My Wheel Building Guide

PB Forum :: Mechanics' Lounge
My Wheel Building Guide
Author Message
flag Hombre3000
O+
Posted: Mar 19, 2009 at 20:30 Quote
The irony is the structural weakness of solder. It's a cool idea, though. It's just like the twisted lacing for stiffness, all that friction prevents inter-spoke movement.
flag husstler
O+
Posted: Mar 19, 2009 at 21:07 Quote
Hombre3000 wrote:
The irony is the structural weakness of solder. It's a cool idea, though. It's just like the twisted lacing for stiffness, all that friction prevents inter-spoke movement.

'Tis ironic.

Back then, track riders smoked cigarettes and had mustaches, and we know that doesn't usually make you faster either.
flag skawt-1
Posted: Mar 20, 2009 at 15:28 Quote
Ooops im an idiot, please delete this post
flag saturnine
Posted: Mar 20, 2009 at 15:56 Quote
seems more confusing to put all the spokes in first. every tutorial i've seen (excluding this one) and wheels built in my presence have been built spoke by spoke. seemed pretty straightforward that way.
flag rubbersidedown661
Posted: Mar 20, 2009 at 16:16 Quote
This was the way I learnt first. I actually find it easier to get lost, screw things up, and trap spokes when they are loaded one/two/ a few at a time. Thats why I stick to my method. It also makes less room for error when mixing up the spoke lenghts per side.
flag aaah
Posted: Mar 20, 2009 at 16:36 Quote
hustler wrote:
rubbersidedown661 wrote:
He means use the punch to push the spokes heads into the hub tighter so that when you start tensioning it it is all consistant.

Word.

The head of the spoke (behind the flare) is kinda conical, especially on higher end spokes, like DT Revolutions. Seating the spokes with a punch (basically a drift punch with a dimple in the end) puts them in the right place in the spoke holes on the hub and makes it possible to get an accurate tension measurement. It doesn't matter for cheap spokes, because the heads on them are formed differently - only on the better ones, or something like Alpines, which don't seat all that well by themselves.

It's not life or death - if you don't do it the spokes will end up there eventually, it just makes the initial build better.

There are other cool aspects to wheel building - like in the old days track guys used to solder the crosses for more stiffness, or 2X or radial lacing in some cases to save weight, or rim offsets ... actually all kinds of stuff. This write-up is a good start, and will work fine for 90% of the wheels out there.

They also have spoke washers that make the interface in between the hub and the spokes a lot tighter (doing effectively the same thing).
flag oldude
Posted: Mar 20, 2009 at 16:41 Quote
When figuring out initial set up(spoke length,spoke pattern)how do you figure out how much dish is needed.I suppose on a single speed hub there would be no dish(spokes equal length on both sides.But if your building a 8-9 speed cass. hub, you would need dish.How do you calculate spoke length.Do most spoke calculators factor this in?
flag saturnine
Posted: Mar 20, 2009 at 16:45 Quote
spoke calculator will factor it into the equation.
flag rubbersidedown661
Posted: Mar 20, 2009 at 17:24 Quote
oldude wrote:
When figuring out initial set up(spoke length,spoke pattern)how do you figure out how much dish is needed.I suppose on a single speed hub there would be no dish(spokes equal length on both sides.But if your building a 8-9 speed cass. hub, you would need dish.How do you calculate spoke length.Do most spoke calculators factor this in?
It's very uncommon for a wheel to have no dish at all unless the hubs have 2 different sized flanges, the hoop is drilled off center (some Ritchey's), it is a regular non-disc front hub, or it is a single-speed disc hub. This doesn't mean that all wheels have two different sized spokes though. When it comes to dishing a wheel, the spoke length does the majority of the job, but when it comes to fine tuning the dish, you would tighten the spokes on whichever side it needs dished to.
flag husstler
O+
Posted: Mar 20, 2009 at 17:26 Quote
Specialized has some weird dishing on select models too.

If you're new to the whole thing, ask an experienced mechanic at your LBS to size the spokes for you.
flag rubbersidedown661
Posted: Mar 20, 2009 at 17:42 Quote
Yes ^^^ Definately! Even if you use an online claculator you should always take your hub and hoop into a shop and have them calculate it properly just to be safe. It doesn't take long and it could save you a whole lot of frustration.
flag oldude
Posted: Mar 20, 2009 at 17:47 Quote
Good advice,thanks.Luckily I know the owner/mechanic at my LBS.
flag neex
Posted: Mar 21, 2009 at 7:22 Quote
This is a fantastic wheel build primer! Well done. I personally find it easier to lace one side of the hub and then flip it but then again, I haven't tried doing them all at once.

Some advice I might impart for those who are trying this for the first time. Make sure when you're making truing adjustments that you REMOVE from one side what you LOAD to the other and try to work in groups of 3 spokes to remove a wobble. This will keep lateral trueness in check and will reduce the amount of adjusting.

When lacing - before you actually lace/thread the wheel - BEND the spokes downward to slightly increase the 'j' bend. This will make it much easier to lace the wheel as the spoke heads will be sitting much more flush to the hub face. After you apply a few layers of tension to your wheel (when fully laced and you are truing), smack the face of the spoke heads with a small block or wood or hard plastic and a hammer (you can use a center punch it careful but you'll likely scratch up your high zoot hubs).

I can't take credit for this one as it came from Sheldon Brown - the BEST tool for tensioning your wheel is an old crankarm. You need to keep tensioning the wheel and then truing it till you tension it and it stays true (this is when the wheel should be it's strongest).

Another good tip I heard not long ago is to 'landmark' the last thread of the spoke with your fingernail and tighten the nipple to your nail. This is an easy way to keep even tension before you start finalizing the process. I usually leave 2 threads and then make a full turn of the nipple driver on EVERY spoke on my first round. 1/4 turns from there.

Best tip so far I think:
Regardless of what kind of multi-tasker you think you are... keep some masking tape handy and 'tag' the spoke you started on or if you have to pull yourself away for a phone call, beer run, whatever.

Anyone can do this and it gets better every time. Take your time and you will be amazed.

Thanks again for posting this great tutorial!

Have fun.
A.

When tensioning the wheel, push, pull, pry those spokes MUCH harder than you think necessary.
flag neex
Posted: Mar 21, 2009 at 7:27 Quote
Hombre3000 wrote:
The irony is the structural weakness of solder. It's a cool idea, though. It's just like the twisted lacing for stiffness, all that friction prevents inter-spoke movement.

I thought that they wound them with thin wire and then soldered them? I thought they ended up tough as diamonds....

A.
flag Hombre3000
O+
Posted: Mar 21, 2009 at 8:07 Quote
neex wrote:
Hombre3000 wrote:
The irony is the structural weakness of solder. It's a cool idea, though. It's just like the twisted lacing for stiffness, all that friction prevents inter-spoke movement.

I thought that they wound them with thin wire and then soldered them? I thought they ended up tough as diamonds....

A.

I never heard about the wire, just solder. I guess you know!

 


Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv56 0.013661
Mobile Version of Website