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TOOLS FOR BUILDING a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQfQKjY1UJ0

MEASURING SPOKE LENGTH when building a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls8UqltOXnc

CALCULATING SPOKE LENGTH when building a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWooLajnqk4

PREPARING SPOKES for a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrGkHbB9ZSQ

placing DRIVE SIDE pulling SPOKES in a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNOCuNLQlj8

placing LEFT SIDE pulling SPOKES in a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-yXJ2Tjy1Q

placing STATIC SPOKES in a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiN-VkjyeUg

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PREPARING a bicycle wheel for TENSIONING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5hb4iRzALQ

HOW TO TENSION a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXpxmqEaxb0

RELIEVING STRESS in a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zeyr-brECm4

how to TRUE a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU2yKPRglaM

how to DISH a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1C2dZnUvuM

FINE TUNING a bicycle wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUVQn1vRB4s

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Awesome! Thanks for posting these.

Well, I've avoided wheel truing and building because it seems like some kind of voodoo. I admit, I thought derailler tuning was voodoo too, until I figured it out. Now I can really tune a der. So, the question I have for you experienced wheelsmiths is; Is it reasonably straight forward, like the video shows? Should I quit worrying about this and go ahead and get the tools, and start doing it? At this point, it looks like the last frontier, and I'm still hesitating. bk

Yarg. Yet another wheelbuilder who doesn't know what stress relieving is, but confuses it with windup spokes.

Regarding what stress relieving is, read here, or better Jobst Brandt's book,"The Bicycle Wheel, 3. ed".:
https://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/8c.1.html
https://yarchive.net/bike/stress_relieve.html

Pressing down on the wheel sideways can easily destroy the wheel so I wouldn't do it, even if it was a good technique to remove stress in the spokes. Use Jobst Brandt's method of squeezing two pairs of parallel spokes instead to remove spoke stress. And avoid spoke windup all together by backing off the spoke key a 1/4 turn every time you turn it a 1/2 turn.

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Regards

Yes it is easy to build wheels; Lacing the spokes or tightening them requires no special talent nor special manual dexterity. However, I recommend doing your homework first. Correct knowledge and and proper techniques builds better wheels (and faster too) than expensive parts. Get Jobst Brandt's book, or Roger Musson's e-book, they are both cheap and good in different ways.
I am not saying it cannot be frustrating to build a wheel; most people makes mistakes in the beginning, sometimes lacing the wheel incorrectly, or usually turning the spoke key left when turning right was the proper thing to do. It can feel like a whack-a-mole game to get that rim straight, but it is very hard to actually destroy anything, so one can just loosen all the spokes and start all over if anything went wrong.
Also, getting the right spoke length can be tricky. However it gives great satisfaction to build your own wheels.

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Regards

I used to feel the same way. Until, in 1984, a good teacher took me aside and showed me how it works and WHY it works. I built my first wheel that day - and fell in love with wheelbuilding.

I'd say it helped greatly to have someone right there going over it with me. That's my story.

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I'll be buying some books real soon. bk

although i haven't built a wheel yet (still collecting resources & tools and mainly, waiting for new my rims and front hub to arrive so i can measure the flange lengths and whatnot) i must say, your suggestion here sounds like it makes a lot of sense, from a mechanics/physics point of view.

https://www.bbinstitute.com/DX%20Demo%20Chap%2017.pdf
is the best resource I have found.
I think it is very difficult to provide video of the details, but I think that there are always ways to do it better. Nothing beats dialog & actual demonstration with someone who really knows what is going on and how to use the tools.
Tension gauge is a tool that is also needed, but not mentioned in these clips.
I started with Jobst Brandt's book, but I have now come to more closely agree with Barnette's instructions.

I find Barnett cumbersome. Roger Musson's e-book is so much better. The guy who wrote the above chapter doesn't know what stress relieving is too, even though he alludes to Jobst Brandts book. So he makes the blatant mistake that the parallel spoke squeezing has something to do with reducing spoke wind-up. He also finds the "back-off the spoke" procedure inefficient (not my experience at all, even with 130Kgf spoke tension on Campagnolo hubs), so instead of avoiding spoke wind-up when building the wheel, he actually suggests some cumbersome ritual of side loading the wheel afterward to release the probably wast amount of spoke wind-up, which of course will result in instantly wobbling the wheel so it needs truing again. The spoke wind-up also nullifies the cumbersome spoke tensiometer calculation that is suggested earlier in the chapter.

I think that the major difference between Jobst Brandt's book and this chapter is, that Jobst Brandt is a engineer and pioneer in the scientific description of how wheels function and therefore knows what he is talking about, while the guy who wrote the Barnett chapter doesn't have any engineering background at all.

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Regards

I certainly agree that the Barnett Bicycle Institute chapter isn't perfect or laying out engineering principles.
However, the section of Barnett Chapter 17 "Stabilizing the True" gets to a method that Rolf modified and is most successful for the builds I do in getting the spokes "bedded in" such that the wheels I build stay true (stabilized) better than the spoke squeezing method that Jobst says relieves stress.
Misinterpretation happens a lot. Barnett's author, you, and I do it. Attributing cause and effect are also pitfalls.
I find the illustrations in Jobst's book (at least in the 3rd Edition) and his at least one of his graphs to be totally misleading/incorrect and his method of determining spoke tension to be hazardous to rim life. I have also never been satisfied with Jobst's explanation of "Stress Relief".
I will read Roger Musson's eBook some time and see what his approach is. I certainly understand that there are things I can still learn after building more than 1,000 wheels. I think Roger's money back 100% no-risk guarantee will get me reading it sooner than later.

Hell, I've built several wheels solely with Sheldon's instructions. Not rocket science. Mostly a high tolerance for tedium and attention to detail.

The reason why is, that parallel spoke squeezing has nothing to do with removing spoke wind-up. You don't do it to "stabilize true" as Barnett thinks. The "stress" in the spokes stems partly from their manufacturing method partly from the way the are used when building the wheel. Stress relieving is to kind of straighten the spokes to the max, so that all the internal and external "curls" in the spoke are straighten out. (this explanation is somewhat cartoonish).

Spoke quality at leading firms like Sapim and DT Swiss have improved a lot since the 1980's, so even without stress relieving one can build a traditional wheel that with some luck, can last 1000's km's before spoke fatigue sets ind.
Still strongly recommended to do though.

I still think that Barnett's approach is unsound; one should do everything to avoid spoke wind-up (lubrication, backing off spoke key), instead of letting it build up and then trying to remove it by sideloading the wheel.

Barnett claims that there isn't a good way of ensuring that the "backing off" method get rid of all the wind up. Actually there is; put small papertape flags on the spokes and align the flags with the rim. Even tiny amounts of spoke wind-up can be seen that way. Anyway, the argument is wrong, even if the "backing off" method only remove 70% of the spoke wind-up, it will still be much much better than not doing it. My own experience is that the "backing off" method is really effective.


Agree, we often see what we want to see, and fooling one self is the easiest confidence trick on the planet. That is why I like the scientific method, since it can help against doing so.

I find the lacing illustrations good, but haven't really bothered with graphs so no comment there. Regarding finding the max spoke tension by tightening spokes until the rim "potato chip" slightly, then it is only applicable to a certain class of (common) rims; sub 480 g 32/36H 700c alu rims (or something similar, the book in the the basement) that was the standard racewheel rim when the book was written.
It doesn't hurt such rims or even get them permanently out of true, however very strong rims like Mavic CXP33 with special alloys only "potato chip" at perhaps +150Kgf and therefore put the hub flange at risk, so I agree it isn't a good universal method anymore.
I just bought the Park Tool tensiometer. Not a necessity but it fits my style of building wheels.

I am not an engineer so I really can't understand his explanation the way an engineer would, but at least all the engineers I know of (including materials specialists) seems to agree with Brandt on this issue.

Musson's book is more "cook book" in its style. Probably a better first book to wheel building for most people than Brandt's book. Probably has the best way of measuring rim ERD, hubs and spoke length that I know of. Free updates too of the book, and he frequently improves it. It has a nice DIY tool section for those who wants to build their own wheel truing stand etc. One the better things I learned from it was to carve a notch on my Park Tool spoke key in the direction it faces when tightening the spoke. That way I can easily see or feel which way to turn no matter what way the spoke key is oriented.

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Regards

You and I are interpreting "Stabilizing the True" in different ways.
I admit that I extrapolate Barnett's author to the point of saying that side loading is the way to stabilize a wheel. He says that squeezing spokes is safe but ineffective; and that is the point I highly agree with.
The term "stabilizing" while correct, isn't what I would choose.
I choose "bedding in" as that is what is really happening. Spoke elbows are being "bedded in" the hub hole such that they have reached the Asymptotic limit of the positions they will reach in dynamic loading of the wheel in real riding conditions. My goal is to build a wheel where the spokes have the maximum possible life while doing the intended tasks. I want to make the wheel hold it's true and tension through all dynamic loads. I have found that side loading the wheel does that, while spoke squeezing is not as effective, since it doesn't fully bed the spokes in to the Asymptotic limit.
I use the overshoot method out of habit and carefully monitor for any wind up.... getting rid of wind up each time I apply more tension on each spoke. Barnett's author is for lubrication of both threads and nipple/rim(or rim eyelet).
I interpret one method of "Stabilizing" as ineffective: the idea of going around the wheel and adding more tension than the final tension and then backing off to the final tension. I didn't interpret this as saying, not to overshoot and back off when adding tension to spokes.

I bought Roger Musson's eBook and read it. I like his white color home made truing stand and the Home made lateral and radial gauges he shows. I may build one of each of his gauges just to see if they are easier and or more accurate to use than the feelers on my Park TS-2. (I may also paint the feelers white just to make the contrast easier to see.) I strongly agree with his premise of choosing what spoke to tighten or loosen when adjusting the true. I also agree with his points of using all your senses when tensioning/truing the wheel. I want good lighting, quiet, and be able to feel each movement/touch. He says he is a "spoke squeezer", but he doesn't put down the side loading method. Roger also emphasizes the importance of tension balancing: which I also highly agree with.

My main point is that proper, careful, and repeated side loading is the most effective method to get the spokes positioned at the hub in the final "bedded in" (at the Asymptotic limit) position.
A link to what "bedding in" looks like from the perspective of a Dura Ace HB-7700 hub can be found at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1708583...n/photostream/

thanks, this comment alone makes me want to buy the tools and give it a go.
(i'm a low-level [custom code, manual manipulation of databases] web developer.
tedium is my breakfast.)