Originally Posted by
Sixty Fiver
>>>SNIP >>> In the end, you can build great wheels with nothing but the bike's frame as a guide and I have done this and then sent the wheels off on 10,000 km tours with no issues... as long as you can mount the axle in a secure fixture and have a reliable measuring device (zip ties are awesome) it then becomes a matter of skill.
Thank you for the interesting description.
As for the frame and zip ties — for the time being, that is what I will be using. IMHO, one advantage of the frame/fork over some cheaper wheel-stands is that you can cinch down the hub with the skewers and be sure that any slack is out of the bearings. This may not be an issue in the likes of say Campy, Dura Ace, Ultegra and other better hubs, but it may work to an advantage over lesser production. I have noted that bearing tension can vary in some hubs when the hubs are secured in the d-o's — all according to what some manuals have recorded. If we are considering tolerances that some people are in favour of here in this thread, would not that margin ascribed to the secured tension be at least a marginal factor and at most a caution lest the most fussy adjustments be in vain?
(BTW — today the winter front has just clanged come down around us early here in Northern Honshu. So for months I guess it will be a ski parka, two pairs of socks, and long johns under lycra tights. So much for climate change: recently we have sub-tropical summers and sub-arctic winters.)