Can anyone recommend a good wheel builder in the Los Angeles area? A friend gave me an old 7 speed MTB hub that I'm considering having laced into a 700c rim I've got for commuting duty. We all know that an alarming number of shops will only suggest that I buy a new wheel - and truth be told, I don't want them building me a wheel anyway. I might very well tha I might end up spending as much money in labor to have a wheel built by a craftsman as I would to buy a cheap machine built wheel. But ultimately, the hand built wheel is going to last much longer. So anyway, does anyone know of someone who practices this vanishing art form in or around Los Angeles?

Thanks. DanO

Do it youself

I do a bit more than the av - er - age bear. And I'm usually the first one to encourage someone to invest in the tools and start their own wrenching. But let's just say this is once instance where it's good for a man to know his limitations. I'll definitely be money ahead if I don't choose this juncture to invest in the tools and time to git 'er done myself. And besides; I've found the skill of the builder is directly proportional to the life of the wheel - especially for us big guys. So with that said... anyone else wish to weigh in?

DanO

I built my first set about 2 years ago. I asked for advise from the shops I bought the parts from and they were happy to give it. Then I sat down with a stand and a printout from sheldon's site and 30 min later viola. My first was a radial laced front (really easy) next was a 3x track rear (a little tougher). Both are still true to this day. Now I tend to build my friends wheels, I kinda find it relaxing after staring at a computer all day.

I don't mean to be an argumentative defeatist, but there's a reason you build wheels for your friends. Simply put, not everyone aspires to be a wheelsmith. And it's not that we're all just lazy. Ultimately, not everyone will recoupe the investment in tools and time it takes to master the task. If that were the case truing stands and dishing tools would sell in the same numbers as pumps and patch kits.

I have been to Sheldon Brown's site and the instructions do seem straight forward enough. And it will be fabulous to one day include wheel building under the heading of 'jobs I no longer have to wait on the LBS for'. But at this point I cannot justify the $160 Performance wants for their CHEAPEST truing stand, dishing tool, spoke wrenches, tensiometer and spoke prep (plus the cost of spokes) in order to lace the hub and rim I have together.

As encouraging as it is to hear that you were successful building your first wheel set without enrolling in a class, I may or may not posess your aptitude. There's only one way to find out, and like I said, I just don't have the cash to throw down in order to find out. At this point I would rather pay a craftsman $50 plus materials (I think that's being generous) for a well built wheel, than to end up shelling out over three times that and maybe ending up with something I need to walk into a service department for dishing, tensioning and truing anyway. At which point the guy may or may not gonna look across the counter at me and say "Gee, usually we just order you a new wheel.

I now realize that this was probably not the forum in which to post my querry. And for that I appologize. I guess I'll have to let my fingers do the walking.

DanO

Don't mind us, we're just a bunch of insufferable gearheads. If you ask me where to buy a stem you are as likely to get instructions on forging your own as you are a real answer.

I don't know LA, but I do have a suggestion. Call a few shops and ask if they have a Phil Wood spoke cutting machine. If so, they probably have a good wheel builder as well, since thats the only way they could justify the expense. Here in St. Louis there is only one major shop with a Phil Wood, and one major shop with experienced wheel builders, and they are the same shop. Every place I called asking for custom spokes kept referring me back to that one shop.

peace,
sam

Thanks for the advice Sam. And you're right about being an insufferable gearhead. I have to admit that I am first to suggest that someone run out and buy what they need to service their own cranks and bottom bracket in order to remedy that creak, when they might be just as intimidated by that as I am by wheel building. I guess we all mean well.

DanO

Most LBS's in the LA area I know of builds wheels in-house. I don't think you'll have any problem locating one close to you.