Originally Posted by
pdlamb
This, although... How do you find a trusted wheelbuilder? I ran across three on a cross-country trip, but I don't know if they're still where they were back then.
I'd suggest that on a cross country tour you probably are looking for someone to replace one or maybe multiple spokes and tensioning those spokes to bring the wheel back to true. That doesn't necessarily require a master wheelbuilder. Certainly you are in a position where you have to settle for what you have available unless you can do it yourself.
I've even had "the best wheel man in town" detension a good wheel so he could true it easier.
That may not be a terrible approach if he built the wheel building tension in layers as Sheldon Brown used to say. If you wound up with a well trued wheel with even tension that was nicely stress relieved that might have been a great way to go.
My recommendation is to buy the tools and the book (The Bicycle Wheel) and learn how to do it yourself. Short of that, ride your bike until a problem pops up.
I don't know that particular book, but learning to build your own wheels is a good idea. I have heard some folks practiced by taking old wheels apart and putting them back together, It doesn't sound like a bad way to practice some skills. That or just detensioning an old wheel and retightening and truing it up. If you can do that reliably and have some spare spokes you will have some confidence on tour.