episodic

Questions, I want to build a rear wheel.

The reasons are:

I want to learn everything about bicycle wheels.
I don't want to be scared of my wheel breaking on a long tour and not knowing what to do.

I'd like to be more self reliant.

So here are my thoughts and confusions.

I get that I need to buy a rim, spokes, and a hub.

I want the tire for loaded touring with me on it (260-270lbs loaded).

It needs to be a 700c wheel.


I don't need to break the bank doing it. I don't care about 'light'. I want a bomb proof 36 spoke wheel that will roll from now till doomsday.

So here are my dumb questions:

What rim would you use?
What spokes would you use - and most confusingly where do I get these from (can't be local - needs to be internet) - and how on earth do I know the exact size I need (this confuses me more than anything).

Is it absolutely necessary to have a truing stand? Can I true it on the bike? Can I build it and stress relieve it without fully truing and finish that part off with a visit to the bike store for them to true it?

Anyone feel like telling me what they'd use? Needs to be 'budget'/'bombproof'.

Thanks for entertaining my desire here. I've been reading Sheldon Brown's site and I feel inspired to try.

Sixty Fiver

Bombproof = Mavic A719
Spokes = Dt Swiss or Wheelsmith double butted with brass nipples.
Hub = Rohloff

Just kidding about the Rohloff hub... Shimano LX hubs are stock on many upper end bikes because they are really quite good.

Building with decent parts with better QC will make for an easier build and if you are going to build a bombproof touring wheel these parts will handle it and a little bit more.

Retail cost for parts will be in the $180.00 range and and if you follow instructions step by step and ask questions when you need to there is no reason why you can't built a finished wheel.

Another route is to find a wheel like this pre-built as sometimes the sale prices of these are less than the price of the parts, disassemble it properly, and then rebuild it to work on your skills.

motobecane69

Just built my first sets of wheels the past couple weeks. first and foremost, go to this site and buy this guys ebook. It is EXCELLENT, best $10 or so you will spend.
https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

i'm 240 lbs and am in the process of building a touring wheel as well. I'm using a Mavic A719 36 hole rim with DT Comp double butted spokes. I'm contemplating using DT Alpine Triple butted spokes to really make it bombproof. As for hub, the bike this is going on has 132.5mm dropouts so I can go road or MTB. I'm probably going to go MTB for better sealing because this bike will be used primarily as a commuter in all weather conditions so better seals will be worth it. I'm looking at a simple Deore hub but I may spend a bit more and go deore xt. I have disc brake on the front, rim brake rear so I don't need a MTB hub with disc mounts.

As for spokes, there are lots of guys on the internet that will sell you specific quantity that you need. you don't want to ahve to buy full boxes unless your building multiple wheels. Generally rear wheels need different length spokes on each side. here is a link to a goo donline spoke calculator that has a good database of hubs and rims already listed.
https://lenni.info/edd/

Another great touring rim option is the Velocity Chukker. It is 30mm tall like a deep v but it is 24mm wide instead of 19mm wide like deep v's so you can put much wider tires on it.

Finally, I would NOT build a rear wheel for the first time without a truing stand because you need to get it dished correctly. a front wheel is easier because you don't have to worry about dish. Nashbar has a cheap truing stand that is about $60 but your not looking to break the bank so I don't know if you want to make that investment. if you belong to a cycle club, you can probably find a fellow member that has a stand and some skills to help you, that is what I did. BTW, Mavic rim is priced around $80 but everywhere I've read is that it is a SUPER STOUT rim. The velocity Chukker is about $65 and I've also heard it is an excelent and stout wheel. I also believe the velocity dyad is another popular rim for touring applications. A cheap deore hub can go for about $30. If you want to use a road hub, I just bought tiagra hubs for my road wheels less than $50 for the set.

worst case scenario, source your parts on your own via the internet and have your lbs do the building, should only be about $30 labor for them to build it.
Niagara cycle works has a pretty good selection of rims, hubs and spokes so if you order everything from one place you will save on shipping.

motobecane69

Great point, you can get an A719 with Deore XT hub for about $165 already built. Black rim with silver spokes. only reason I didn't go this route is that I have a Mavic 317 Disc on front because i got a great deal on it and I needed a disc compatible front. I want my wheels to match but nobody is selling the A719 prebuilt with BLACK spokes which is what my front wheel has.

Sixty Fiver

The whole wheel is less than the cost of the respective parts... I would always factor in a little extra to have a machine built wheel checked by a qualified mechanic to ensure tension / true (if you can't do it yourself), and that the wheel had been properly de-stressed which is really critical.

Even with that little extra you are probably $185.00 in to a great quality wheel.

episodic

Ok, I'll bite, where are you guys getting the prebuilt A719's for 165$?

Sixty Fiver

I build my own wheels and have sworn off using commercially made hubs since we make them in house.

FastJake

I'm going to say you don't need a truing stand. I built my first wheel (rear, 32 spoke, 8-speed crammed into a 126mm frame) without a stand and it turned out fine. The brake pads give you lateral true.

If you take your time and be careful it'll be fine. Worst case you have to tear it apart and redo it. Buy a few extra spokes.

dedhed

https://www.bikesonline.com/handspun-...-black-36h.htm

Sixty Fiver

I have built many wheels using the frame as my truing stand and can take those wheels and spec them with dial indicators and they will be within very close tolerances... indicators can be nothing more than zip ties.

The human eye (if you have 20/20 vision) can differentiate differences as small as 5/1000.

I build wheels for a living at my shop and for the custom builder I work with and neither one of us owns a commercial stand... between us we have built countless high quality wheels for ourselves and customers to very close tolerances.

I consider 5/1000 to be a minimum build standard and aim for even closer tolerances if the parts merit it.

My fancy new chromed truing stand...

BCRider

I think I did my first half dozen sets of wheels using first the bike that the wheels were intended for and then later an old discard frame where I cut off the damaged front triangle. Of course for the front wheels a fork worked out fine.

A stand is to make doing frequent wheels more convienient. You'll do fine tensionng, stress relieving and trueing the odd wheel right in the bike that it's intended for.

As for what rim to use if you'll be using a wider 28 to 34mm range of size then there's any number of excellent off road 29'er rims available these days that withstand the rigors of rough trail riding. If you can find them in a 36 spoke drilling I suspect you could do worse with any of them that have even a half way decent review record.

Max C.

Also check for bike co-ops in the area. If there are a couple near you you're bound to find that one of them has one or that someone they know has one they'd let you use.

Sixty Fiver

You can use a front fork for rear wheels too... you just mount the hub from one side.

I keep meaning to make a rear stand out of a rear triangle... my partner has been using a couple of these and a few dial indicators for decades.

I keep hoping that I will score an old cast Hozan stand for my shop...

davidad

I am going to build up a wheelset for a 280 pounder. I prefer the Mavic A319 rim because it is heavier More aluminum = stronger. I am getting thee Deore hubs from Harris Cyclery and the DT double butted 14-15 spokes from CBO. My LBS is ordering the rims for me.
Harris has a touring set at a good price. A friend has a set and they are well built.
You can use the bike as a truing stand. Not as convient as a regular one, but it works.
I highly recommend a Tensiometer.
I like Gerd Shraner's book for the spoking method and Brandt's book for good wheel info.

episodic

From a link someone gave, Harris Cycle does wheels, and I had no idea you could order hand built wheels over the internet. The wheels they sell - some are 120mm spacing, others are 135 mm spacing and even a 126mm spacing one - anyone know right off the bat what I'd need for the Cross Check? I may just order wheels from them and take them apart/rebuild.

here is their order page:
https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/wheels/622.html

blamp28

Surly specs on their web site say you can use 130 or 135 hubs. If you want to be able to use disc brakes, use MTB hubs or buy pre built wheels marketed for 29ers which are 700c rims.