The wheelbuilding thread

[Zen Cyclery]

Great job plpete! Sounds like your build went quite well. Welcome to the world of custom wheel building!

[wolfesquire]

Hi, my names Ben and I am a wheel building virgin. Phew, now that is out of the way!
So as I said, I have never built wheels and fairly new to cycling in general (3rd year of riding, but 60 pounds lighter!) and would love to build a wheelset this winter for next year.
- I do not race, but find myself on several B+/A group rides in the area which might I add is flatter than a pancake
- I weigh 86kg (190lb.-ish) and 5'10 so I am no hill climber
- Aero trumps weight, even though I know this is WW (50+mm depth wheels)
- Carbon wheels only, clincher or tubular doesn't matter much

Have any suggestions/recommendations for a beginner on a wheelset to build? Would like to keep the price under $1,500

[thprice]

Hi Ben,
Welcome to wheel building
Also, congratulations on one of the best ways to be a weight weenie, 60 lbs is a great weight loss.

Some thoughts on building wheels:

1. Read as much as you can. Some suggestions include: All of this wheelbuilding thread, Mike Ts Wheelbuilding Blog, The Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt.
2. Select the wheel components to align with your requirements & attributes (non-racing, flat, 190lb-ish, etc)
3. Obtain wheelbuilding tools and wheel components
4. Build
5. Enjoy the ride!

Components:
Rims: 50mm carbon seems suitable. For reasonable budget consider Farsports, Bikehubstore/Gigantex, for top end $$$ Enve. Two things to consider: a) Clinchers are less effort to maintain but clincher carbon rims are only just maturing. b) Over 50mm depth can cause issues when cross winds are prevalent.
Spokes: As you rims will be stiff, 20 front radial and 24 rear 2x should be fine. Sapim CX-Ray is a good selection as: popular, no twist problems, strong & reliable. Only down side is they cost more than regular spokes.
Hub: Get a quality & reliable hub. Tune, White Industries, Alchemy, DT Swiss all offer good products. Bikehubstore has a good reputation for budget hubs as well. Select quality/reliability over weight for hubs. Not sure where you reside, but that may influence selection from a spare parts/service perspective.

Tools - There are many opinions regarding the optimum toolset. I suspect there is no right or wrong answer.
About $200 will set you up with the tools below (should last a lifetime):
Truing stand: Range from an old fork in a vice, to a $$$ precision instrument (P&K Lie). I use the $50 Tacx stand.
Dishing: Any cheap one is suggested.
Spoke wrench: Get a good one: Spokey Pro or Unior.
Aero Spoke Holder: Sapim Spoke Holder or similar.
Nipple Driver or an old Phillips screwdriver with two webs ground off.
Parktool Tension Meter.
Grease or oil.
Spoke Lube or Anti-Seize Compound.

Purchasing the wheelset and tools can be easily achieved for under $1500.

Read as much as you can, take your time, have fun.

[bm0p700f]

I'll add Miche Primato to the hub mix. Not the lightest but good hubs (and cheap and 11 speed) with good bearings and generally not available in 20H/24H but I have them as I do factory orders. The freehub bodies are stock parts with most Miche dealers. The mail exists for a reason.

Also the Gigantex rims are decent I would use those. Spokes CX-rays or Laser. I would not worry about wind up CX-rays try to wind up laser are more resistant to it than CX-rays (if the spoke holder was not used then CX-ray would be unuseable). Sapim make an excellent spoke key and ideal if alloy nipples are used.

Carbon tubular rim are obviously the best as tubulars tyres are obviously the best.

A gigantex/Miche build will be quite cheap, durable and good to ride. Not point in blowing $1500 on parts if you are not racing and good at it unless you really want to.

Other than that the hubs mentioned DT Swiss e.t.c are all good but thprice you did not mention Royce, probably the best.

[eric]

Miche is not common in the USA.

You don't need a dish gauge right off- if you have a decent truing stand you can just turn the wheel around. It'll be obvious.
If you do buy a dish gauge don't get the Park WAG-5. It's not "portable" and it doesn't work with the tire in place like the WAG-4 does. Its the only Park tool that has disappointed me.

I'll second Jobst's book. It's an easy read and covers everything.

[bm0p700f]

Why would you want to dish a wheel with the tyre in place. Also why does a dishing tool need to be portable. It is not like you need to carry it with you when you are out on a ride. Wheel building is generally a thing that happens in one place unless eric you are an a roving wheel builder, any time any place kind of guy.

Sorry but your post make no sense to me.

[eric]

I often don't remove the tire before truing a wheel.

I thought that the "portable" tool would fold up- that's what it looks like in pictures. Folding would make it easier to store. Basically that's its one advantage, and it doesn't work. (it bolts together).

[andigo93]

My 3rd custom build wheels I did myself
DA hubs 32H triple laced to Kinlin 380 with all Race Spokes. The spokes are slightly too long and I use a nipple washer to help a bit. Not ideal but works for me

I check the dish again n again and achieve 100% Tension ratio


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free

[welkman]

So having built a truing stand and nipple driver pay day is looming and I want to build my first wheel set. I am hoping to build something for my cross bike (boardman CX) which is disc. My plan is Sapim Race spokes and Notubes Iron Cross rims 28 front and 32 rear. I am unsure on hubs but may go for novatech or some kind of shimano.

What do you guys think? A good choice for a first build?

I also want to build up a Aerohead rim to match my powertap wheel for day to day training however the only one I can find to match my existing rim is 20h. I think this might be a bit too flimsy!

I am 80 kilos and hoping to drop 5 more.

Thanks for any help.

[WMW]

Would be a little better and lighter to use Race spokes on the side that has higher tension (right in back, left in front), and Laser on the low tension side.

It's a very light rim which makes it less forgiving. Not ideal for a first build unless you have educated yourself and are confident... and take your time.

A 20h Aerohead isn't ideal. What's the rear?

[bm0p700f]

I am the same weight as you and I would not want to ride a 20H areohead on a rear wheels. Flexible springs to mind.

[welkman]

On the aerohead the rear is a 28h so I could just go 28 for the front as well. I can buy the iron cross wheel set prebuilt for about £20 more than the components separately but I am desperate to build up a set of wheels and need some new cross wheels Other options at the £ 300 - 350 mark welcomed, I am not adverse to tubs.

[bm0p700f]

Not adverse to tubs, them Major tom's.

[campbellrae]

Rather than start another 'what wheel/hub etc' thread I thought I would post here, if this is in the wrong place, sorry! Also tried searching but it wasn't working for some reason

I am looking to build up a set of everyday training wheels as an xmas present from my GF , so am looking for some advice on hub choice. I'm pretty sure I already have my heart set on a set of Ambrosio Nemesis rims.

What would you recommend hub wise? My budget for the hubs is ideally < £200 but will stretch out to £250 if it's worth it. I have been looking at Shimano Ultegra(heavy), Hope RS Mono(already have the previous generation which have been good) and Campagnolo Record(I use Sram so pretty sure these wont work, would love to be told otherwise as I think these are the ones I like most!). Are there any other hubs I should be looking at?

I am quite heavy at 95kg, so strength and reliability are fist, but light is always good if it can be included too! These wheels wont be raced on, I have carbon tubs for that, but will be ridden in all weathers.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Campbell.

[ultimobici]

Campagnolo hubs are only available in a Campag splined freehub design. However, you could buy a Campagnolo original HG freehub body and convert them.