Originally Posted by
cyccommute
I'd suggest getting an old wheel, take it apart, relace and rebuild, and then take it for a short spin. Take it home and do it again...maybe even a couple of times. Then try a new wheel with new components. The old wheel will give you a feel for what you need to do before you risk expensive stuff
I'm going to disagree, at least to a point.
Using an old wheel to practice laceing (getting the spokes into the right pattern) has some merit.
The real wheelbuilding art, tensioning and trueing, doesn't start until the spokes are all in place. You probably won't get very much effective practice with used or cheap components because they aren't straight to start with. My advice is to not fear using a medium priced rim, like a Sun Rhyno Lite or a Velocity Dyad for your first wheelbuilding effort.