Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

what goes into building a wheel?

Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

what goes into building a wheel?

Old 10-31-06, 07:11 PM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 262
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
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?
Stert is offline  
Old 10-31-06, 07:18 PM
  #2  
100% USDA certified
 
the beef's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Seattle -> NYC
Posts: 4,023
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 2 Posts
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.
the beef is offline  
Old 10-31-06, 07:19 PM
  #3  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Northern California
Posts: 10,879
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 104 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times in 5 Posts
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.
johnny99 is offline  
Old 10-31-06, 07:22 PM
  #4  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 262
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
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
Stert is offline  
Old 10-31-06, 09:51 PM
  #5  
Senior Member
 
MrCjolsen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Davis CA
Posts: 3,959

Bikes: Surly Cross-Check, '85 Giant road bike (unrecogizable fixed-gear conversion

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times in 3 Posts
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.
MrCjolsen is offline  
Old 10-31-06, 09:54 PM
  #6  
Senior Member
 
MrCjolsen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Davis CA
Posts: 3,959

Bikes: Surly Cross-Check, '85 Giant road bike (unrecogizable fixed-gear conversion

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times in 3 Posts
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.
MrCjolsen is offline  
Old 11-01-06, 06:11 AM
  #7  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,616
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
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
Bobby Lex is offline  
Old 11-01-06, 07:21 AM
  #8  
Aluminium Crusader :-)
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 10,053
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 20 Post(s)
Liked 10 Times in 7 Posts
Originally Posted by Stert
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?
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.
531Aussie is offline  
Old 11-01-06, 08:51 AM
  #9  
30 YR Wrench
 
BikeWise1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Oxford, OH
Posts: 2,006

Bikes: Waterford R-33, Madone 6.5, Trek 520

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Originally Posted by MrCjolsen
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.
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.
BikeWise1 is offline  
Old 11-01-06, 10:39 AM
  #10  
Faster but still slow
 
slowandsteady's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Jersey
Posts: 5,978

Bikes: Trek 830 circa 1993 and a Fuji WSD Finest 1.0 2006

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Most shops charge from 50 to 100 to build a wheel.
Jeez!!! My LBS charges $35 to build a wheel. Where is this bike shop? Rodeo drive?
slowandsteady is offline  
Old 11-01-06, 02:15 PM
  #11  
Gios my baby
 
hiromian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,135

Bikes: Gios 96, Mercier 72, Peugeot 74 X 2, Sears full suspension High rise banana seat, Kona 94, CCM Rambler 70s.

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by MrCjolsen
Don't underestimate the quality difference between a hand-built wheel and a machine built wheel. Even if the hand is yours.
Why is a hand built is better, does the machine get the tension wrong or something?
hiromian is offline  
Old 11-01-06, 02:36 PM
  #12  
Curmudgeon
 
Wil Davis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Nausea, New Hamster
Posts: 1,572

Bikes: (see https://wildavis.smugmug.com/Bikes) Bianchi Veloce (2005), Nishiki Cascade (1992), Schwinn Super Sport (1983)

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times in 4 Posts
Originally Posted by hiromian
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
Wil Davis is offline  
Old 11-01-06, 06:19 PM
  #13  
30 YR Wrench
 
BikeWise1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Oxford, OH
Posts: 2,006

Bikes: Waterford R-33, Madone 6.5, Trek 520

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Originally Posted by hiromian
Why is a hand built is better, does the machine get the tension wrong or something?
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.
BikeWise1 is offline  
Old 11-01-06, 08:11 PM
  #14  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: SFBay
Posts: 2,334

Bikes: n, I would like n+1

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 127 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 133 Times in 108 Posts
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.
jccaclimber is offline  
Old 11-01-06, 09:28 PM
  #15  
fix
yeahh, becky
 
fix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: DC
Posts: 1,395

Bikes: 1990 Kotter Albuch, 2005 Empella Spaar Select Cross, 2007 Ridley Aedon

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
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.
fix is offline  
Old 11-01-06, 09:33 PM
  #16  
Aluminium Crusader :-)
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 10,053
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 20 Post(s)
Liked 10 Times in 7 Posts
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
531Aussie is offline  
Old 11-02-06, 07:05 AM
  #17  
I-M-D bell curve of bikn'
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: NC mountains
Posts: 2,926

Bikes: 06' Jamis Eclipse in the making.

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Hmmmmmmmmmm, what goes into building a wheel? Let's see, spokes, a rim, rim tape, a hub! Voila, you have it!
__________________
Ego Campana Inflectum of Circuitous
msheron is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.