noglider 

I had to replace my hub, because the bearings seized. The LBS replaced the bearings, but for some reason, the bearings seize whenever I tightened the skewer. Since they were stumped and I was stumped, I said OK, and decided to replace the hub.

So here is the wheel, and I'm not sure I did it right. The spokes cross each other in the holes. Will it hold? Are they supposed to start at the near end of the holes or the far ends?

KonAaron Snake 

Hi Tom - I only have one wheelset like this and took some photos of the rear...hope they help:







The front was radial.

xB_Nutt

This is the only image I could find that shows that maybe you should not be crossing the spokes in the holes. I guess you don't have a pic of the wheel before you started or you wouldn't be asking this question.

noglider 

xb_Nutt, thank you. I see I've done it wrong and have to do it again. Shucks. OK, then, back to the dungeon.

And by the way, these aluminum nipples are a darned pain! They slow down the process a lot, because they're so reluctant to turn. Are they supposed to be discarded after one use? They seem to be holding, but I don't have any experience with them.

hellojoben

oh job well done

noglider 

Is that sarcasm?

It's a Sestrière rim.

poprad

I would suggest contacting Rolf in Eugene, Oregon for some advice on rebuilding that wheel. I know that most Rolf paired-spoke design wheels utilize VERY high spoke tension and thus stay true through much abuse. I'm not sure if yours were originally built that way or with more traditional methods. My Rolf Echelons don't even have exposed nipples and there's no way to adjust spoke tension without tearing off the rim strip, but they are still as true as day one after 1000 miles of hard use on some bad roads.

My concern would be if you built up rims designed to use high spoke tensions in a more normal way, they might not be designed to hold the weight of a rider upon impacting a road bump. I would e-mail that pic to Rolf and see what their tech tells you.

Nice job from the looks of it though, and FWIW my Rolf rear is a 20 spoke and they do cross right at the hub.

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noglider 

I wasn't clear in expressing my question. The hub flanges have "slots" for pairs of spokes. The left spoke is in the right end of the slot, and vice versa. And it looks like when tension increases momentarily (through riding), the tension could draw the spoke head sideways through the slot.

xb_Nutt's picture confirms that this isn't right.

Thanks for the tip. I was able to build up the large amount of tension required in the wheel. I know that low spoke count wheels need high tension. I was surprised how easy it was, especially given the high friction between the nipple and spoke.

How did they make these rims so light and strong at the time? Clearly, it's some materials technology that isn't available in lower-priced rims.

repechage

Unfortunately, time to take that wheel apart. you want the spoke to pull against the "meat" of the flange, note the original spoke pull marks on the flange. I would not reuse alloy nipples, the cost is not significant, my time is, and if the nipple starts to deform as you build the wheel or later true it...

noglider 

Right. That's what I was asking about and confirmed. Not a tragedy. Lesson learned!

Are you confirming my suspicion that aluminum nipples are a use-once thing? I think I will follow your advice and replace them. What a stupid idea they were. Are they still in use?

Tom

hellojoben

haha no sarcasm whatsoever!

I would buy a rolf wheelset, I'd just have to sell my bike first to get the money -____-
lol

I did research and they're discontinued:/

noglider 

A friend sold me these wheels for a price I couldn't resist. He also sold me a drive train and a barely-used Cross-Check frame at ridiculous prices, which is how I ended up building the bike. I would never spend that kind of money on these wheels.

Roll-Monroe-Co

Forget the wheel, Tom. Where did you get all that hair?!

I have never tried to build a wheel because my brain gets tangled up in all the spokes (inside, outside, left, right, cross under, cross over .. no, under ... no, over .... BLEAHHH!). But it also looks to me like your spokes pull toward each other, whereas in the other wheels, they pull away from one another.

noglider 

That's not I in that picture. It's my neighbor holding it up for me.

And I won't forget it. I'll redo it. I've build hundreds of wheels, just not one like this one.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Tom they do still sell Alloy Nipples. Plain and simple its a weight thing. Alloy nipples weigh about 1/3 of what brass nipples do.

So on your 24 spoke wheels brass nipples would lay on a massive 24 grams versus alloy nipples weighing around 8 grams.

Not enough to matter to the average joe, but enough to cause concern for weight weenies.