The black art of wheel building…

[Jimmy oldskool]

I fancy having a go and wheel building but understand that this is a black art and not easily learnt?

I’ve tried watching videos on YouTube but to be honest, a mixture of the content (not very exciting to watch) and the commentary (normally the icing on the cake to send you to sleep) has got me at a dead end!

How did you guys learn and other than an old ‘practice’ wheel, what do I need to get started?

Cheers

Jimmy

 

[novocaine]

Worked in a bike shop, fucked up enough to get good and not ******* up.
these days I suggest Sheldon Brown and a pile of old wheels.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html
youtube is great for so much, but something as meditative and touch based as wheel building really doesn't fit to video content. simple pictures and words are best if you can't sit with a master and learn.

 

[trailstar82]

Worked in a bike shop, fucked up enough to get good and not ******* up.
these days I suggest Sheldon Brown and a pile of old wheels.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html
youtube is great for so much, but something as meditative and touch based as wheel building really doesn't fit to video content. simple pictures and words are best if you can't sit with a master and learn.

This hits the nail on the head. The first set I built I wasn’t paying attention to the 1st spoke placement and ended up with spokes crossing above the valve :-/

Sheldon for the win every time

 

[novocaine]

This hits the nail on the head. The first set I built I wasn’t paying attention to the 1st spoke placement and ended up with spokes crossing above the valve :-/

Sheldon for the win every time

I've still got my version of that wheel, it's a shimano parallex with a D521 laced to it. I still use it when I need a rim brake wheel and no I never relaced it. it's a reminder.

 

[Gtpulse]

The motivation of needing a certain set of rims on a certain set of hubs, both of which the cost of paying to build way exceeded the value of the finished wheels/sum of the parts was what I needed to get going.

Pick your learning medium of choice be it books, videos or the web and work out some of the key information. For me it was stuff like where the valve hole should be, where the first spoke should be in relation to that, which way round the hub should be etc. I think I had two built wheels with the same spoke count, dismantled one and rebuilt it copying the other as practice. As others have mentioned you soon work out when you’ve put the lead spoke in the wrong place. Once you can actually get a wheel laced and true stuff like tension and dishing comes in to play and that’s where the difference between a pro/experienced amateur shows up imo.

To get started I wouldn’t get anything other than a decent spoke key and see if the process is one you want to repeat. Once it’s laced up literally the wheel in a frame with rim brakes is enough to get it trued up. Jigs/tension meter/dishing guage/spoke driver/thread roller all nice to have if building lots. I found more wheels built, more challenges encountered, more tools acquired. Do you need a dishing guage when the bike it’s going in is next to you - probably not.


Just my opinion as an enthusiastic amateur.

 

[brutuskrombi]

Roger Musson's "Professional Guide to Wheel Building", and I think for first builds it is better to have cheap new rims, new spokes, new nipples. Used rims and spokes can be deformed and nipples can gather dirt on threads, that can mislead you during trueing and tensioning.
In a book you can also find a blueprints to build your own trueing stand from plywood and dishing gauge out of cardboard box.
Also there is video tutorial on you tube about hour and a half long with an older guy that was much of a help too.

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

I fancy having a go and wheel building but understand that this is a black art and not easily learnt?
.....
How did you guys learn and other than an old ‘practice’ wheel, what do I need to get started?

Okay, let's get one thing straight, it's not a black art. It's engineering. It's a science. Get over that "black art" rubbish and you'll be in a better mindset to approach the task than you would be by thinking you need to sign a pact in blood with Lucifer himself.

It can be learned. Is it easily learned? Yes, because it's science. Good spoke key, truing stand, some patience and a good attitude and you'll nail it. Stop thinking it is some mystical art practised by shaman and witches with a wheel stand on some misty moors on the equinox. It's an [expletive] science.

Don't expect to be one of those wheel building guys who throw all 32 (or 28 or 36) spokes into a hub at once and have it laced up in 2 minutes - those dudes do it all the time. But you can sit down and build yourself a wheel over the course of a couple of hours and be rewarded by the results.

My first attempt was a crap wheel, pulled it apart and tried to put it back together again. Miserable - I was fighting crusty spoke threads and rounded off nipples. Then I tried it with new spokes and nipples, new rim and new hub and it went smoothly.

Can't remember how I learned, it was pre internet, but you can do a lot worse than the late, great Jobst Brandt's book "The Bicycle Wheel".

https://www.scribd.com/doc/261771508/The-Bicycle-Wheel-Jobst-Brandt-3rd-Ed
Being able to build a wheel is handy, and also helps you understand the engineering of a wheel so that you can fix when a wheel goes out of true or round. It's a great skill to have.

Hell, if I can do it, a strategically shaved gibbon can do it.

Grumps

 

[Twozaskars]

As above, I just tried it as a skint teen out of necessity. The internet was something of a dream at that time and my first few were rubbish - I too am guilty of ending up with the valve in the wrong place and measuring spoke lengths seemed irrelevant. I just assumed all 26” wheel spokes must be the same
Just sit looking at one wheel while you assemble another. Try on a non-disc front first so you don’t have to worry about dishing. Tighten the spokes bit by bit going round the wheel multiple times. I’ve been meaning to buy a stand for 20 years but keep forgetting - I just turn the closest rim braked bike to hand upside down.

 

[synchronicity]

I don't think it's a dark art at all. That's what wheelbuilders want you to believe.

Of course, when you realise that it does take time, if you value your time you may decide that you're better off paying someone else to do it. But if you want to have a go yourself then why not? There is a great sense of satisfaction in it. And you can save some money which you can then spend on other things.

If I was rich I would simply... pay someone else to do it, yes. Especially after the 3rd or 4th time. It can be a bit –how should– I say tedious.

I don't think it's a 'science' as such, 'no'. Nor is it engineering if you ask me. Nor is it 'art'. It's simply a skill. A skill that can be learned if you have the right information. A skilled wheelbuilder will be able to build wheels faster than a beginner.


I too bought "the bicycle wheel".
https://www.amazon.com.au/Bicycle-Wheel-3rd-Jobst-Brandt/dp/0960723668I learned something from it.

Now be warned, Jobst Brandt is a bit of a quite the curmudgeon. He doesn't like low-spoke count wheels, carbon rims, or radial spoking. Or anything 'exotic' for that matter. But they do have their place I believe.

Start with new spokes/nipples/hubs/rims.

 

[trailstar82]

Hell, if I can do it, a strategically shaved gibbon can do it.

Grumps

Quote of the day for me….