he doesn't owe us an answer to that.

BTW- he's not even asking us to go out of our way to help with his project, just asking if anyone is interested enough to quote him for the job.

FastJake

I agree that learning to build your own wheels is nice and a valuable skill but this is NOT the set I would start on. This is quite a bit more advanced than 32x3 with j-bend spokes.

OP - if you were in my area I'd offer to help and that goes for anyone else in the area who wants to learn. I'm guessing that shipping the parts and having them shipped back would not be economically feasible.

Agreed. I don't see the OP "avoiding" answering about the LBS cost either. His last post was near the top of the thread, at least give him a chance to respond!

reptilezs

for hubs like that it would be 110 per wheel. those hubs are ridiculous

BikeWise1

I wouldn't lend my name to such an enterprise. Doesn't matter how good a job I do, these parts are unknowns, and I would not chose to risk a hard-won reputation to facilitate their assembly. "Doug built them" around here means no one will ever have trouble with their wheels, both because of the attention to detail of the build, and because I only use well-vetted, well-backed parts, not Chinese Deal-of-the-Day, possibly not even first quality parts. All bike parts - especially wheel parts, are not created equal. All it takes is one noisy guy-whether right or wrong on the internet to make my life harder than it needs to be.

FBinNY, I would be concerned with more than just how round and straight they are. A wheelbuilder is only as good as their materials, and I've observed the variations in quality inherent in the vast numbers of sold-direct-as-is parts from China. I'd be surprised if there is any support for those hubs, as well.

FBinNY 

You're right that there are other unknowns, and I'll often refuse to build wheels to a customer's specs, or using the pats he requests, but this applies to known issues. When dealing with the unknown such as in this case, I wouldn't say no based on it;s being unknown, I'd want to see and study it before deciding.

As for reputation. I don't see mine as a delicate flower that I have to protect from wind and cold. I trust in it and it's robustness, and that's what allows me to take risks. I'm not a full time bike mechanic, and over the years most of the wheels I've built were tough cases for people who after enough bad luck were referred to me.

It's sort of like medicine. There are specialists with very high success rates. Many maintain the high batting average by only taking on straightforward cases. Then there are specialists with terrible success rates, mainly because they take on the high risk cases others pass on. So tell me, who's better, the guy with a high batting average on easy cases, or the low average go to guy for those tough cases?

I wouldn't blink at building these wheels. (unless, having the parts in hand, I decided they were truly lousy). If nothing else, it would let me see how they go, so I have a better idea for the future.

nevertrustafart

My lbs quoted me $225 per wheel. I went with the parts i purchased because i live in a very mountainous area and wanted the benefits of light weight carbon wheels and i went with straight pull hubs because i am tired of breaking j bent spokes on the particularly crappy road around here not to mention i do mixed gravel and i wanted the added strength of straight pull for that.