Wheel building tutorials for first timers - any recommendations?
 

I've always wanted to build up a set of wheels from scratch... So I'm going to give it a try.

Nothing fancy; 32 or 36h, 3x spooking.

Bill Mould has a wheel building video that has good reviews, anybody use it?

Anybody know of anything better?

I have the Brandt book... Any better write ups for a noob to use?

Thanks in advance!

-Tom in SoCal

PS - If anybody knows of any wheel building classes in the SoCal area, let me know...

The Jobst Brandt book is considered the bible for wheel builders. Sheldon Brown also has a good tutorial on wheelbuilding: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

Mandatory disclaimer: It will cost you more to build from components than to buy a complete wheel. That said, if you don't care, enjoy the experience.

IMO if you have the JB book there's no need to get another book. There are some that are an easier read and simplify things a bit but in the end it's mostly just following the instructions and hands on experience. Once you know the basics it's time to jump in and start building.

I built my first from Sheldon's website.
I did find it a bit confusing and had to redo the "second set", but it was just a small delay and i had plenty of time.
On my 3rd wheel, things "clicked" and I can lace them up without referring to a reference.
Just take your time and expect to make a mistake or 2 on your first wheel.
The more methodical your approach, the sooner you'll have a good build.

IMO without a doubt the best instruction is by Roger Musson Wheel Building Book The Brandt, and Schraner books make interesting support info, but start with the Musson book first. And way better than the DVD you see around as well. I have them all, but the Musson book is by far the best, and surprisingly the least expensive.

i built my first wheels by copying the lacing pattern on known good wheels

after i had built a few
i read brandts the bicycle wheel
and that cleared up a few things
and made it easier

the long and the short of it is
there are a bunch of mistakes that are easy to make
but dont really affect the strength or longevity of the wheel
as long as it is properly tensioned and stress relieved

Don't know if it's the best because I haven't read each and every other book on the subject, but it is totally legit and I highly recommend it to get the straight dope (explanations on why) on wheel building and very detailed step by step instructions. It even has plans for building a truing stand, dishing tool, etc...

Of course Sheldon is legit too.

I've read and tried all the other books identified above as well as Sheldon's tutorial, and greatly prefer the wheel building section in Leonard Zinn's "Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance". I find it very clear with simple, excellent illustrations. Even after building about 30 wheels, I still use it as a reference as I'm lacing the next one. And his spoking sequence doesn't require as much spoke bending during the lacing process as I recall from the others. There are good tensioning and stress relieving suggestions in all of them.

I also like my rear wheels built with the "pulling spokes" coming from the outside of the flanges on rear wheels as done in Zinn's method, which is opposite Sheldon's and Brandt's suggestions. I know their reasons, but my engineering mind likes how my/Zinn's version gives the maximum base width to the spokes with the greatest stress.

I like the way Schraner's book explains how to spoke a wheel. You can download his method.

My first wheel was successfully completed with nothing more than Sheldon's how-to, a tension meter and spoke wrench.

I have Brandt and Schraners' books. They both work fine.

The second purchase I would recommend a new wheel builder make, after a spoke wrench, is a Park TM-1 tension meter. Using it in combination with Park's TCC spreadsheet will do wonders for the uniform tension of your spokes and subsequent durability of your wheels.

1. Brandt's book
2. Good spoke wrench that holds all four corners of the nipple snugly. I use the Spokey red wrench with DT Swiss nipples.
3. Tension meter.

I think lacing a wheel 3 or 2 cross is fairly easy. Truing and dishing is actually more difficult and that comes easier with experience.
And there's nothing better than riding out on a set of home built wheels.

I learned from Sheldon's guide alone. Years later, after building many wheels, I can build without looking at any guide.

Some recommendations to make things easier/better:
- Get butted spokes. If you're going through the time and expense of building your own wheels, butted spokes are worth it.
- Grease the spoke threads and nipple seats in the rim before building. This will make tensioning easier, reduce wind-up, and allow you to true them later in life.
- Pay attention to spoke wind-up. Don't just keep cranking on the spokes. Either tighten them and back off, or hold them while you tighten so they don't twist.

roger's book is good if you just want to build a wheel. it is not super technical so if you want to know how and why a wheel works then get the book by brandt

I have this book and really like it in general. The wheel building section is good as far as it goes, but IMO, is far less complete and significantly lacking compared to that supplied in Roger Musson's book. For example, it says nothing about determining ERD and how to measure spoke length. Also, there's no significant discussion on to pros/cons and why/wherefores of various lacing methods... It pales in comparison.

I wasn't suggesting that the other books didn't have plenty of interesting and valuable info about theory, spoke length calculations, etc. I said I prefer Zinn's lacing instructions for the typical, and my standard, 3-cross build.

Agree. Zinn does have very good step-by-step 3x lacing instructions, almost identical to the step-by-step 3x in Musson's book. IMO, either is as good in that respect.

I found this site to be one of the most clear and helpful of all the info I found on the Net.
http://miketechinfo.com/new-tech-wheels-tires.htm

...we teach this at the bike co-op here in Sacramento. You already have
most of what I'd recommend to students with Brandt and Musson, and I
regularly tell people to use Musson's online spoke length calculator, because
it is the one I use.

Interestingly, after about 20 or 40 people here in Sacramento, we seem to
have used up the available pool of interested students. Given the current
state of assembled wheels selling more cheaply than the individual components,
I guess all but the hard core bike nerds are losing interest in the subject.

They teach it on and off at the San Fran Bike Kitchen, too, so I'd suggest
you do a Google search for bike co-ops near you and ask them if they
run classes every now and then.......we usually wait until we have six or eight
or ten prospective students before we run one.

Otherwise, I've actually taught people during the course of the regular work
shift if it's slow enough and they are sharp enough.

The hardcore bike nerds know you can have sweet wheels on the cheap by cherrypicking co-op parts and using a bit of nous.

The less competition for us, the better :p

Thanks too all for your thoughts - as always they have been very helpful.

-Tom in SoCal

I had purchased some tubular rims, and as it turned out one of the rims was cracked in several places around the nipples. I took this rim apart, and relaced it using the Zinn road bike book. It went very well, and I happened upon a park truing stand, tension gauge, dish gauge, and several nipple wrenches at a really good price. Since then I've built two sets of wheels from scratch, and replaced the spokes on my everyday rear wheel.

It takes me longer than it would take someone with more experience, but it's a satisfying job and worth learning. There is a bit more pride in a build when you actually built the wheels too.

Understatement of the year.

+1 on Sheldon Brown tutorial.

I built my first wheel with the Brandt book as my only source of information.

Any idea of when you might be teaching another one (in Sacramento)? I'd be interested (if I can fit it into my schedule).