wtgrantham

I do all of my own work on my bikes but have never built a wheel. I have a wheelset that I want to change the old galvanized spokes for new stainless ones. Seems simple enough, take an old spoke with me when I buy the new ones, rebuild one wheel at a time so I have a reference, tighten evenly and true as necessary. Am I simplifying this too much. Can anyone give me a vote of confidence?

sciencemonster

That's what I did. I've done three sets so far. Worse that can happen is you take in a out of whack wheel to the shop and have them finish it. I used the Sheldon page for a guide, but after a few minutes, it was pretty obvious how to do it.

Get nipples, too.

Rabid Koala

I have built many wheels and enjoy doing so. What is the worst that can happen? You have to start over again. It does take time and patience, though, but is very satisfying to ride a set of wheels that you built.

You could replace one spoke at a time after de-tensioning the original spokes, but that won't allow you to shine up the hubs or the rim as you could if they were apart.

You can do it!

Panthers007

Don't forget to lace the spokes as you replace them. Look carefully at how your wheels are woven by the spokes.

jan nikolajsen 

For decades I was intimidated to take on this last skill set. I could do everything else but wheels. Finally I splurged and got the Park TS-2 truing stand and the Brandt book, knowing that this monetary investment would fuel my motivation to really get into it.

I practiced on a couple of vintage builds, then put together 3 sets of touring wheels for our family. These are still true with no issues after 2000 miles of loaded riding.

My point is that the craft is not as complicated or hard to learn as one might imagine. As already mentioned it is also one of the most satisfying aspects of bike tinkering.

tmh657

I built a few wheels in the last 2 months having never done it before. I watched some videos on the web and just went for it. I am fortunate to have a good rapport with a local shop. I buy the spokes there and they measure to get the right length. The first one I did about 3/4 of the way and the guy fixed the dish and checked the tension for me. (I bought him some beer)

The next one I got it 90% then went to the shop. The guy basically taught me how to check the dish, spoke tension and make it just right. For free. I find it satisfying as well and I got exactly what I wanted in the hub and rim combo.
It may not always be as cheap as a pre-built but I was in no hurry and sourced the rims, hubs and spokes separately and came out ahead on the price.

Darn pretty wheels to boot.

danarnold

I'd never built a wheel, so I took apart two wheels from an older road bike. The old stainless steel spokes were still in good shape, replaced the nipples. I first used Sheldon Brown's site, but then found this one that made more sense to me:

https://www.gsportbmx.com/tech/guide_wheelbuilding.php

The nice thing about building them yourself is you can tend to it when you want and leave it when you want. I now feel better about wheelset parts. I'll prob'ly order from Psimet and build them myself even tho it saves very little money and I can't do it as well as he does, but still, I'd like to do it myself.

USAZorro

I'll pile on. There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of. I knew this from about age three, from watching my Grandfather building wheels in the evening to help out my Uncle (who had a bike shop). I sure wish I had that old truing stand though. The basics are simple enough, and you learn pretty quickly as you go along - as long as you have a little bit of focus on what you're doing. I'm up to about a dozen sets of wheels, and the last three sets I've made up came out really, really nicely. When he gets back from Afghanistan in the spring, ask Gilberto about the wheels on the LHT.

krems81 

You might get the lacing wrong once or twice when you're learning. Follow the Sheldon brown page carefully. It is very satisfying.

It took me ten or fifteen wheels before I really understood tension, purchased a tension gauge, and started to really understand how the spokes work in tandem. There is something to be said for experience, you get fine tuned for all the smallest details. But you can build a perfectly great set of wheels on your first go if you're careful, and pay attention.

After all, most of the wheels you buy at a shop are built quickly and carelessly in factories anyway. I find most new wheels from distributors need plenty of revision on spoke tension, and often aren't even true. These are reputable distributors, too, and wheels built from nice components are no exception.

I may be exaggerating a bit, but the point is these wheels are built with speed as a priority. If you lace it yourself and get the lacing right, and spend time getting tension and true, you'll have a wheel at least as good as what you buy off the shelf.

High Fist Shin

I decided to try it out for myself as well. My first attempt was a mess, so was the second and third. Then, after watching a few Youtube videos and consulting Jobst Brandt's The Bicycle Wheel, I nailed it on the fourth try. Even the dish was perfect. Take your time and enjoy it. You will likely make a mistake or two, just keep at it. And when you finish, give yourself a pat on the back.

Before:



After:

nlerner

For lacing instructions, I use Gerd Schraner's _The Art of Wheelbuilding_. For whatever reason, I've found his guidelines much easier to follow than Sheldon Brown's or others (in other words, I haven't had to re-lace due to operator error using Schraner's book, as opposed to using other sources).

The biggest mistake I would make as a newbie wheel builder was to tension the spokes too much too quickly. Then, I didn't have any room for correction and ended up with a few taco-ed rims. So my advice is to bring the tension up slowly and uniformly. It's easiest to get a rim reasonably true, then tension all of the spokes equally, check for trueness again, tension again, etc.

Neal