Originally Posted by
Bigbus
This is a (real) wheel question, not meaning to hijack the thread, but how do you determine what spoke length you'll need when all you have is a hub and a rim? I will never build a wheel, but I'm one of those curious old codgers if that's okay.
You use calipers to measure the hub and a couple of known length spokes set at desired depth in nipples + calipers to measure the ERD of the rim at a few spots (measure to INSIDE of bend). Calipers are cheap now and fun to own...
Then you use a spoke calculator.
Building wheels is fun, really... 'course mine are amongst the simplest with no dish. And I only need one :-)
(I've also lucked out that the factory ERD specs on my rims were correct - I did the measurement only to confirm them using spokes purchased on the assumption they were correct, while formally you're not supposed to trust factory specs)