what goes into building a wheel?
 

i found a good deal on a pair of 32 hole rims ($30). i dont know a thing about wheels or building them. what do i need? just hubs, spokes, and tires?

how much would this cost me?

Don't forget the spoke nipples. as well as a bunch of tools.

I'm not a wheelbuilder myself, but it's a pretty complicated job. So beyond the monetary cost would be a lot of time spent getting it right - you'd want to allow a few days to patiently work through it for your first time. Seeking advice from your local bike shop couldn't hurt, either.

Building up a wheel is very time consuming and error prone if you don't know what you're doing. Unless your time is worth minimum wage, you may be better off buying a pre-built wheel.

ok. scratch that idea. i was thinking spokes were cheap since they are only 2.00 for really nice ones but times that by 64 and add cost of hubs and im way over my budget for a wheelset

A shop will charge about a buck for a straight gauge spoke. A hub can cost from 20 to .... well, lots of money.

Most shops charge from 50 to 100 to build a wheel.

One option is to lace the wheel yourself and take it to a shop for the final truing and tensioning.

If you do that, then the wheel you will have will be superior in quality to a machine built wheel.

Don't underestimate the quality difference between a hand-built wheel and a machine built wheel. Even if the hand is yours.

I had fun learning to build wheels. I started by just taking apart an old wheel and putting it back together. The second one I built took me about a hour.

Sheldon Browns instructions are awesome.

Wheel-building is a mentally-satisfying endeavor. But it is not cheaper than buying pre-built wheels. Even if you already have the tools, the parts alone (rims, hubs, spokes, nipples) will cost more than pre-built wheels. Especially when some big retailer like Nashbar is having a sale.

OTOH, the big retailers don't build a wheel nearly as well as you can learn to.

Bob

yeah, it's definitely not cost effective doing your first few wheels, due the time it takes, but it's kinda fun and kinda satisfying. The best part about gaining a modicum of knowledge is being able to true your wheels whenever you want, without having to trudge down to the bike shop and fork out your cash.

I'm just a backyarder who's done about 20 to 25 builds, and I just do mine a bit at a time, in front of the TV, over the space of a few days or a week, or whatever. The first couple require a fair bit of patience, but some wheels come together much quicker and easier than others.

It is sort of satisfying knowing I've built or rebuilt nearly all of the wheels I use.

Whaaa??? I build wheels nearly every day and I'm good at it ;) and I don't charge anywhere near that much! I don't know any builders who do.

Our double butted spokes are about a buck each. I don't normally build with straight gauge. Labor per wheel is $30, unless you need spoke head washers which adds $5 for both parts+labor.

As to the lace it yourself first advice: unless you are absolutely sure your spoke lengths are perfect, and you used the correct thread prep for the type of wheel you are building, do not try this at home.;)
I offer a lifetime (of the rim) warranty against spoke breakage and truing on wheels I spec and build. I cannot offer that unless the wheels are completely done by me. You'd only be saving 5 or 10 bucks anyhow. Not worth it IMHO.

Jeez!!! My LBS charges $35 to build a wheel. Where is this bike shop? Rodeo drive?

Why is a hand built is better, does the machine get the tension wrong or something?

One of the secrets of building a good, strong wheel is to strain-relieve often, and to get the tension correct. The two things are related, and machines aren't all that good at doing either. I've had machine-built wheels that were beautifully true, but the tension was only about half of what it should have been. They would have started going out of true and breaking spokes in fairly short order if I hadn't retensioned and strain-relieved them.

- Wil

I've never yet seen a machine-built wheel with spoke head washers, nor have I seen one really tension-balanced to the degree I think is necessary.

Machines suck at removing little things like spoke twist. You never see it in new wheels but when the wheels have even tension, stress relieved spokes, non twisted spokes (it's minor but it helps) and little things like that the wheels stay true lots longer.

I would have to say you should go for it. I built my first set of wheels for a fixed gear bike and they ended up great. I know those wheels took more force than I could ever put into road wheels, what with skidding about and such. Granted, I used heavy bombproof parts, but I never broke a spoke AND they never needed trued for about six months.

when flexing a rear wheel during a build to "ping" the spoke tension, does it matter what side is done last? ...On a "normal" dished rear wheel, with no offsetting

Hmmmmmmmmmm, what goes into building a wheel? Let's see, spokes, a rim, rim tape, a hub! Voila, you have it!