Originally Posted by
ironwood
You say the wheels have flat spots. This could mean the rim itself is deformed and needs to be replaced, or it could be that the wheel is out of round and can be retensioned. Wheel building can be intimidating at first, but after a while it is just a little more cmplicated than lacing up a pair of boots.
This is garage and yard sale season. It's amazing what you can find there and in the trash.
Oh yeah, the rims are dead, they both have flat spots and the spokes in those sections are really loose. Its not a tensioning thing. The person that had the bike before me must have been testing the air pressure in the tires by riding directly into curbs...
I really like the idea of building them up myself, I really want to do it. Only problem is that i have time and money on my mind as well. I can get complete wheels for about 30$ (that i will probably have to tweak and retrue anyway), or i can get everything i need to build them, buy my calculations that should be:
$80+ - rims (2x40), not sure what shipping will be.
$55 - Tensiometer
$10 - Nipples
$30 - wheel dish
I have the spoke wrench and lube.
So i am at about $175 or more to rebuild.
Huh, thats the first time i totalled it all up like that. maybe its not that bad of an idea to just rebuild them, cause I also get the added bonus of getting a couple new tools out of it!
Nothing easy about this decision....