I know a lot of you guys do build your own wheels, but some of you guys have to go to your local bike shop to get your wheels built up for you.

since I am part of the latter, I'd like your advice


I am having the shop here build me a set, and the price they're charging for spokes is unbelievable! it's gonna turn out to be 45$ each wheel. Just for spokes! I mean, it's a 28 hole wheel! without the labor cost. that's another 50 each. at least the rims are priced reasonably.


they're double butted, but still...

Politically incorrect....

It depends on a few things. Are the spokes bladed? Are they a high end brand? Also location matters. I built a wheel in Eugene, where there are a lot of bike shops, and they were I think $0.75 per spoke for double butted DT's. Pretty reasonable. Then, in another town in Oregon that had only one bike shop, spokes were $1.00 for no name straight gauge spokes. Double butted DT's were $1.40 or something like that. In your situation, though, I'd say $1.60 per spoke is either way overpriced or really really high end spokes.

No substitute for doing it yourself.

$50 for a build here would probably be in line. Start to learn yourself. Lace them up and take them for final truing, should be cheaper.

I think my shop charges something like $.80 per spoke, plus $40 for the labor to build.

they should be building it with some dt swiss spokes. I guess living in los angeles does bump up the price a bit.

someday I'll definitely learn to build my own wheels. right now I'm sort of in a rush haha


thanks everyone,
Joben

I totally agree with you

I know I'm new here but . . . "gypped" refers to "Gypsey" or "Roma" people. It is not considered "pc" because the implication is that Romani people steal. Not that I would normally point this kind of thing out, but I didn't know if you guys (and myself?) were on the same page.

I recently sent the hubs from my '67 Sports to Harris Cyclery to have new wheels built. It cost a fortune: $45-$50 per wheel plus 1$ each for spokes, but they came back perfect; have put about 100 miles on them and are still completely true. I know they would have been so-so at best if I had tried.

In the end, you get what you pay for.

Last front wheel I had built at the LBS was ~$89 or so. I supplied the rim and hub, they the (32) DB spokes, nipples, and labor. Split about even - spokes/labor.

My shop charged me $80. I supplied the rim and hub (36 hole front wheel).

I'm sorry about the derogatory term, honestly. It was the first thing that popped into me head.

if any of the moderators are reading this, change it to "swindled/cheated"

sorry again
Joben

My shop charges $50 for labour. Straight gauge DT is 0.75 per spoke. If you want something else we have to order it. Depending on the spoke we will either charge you per spoke if it is a size we think we can use. If we think the size/type is uncommon enough that we may eat the spokes then we will charge "cost" for the box if it is more than that per spoke dollar cost.

So it is relative to the shop. $45 for spokes is a lot but what kind are they? Sapim? Could be pricier but they are fantastic spokes.

When I have wheels built the labor is usually in the $20-$30 range, spokes are around $1 a piece for straight gauge and up to $1.70 for fancy double butted. This in NC away from the big city. I usually provide my own rims and hubs. I only pay to have wheels built when I am in a bind time wise and need the bike.

Aaron

ATTENTION : Building wheels is not difficult

With the right lengh spokes and a good guide to follow I find it easy fun and highly rewarding. Please give it a try, FYI It takes me around 1 hour per wheel.

The LBS I no longer frequent charges $1.65/spoke for basic spokes plus $65 a wheel build cost. Another "high end" shop charges $1.45/spoke plus $80 to build. My Mennonite bike shop charges me his cost for the spoke + $35 for a build. He just procured a very nice Park truing stand for me for the price of getting 2 wheels built so, I'll be learning myself.

$45 for a wheel's worth of spokes is, in my opinion, much too much. But there's no denying that spokes can cost that much, especially when purchased through a shop that has to stay in business somehow. So I don't regard that price as anything criminal. It's just an expense I would not pay, ever. I buy the cheapest butted stainless spokes I can find, and build/true/tension/dish it all myself. 100% success? No. I've screwed up a few times. But no catastrophic failures either, and a lot of money saved.

The only wheel I've had built up by an LBS cost ~$75. I supplied the 32h rim and hub. Build fee was $40 and spokes were $1 each.

If you rarely need wheels built, or if pre-built modern wheels are acceptable, then having the LBS build them for you or sell them to you makes sense. But if you are in collecting/flipping/wrenching mode buying a basic truing stand is worth it. I prefer clincher rims, so I have transfered three old tubular wheelsets into clinchers, and recently replaced all the spokes (rust) on another, all for the cost of spokes + my time and effort. I have several bikes to ride so there was no hurry to get the builds done. One nice thing about building wheels is that you can take your time and do it in stages, and not feel rushed, unless they are for your only bike! I used zinn's book for my builds very clear and easy to follow directions I thought.

Where do you get the best deals on spokes and how do you measure to figure out what size to get? I probably need to learn but I also don't want to waist a lot of money buyin the wrong size stuff....

This is the easiest spoke length site I've used:
https://lenni.info/edd/
assuming you can find your hubs and rims in their database.
I round off to the nearest mm.
Then, it's up to you to source the spokes (I like dt champions), and decide on straight guage or butted (more $).

There are a number of spoke length calculators available. Do a search or google. My LBS has a spoke cutter/thread forming machine so they will make any length I need on the fly. They use only DT and charge 1.25/spoke in quantities of one or two. When asked if they will true a laced wheel, they told me to do it myself otherwise it was $75. I think that since I came it with the spoke knew the diameters of the DB and asked for DT, I knew enough to true my own wheel!

We can walk you through building your own wheels. You won't be sorry. We've done it before, and we can do it again.

Search Google for spocalc, Excel spreadsheet that will help you calculate lengths. You just need to be able to measure hubs and rim ERD.

eBay can help you out with spokes. This seller has sold to some forum members, though not me personally: https://myworld.ebay.com/childhood_dreams/
danscomp.com also has good prices on Sapim spokes: https://www.danscomp.com/products.php...TS&show=Spokes

I called them and although they are a BMX shop they can do road lengths. I may try them for my next build.

especially if you do it yourself!

I usually buy my spokes and rims on ebay: 50 bucks for the rims and 50 bucks for a box of spokes. 50. labor each sounds fair; it ain't rocket science, but takes some time and attention to detail.