Hello everyone, this is my first post to the mechanics forum. I recently picked up a truing stand and other wheelbuilding tools so I could start making my own road wheels. Sorry if this has been discussed to death here already, I did a search and couldn't find what I was looking for.

I'm about to purchase the components to make some wheels and wanted an opinion on what to get. I was thinking about lacing some Mavic Open Sports to Shimano 105 hubs, 32 holes. Not sure about the spokes or nipples yet, I'd preferably like something relatively cheap but strong. Does this sound like it would make for a good first foray into wheelbuilding? I don't want to use anything too expensive that I may possibly screw up, but I also don't to wind up with a set of wheels so cheap and crappy that I don't want to ride them either. Any suggestions?

Well, you'll probably get some response about type of riding, weight, etc. However, I built up a similar set of wheels about two years ago as a wheelset for my wife. I used the Open Sports, 32 spokes (3 cross), matched to a set of ultegra hubs, DT Swiss Competition Double-Butted Spokes, and brass nipples. The set was for my wife's '86 Trek Elance (pretty much upgraded) that she uses as a utility bike, commuter, and light tourer. The set has worked very well for that. It is certainly a vast improvement over the wheels that came with the bike and, I think, far better than the wheels she got on her $1200 105-level bike a few years back. The Open Sports built up well, even tension, and made for a good wheelset. She likes the box section rim as it looks more appropriate to her for the vintage of the bike (that they aren't remotely original equipment is obvious to me, though). I think the Sports are a good value for what you get unless you are looking to shave grams off your racer. However, short of this, I'd think they'd build up nice. The Shimano 105 hubs are good and, I think, an appropriate hub for this rim (my ultegras are probably a bit much). I'd go with brass nipples (not aluminum); they're more durable and the weight savings of aluminum (equivalent to a few paper clips) wouldn't seem worth it for these rims/wheels. If you're going to go with the aluminum nipples (to save weight), I'd certainly upgrade the rim and hubs. I'd also go with double-butted spokes just because if you're going through the trouble, might as well. In any case, unless you are putting these on a racer or are a clyde, my guess is they'll build up nice. However, if you want something a little nicer (I recently built up a set of Velocity Fusions with ultegra hubs that turned out very nice), I'd say go for it. My experience with wheel building is that, provided you're willing to be patient and don't do anything really just crazy, you're not going to screw-up and wreck your parts. The cost is in time, not equipment, when/if you realize you might be better off redoing the wheel tension (from zero) as you gain experience. My first few wheel builds took a lot of time to get right.

Also, I'm not sure how you're pricing out for parts. However, many have commented that it often seems cheaper to by full wheelsets, online, than ordering parts separately. I guess you don't get the satisfaction of the full build, using spoke calculators, lacing, etc. Some people will re-tension the wheels, by hand, so they are more even if they go this route. I suppose you could take them apart and re-build as well. Right now BWW has a set of open pros, laced to 105 hubs for 299. - and ultegra hubs and DB spokes for 100 more. Again, not sure if this would be a savings for you or how much you are looking for the experience.

https://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com.../prod_169.html

I'm pretty sure some people will jump in and correct anything I have to say. But, I like the idea of using DT Swiss Champion (straight-gauge) 14G/2.0mm spokes. I was told they're easier to build with. And brass nipples are recommended over alloy ones.

Vins and Hybrid, thanks or the responses. Vins I hadn't thought about building or re-tensioning a factory built wheel, although it's not a bad idea. I would like to get the experience of building it from scratch though, and I found a website (Universal Cycles) that will allow me to keep the cost down to the price of the wheels that you mentioned from BWW. I should have mentioned what I plan to do with these, it's for road riding and possibly some training, no I don't plan to race these. However I'm hoping to become competent enough that I could one day make a set of race wheels for myself, maybe I'm being naive in thinking this.

I ordered the Jobst Brandt book and a wheelbuilding DVD that I plan to use for more research before starting this but there is still one thing I'm curious about. How do you determine the proper tension for the wheels? I picked up a tension meter to measure it, but how will I know where it should be? I read that there's a well-known wheel builder who knows the tension for each type of wheel he builds in his shop and he will first bring the wheels to tension before he starts truing the wheel. Seems like this might be the quickest route to take if you know what number to aim for. Also, is it possible to use a similar set of wheels to base this off of? I would imagine spoke length and type (straight gauge, double butted) would have an effect on this.

One more thing, I can't find the specs of the 105 hubs anywhere for use in a spoke calculator. The hubs I want to order are the 5700, but the spec sheet I found https://bike.shimano.com/publish/cont...ub%20Specs.pdf only shows the 5600. Any ideas?

https://lenni.info/edd/

I'm guessing Shimano hubs have been the same dimensions since they were beefed up to handle radial lacing, or probably even decades, with the exception of high-flange hubs and rear flange spacing before 8spd (in relation to locknuts, not the other flange).

Amirite? Can anyone confirm or deny this, off the top of your head?