I have so many needs for new wheelsets and for truing up existing wheelsets. My Vitus 992 project needs a wheelset, that is the main missing piece to the parts list. My daughter is still riding her UO-8 in the rain with baby-killer steel rims. My son's coming UJ-10 has steel rims too. My commuter bike is rapidly wearing out its front rim's braking surfaces. And so on.

Yet I am deaf, dumb, and blind when it comes to wheels. Never built one. Never even trued a badly warped rim. Don't own any wheelbuilding tools.

Reading the wheelbuilding threads here are not entirely reassuring. One thread makes it sound as easy as, well, riding a bicycle. Another thread makes it sound like neurosurgery while riding a bicycle. And I've no crusty old bike guru neighbor to show me what to do.

So I went looking for a class. Let's see, for $450 I can become a DT Swiss-certified wheelmaster - pass. For $275 SugarWheels will teach me to make a set of wheels sweet as you-guess-what - still kinda rich. Wait - for $75 my local bike co-op will walk me through building my first set of wheels over three evenings - sounds good. I'm there!

Problem is, I will miss the first class, where they discuss the theory, design, component selection, and cut the spokes. I promised to study up on my own and arrive at day #2 not too far behind the rest of the class.

That's where I need help. Could you all please suggest:
- A good book on wheel building?
- A good spoke length calculator?
- A good source for spokes (reliable, reasonable prices)

I thought I'd use the class to do the UO-8's wheels - this will be some inexpensive Sun alloy rims laced to the existing Normandy hubs. Makes sense not to use expensive parts for my first build, right?