Okay check it out. I'm an amatuer bike rider. I've been getting into track and bikes in general for a few months and I've learned how to do many things I was once afraid of trying to repair or replace. Basically I'm becoming a fairly confident Do-it-yourselfer and with e-bay and all, it's tempting to tackle wheel building (since the LBS quoted me $150 labor per wheel!) I've gotta be able to do it much cheaper than that. I already have a killer set of hubs, but I have little knowledge about spokes and stuff. If anyone has a link or some personal experience to enlighten me that would be cool. I found one resource from sheldon brown, but to be honest, it didn't seem to cover all the bases for a beginner.

Are you sure it was $150 for labor and not the whole wheel? My LBS built me a wheel around my existing hub but with a new rim and spokes. The total was $150ish including the labor. The labor fee was $35.

$150 per wheel!?! Jeeze, Sheldon Brown charges like $40!

Shop around.

I think Sheldon's site, and the links there are the most extensive you'll find on the subject. There's a guy named Jobst Brandt a book (THE book, really).

I've done it a couple times using Sheldon's site as a guide. I'm hardly accomplished, but they came out OK. Took my time. The hardest thing IMO is spoke calculation. There are several online calculators and spreadsheets for that sort of thing. Still, that was a headache for me.

I was in your boat not too long ago and I decided to build the wheels myself, not so much for saving money but because I could. I got myself a $40 minoura truing stand from nashbar, read sheldon's wheelbuilding article and used Damon's spoke calc (there are other equally good ones out there as well). I skimmed through Jobst's wheelbuilding book and my recommendation is - don't waste your time. This book (and all others like it) are an overkill. They present a lot of unwanted academic information (I am mechanical engineering major and I think I know what is useful and what is not) that is unnecessary to build a near-perfect wheel. These books serve as reference though, although googling for specific answeres will do just fine. Anyway, sheldon's article is more than adequate and you should have no problems in case you attempt to build a wheel. It took me about 3 hrs to complete 2 wheels. I could have done it faster but I was overcautious during the first wheel build. I retrued them after about 2 weeks. I think this step is necessary since you cannot stress relieve the spokes completely when you build the wheel. I wonder how many shops offer to retrue the wheels after the initial 'break-in'. They are still true after 6 months of daily commute and I suspect they will stay true for a long time. I am going to build another set of wheels for the new bike I am building (got a set of cool looking cxp-14's and still deciding on the hubs).

In summary, wheelbuilding can be fun (atleast if you do it once or twice). My only gripe is that I do not have a spoke tension gauge. So I have to 'feel' the tension by pinching the spokes together (I prefer 3x pattern), and this method is adequate for my purpose. Contrary to the popular belief wheelbuilding is not an art, it is pure science, which means anyone can perfect it if they understand the fundamentals.

I'm building my second wheelset this weekend. I went from not knowing how to do more than fix a flat to doing pretty much all my own repair work. The first wheelset was a big hurdle, and I won't lie: it took me a week and three sets of spokes to build those two wheels. But at the end of it I had a sweet pair that I could point to proudly and that have stayed true. Basically, wheel building isn't rocket science, but it's not dumb-dumb work either. As has been noted in other threads here, it takes time and patience, and a having a stack of your favorite cds and cold beer on hand help a lot too.

wheelbuilding guide here with pictures [!]
dt swiss spoke calculator
dt swiss spokes
sapim spokes

fsnl
sparky

Many thanks for that first link. I hadn't seen that one before.

ahhhhhhhh! thanks so much u guys for the info, experience, and links...
I will look in to the subject further and maybe tackle the job with my current set of cheap wheels and just upgrade the rims. Thanks.

Another site:
https://spokeanwheel.stormpages.com/

Having gone this route myself, I wouldnt' recommend buying a stand etc and doing it yourself unless you want to do it for fun and don't care how many wheels you build or plan to build lots of wheels. At about $35-40 for labour for a build, it's likely more economical just to buy the wheel premade. It's also pretty slow the first time 'round.

It is fun though, and kind of neat to be riding on a wheel you built yourself. My LBS checked out my first build for me after I'd done it and didn't have to lay a wrench to it. Never mind that it took me about four starts...

No offense, but you folks portray wheelbuilding as harder than it really is. I followed Sheldon's instructions and there was not much to it. There are caclulators to accurately compute the spoke length, and then all you do is follow instructions, step by step. It requires patience to screw down all the spokes and true the wheels, but that is just grunt work you repeat again and again. In the whole process you are not required to make any significant independent decisions. Everything is already figured out by someone and written down. I am not saying it is a piece-of-cake (and I can very well imagine anyone, including myself not interpreting things correctly for the first time), but I think it is a straighforward process and there is little avenue to screw up if you follow the instructions, and most screwups are reversible.

You're right that it's mostly grunt work once you get it laced, even for more esoteric lacing patterns. It does take time, though, so it's not as if you'll sit down in front of your first wheel and have it done in twenty minutes. Referring back and forth etc. to instructions, relacing if you misplaced a spoke etc. etc. I find some folks figure they'll build a wheel because it's cheaper than buying one. If one is all their going to build, that's not likely if you consider the time that goes into it. I can get a handbuilt wheel from my LBS for $85 and up, depending on what I need. When you factor in the cost of a stand, tensiometer if you use one (I don't), the rim, spokes, hub and tape, you'd have to build a few wheels to make it worthwhile financially. This latter point was what I was trying to get across.

My very first wheel build several years ago was a radially laced front wheel just to get the 'feel' of building a wheel. That was a no-brainer.....but gave me enough confidence to tackle my very first 3-cross wheel.

I built my own. I sprang for a truing stand (~$45) and a Park tensiometer (~$55). I have more confidence in the wheels I built than I'd get from most bike shop 's wheels.

I've also used the equipment to tension, true and stress relieve mail order wheels (which came hideously under-tentioned from a bike shop). Alot of times you can get a set of mail order wheels cheaper than buying the separate parts. But both my experience and those I've heard from others is they generally need some work once you get them.