Wheel building

[clintnz]

Originally Posted by Unstable Rider

Looks high tech to me.

You can do it with just a pointer but the DTI makes it quicker & easier. I built my first bicycle wheel a couple of months back with the aid of Zinn's MTB maintenance book. It was not too difficult & quite satisfying. I started out trueing it up with a pointer for reference & then realised, duh!, why not use my DTI. If I was doing it more frequently I would definitely get another cheap DTI & rig them up as above.

Cheers
Clint

[vtwin]

Originally Posted by mcma111

Here ya go:

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=785921

Cool, since your local, what are the chances you would be willing to do my Stinger's wheels?

[mcma111]

Originally Posted by vtwin

Cool, since your local, what are the chances you would be willing to do my Stinger's wheels?

Bring them by. What's a Stinger?

[kantuckid]

Going by the number of people I have had to bid against for ebay spokes there are several people out there doing them. I would think the UK would have more wheel people than USA based on the history of bikes & cars but perhaps less based on population. The first wire wheels I was around were Brit cars & the guy doing them was a former British Leyland trained USA dealer mech on Austin-Healy/MG cars who went out on his own. I was a hang around guy there/then(early 60's) prior to later becoming a real (paid) wrencher myself.
In the USA there are not many wheel builders-except for bicycles or so it seems in web searches. I would not be surprised if a place like Buchanan's here probably uses more of their own spokes than they sell to specialty shops. Lots of specialty work like radiator repair is gone these days except for a few old & larger shops. Bent alloy auto rim repair has a few places doing it that have most of the business too. The high replacement cost of rims and volume available make for a good insurance repair trade. MC's are too few for nearly as much opportunity?

[Claytonroy]

Originally Posted by kantuckid

Going by the number of people I have had to bid against for ebay spokes there are several people out there doing them.

Not to dampen anyone's enthusiasm, but make sure you know the correct length and other dimensions before you order from an amateur or questionable supplier.

I've seen auctions on Ebay for "spokes that will fit any 16" rim" - which is impossible since the hub, rim used and lacing pattern ALL greatly affect the equation.

My recent wheel build was more complicated than average- all the spokes exit the hub outbound and are staggered up & down (when viewing from the side). This pattern requires alternating spokes of 2 different lengths AND two different elbows. The longer spoke also has more "throat" / a longer elbow to clear the upper row of spokes sharing the hub flange.

I sourced my spokes from one of the USA "specialty houses" - and they STILL SCREWED UP MY ORDER.

After lacing it correctly and bringing it halfway up to tension, the spokes were showing @ 1cm of thread above the nipple. Which means they're too short to be safe!

.

[vtwin]

Originally Posted by mcma111

Bring them by. What's a Stinger?

Here's the one I'm working on. It's pretty rough though.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...204237&page=14

[kantuckid]

For me those would be relatively easy. I will admitt that I'm a bit nervous to start my BMW R75 rims as the rear offset scares me. Time will tell!

[kantuckid]

Originally Posted by Claytonroy

Not to dampen anyone's enthusiasm, but make sure you know the correct length and other dimensions before you order from an amateur or questionable supplier.

I've seen auctions on Ebay for "spokes that will fit any 16" rim" - which is impossible since the hub, rim used and lacing pattern ALL greatly affect the equation.

My recent wheel build was more complicated than average- all the spokes exit the hub outbound and are staggered up & down (when viewing from the side). This pattern requires alternating spokes of 2 different lengths AND two different elbows. The longer spoke also has more "throat" / a longer elbow to clear the upper row of spokes sharing the hub flange.

I sourced my spokes from one of the USA "specialty houses" - and they STILL SCREWED UP MY ORDER.

After lacing it correctly and bringing it halfway up to tension, the spokes were showing @ 1cm of thread above the nipple. Which means they're too short to be safe!

.

If that's the case then why do wheel experts & spoke mfgs say to grind off any exposed tips? I am absolutely no expert as have only done a few car & bike wheels over the years. The Honda rims I just laced I used OEM Honda spokes of the known correct length & some not a the majority had to be ground off. The rim is quite true after I got done & I simply sprayed some primer on the ends to seal them. Is there something I'm missing here?

[troidus]

Originally Posted by kantuckid

If that's the case then why do wheel experts & spoke mfgs say to grind off any exposed tips? I am absolutely no expert as have only done a few car & bike wheels over the years. The Honda rims I just laced I used OEM Honda spokes of the known correct length & some not a the majority had to be ground off. The rim is quite true after I got done & I simply sprayed some primer on the ends to seal them. Is there something I'm missing here?

I think he's saying that 1cm of thread is showing between the rim and the hub, not past the rim, so there is very little thread engagement.

[Claytonroy]

Originally Posted by troidus

I think he's saying that 1cm of thread is showing between the rim and the hub, not past the rim, so there is very little thread engagement.

Yes, that's correct...thread engagement was not deep enough. This would also be the case if you had to grind off +/-1cm at the bottom of the nipple. And grinding off the excess is necessary to prevent the sharp ends poking through the rim strip into your innertube, etc.

Originally Posted by kantuckid

The Honda rims I just laced I used OEM Honda spokes of the known correct length & some not a the majority had to be ground off.

That's good you were working with OEM Honda spokes, kantuckid. My point is that it's way easier to get the wrong spokes - of course I'd trust an OEM source over 90% of the sellers on Ebay saying their spokes will fit your bike without knowing what your rim, hub & lacing pattern is.

[kantuckid]

Originally Posted by troidus

I think he's saying that 1cm of thread is showing between the rim and the hub, not past the rim, so there is very little thread engagement.

Yep I was too quick to comment! Thanks
Most spoke sellers on ebay are in Asia