Building Wheels
 

How did you start?
Where should I start?
How deep of a rabbit hole am I in for?

There are a number of books or "methods" out there to teach a newbie how to do it. I'd start there. Unfortunately, I don't know which one is best.

I've f'd up enough wheels trying to true them (even though I have both a truing stand and a spoke tension meter) that I haven't been able to convince myself to try to build one. (although I still do true them, and sometimes they even stay that way for a surprising number of miles)

Here's a more serious answer:

Start with the right tools:

Truing stand
Tension meter
Quality spoke wrenches
Spoke Prep

I started like most people - by truing and tensioning out-of-true wheels, and then starting a new wheel from parts.


You should also start like most people - either by truing and tensioning an out-of-true wheel, or by loosening all the spokes on a wheel and then re-tensioning and truing it. In the pre-internet days, many people would buy and read a book on wheel building/repair, but now there are enough resources online that you could get by without a book.


Compared to building boats or repairing watches, building wheels is a snap.

I tried myself. Bought it all. Save time and have oldpotatoe do it for ya.

Ha, this is where I ended up too.

It takes me about two weekends of fiddling around to build up a wheel right, or my shop does it in an hour for $90 in labor and I don't have to worry if I bought the right spoke length.

Still a good skill to have I guess, but I haven't checked tension in years.

I read Jobst Brandt's book and enjoyed it but I also like the "save time and let oldpotatoe do it for you."

Almost all wheel maintenance is such a rare event for me that it just doesn't make sense to get all those tools and the stand. It's a lot more tools and a lot less frequency of use than even something like servicing hydraulic brakes.

The only exception is if it's just something you actually want to do for the fun of it as opposed to the necessity.

On top of all this it usually seems like the LBS charges pretty fair prices for a lot of these tasks.

When I first started riding I had some problem wheels so I did have to do emergency truing but I don't think I've actually had to do that in 10+ years now just having better wheels and better chosen wheels for my height/weight/power level.

Now we're talking! Like building wheels... reseting the keyless works on an ETA2824 just takes practice. :D

I would not get into building boats, repairing watches, or making my own guitars unless I gave up bicycling.

Just had a friend say he's taking a guitar building class and I should sign up. He is always looking for any possible guitar related distraction that keeps him from actually playing guitar. ;) All I want to do is play the damn guitar(s).

Likewise with cycling. Most of the work I do is because it needs to be done on a fairly regular basis and it is much more time efficient to do it myself. Stuff that gets done rarely breaks that model for me. For me that's mostly wheel repair, suspension fork & shock repair, headset work, derailleur hanger alignment, etc..

Can we look forward to Mark Knopfler writing a song about him? ;)

https://youtu.be/p2zvskhQcx4?si=9v6ng1__7FdURouz

Back in the "bad old days", a groupset would include derailleurs, shifters, chain, crankset, bottom bracket ... and a pair of hubs. The bike shop assembling the bike for you would select a pair of rims based on your size and riding style, and build up a pair of wheels for you. Rims and spokes weren't as rugged and reliable back then, and you could expect to go through a few sets of rims and spokes during the lifetime of the hubs, with frequent retruings along the way.

Today, rims and spokes have gotten more robust and reliable, and wheels require much less service and repair. Broken spokes are now uncommon. Wheels going out of true is usually caused by a bent rim, which is infrequent these days: Today's aluminum rims are deeper than in the old days and made of stronger alloys, so they get bent less often; and carbon rims don't bend at all, they either break or don't break when they hit something.

I used to rebuild wheels when the rims got so bent up they couldn't be retrued without widely divergent spoke tensions (if they could be straightened at all). Now I rarely need to retrue wheels, and the last time few times I rebuilt wheels is because the sidewalls had worn too thin from braking. Now that I've got some disc brake wheels, I suspect the only thing they may need is periodic re-lubing or replacement of the bearings.

I started with Roger Musson's book and I highly recommend it. Well worth the $12 and that will likely pay for itself the very first time you order spokes in the correct lengths!

https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

He shows you how to make some of your own tools for building wheels. You do need to make the ERD measuring tool but that just requires two old spokes and a ruler.

I didn't go that far with making all the tools, instead I picked up a basic used truing stand in addition to some quality spoke wrenches and a bladed spoke holder.

I've built a few wheels and all pretty traditional (32x3 on shallow aluminum rims, one 24x2 front). I have a copy of both Jobst Brandt's "The Bicycle Wheel" and a few online sources. Bought a truing stand, tension meter, and associated gear.

I personally got into it from the standpoint of randonneuring. I had had a few factory wheels break spokes and I wanted to have no one to blame but myself in the event of equipment failure and to have a degree of confidence that if there was a failure I could fix it roadside and finish the brevet.

I haven't built a wheel in a few years but I'd do it again if needed.

I love building wheels. Start with a simple hub and rim of known ERD. Calculate twice. Use Sheldon's instructions. See how it goes!

I have been building my own wheels for decades and love doing it.
The Jobst book is a good start.
The most critical thing is getting the right spoke lengths, tensioning and stress relieving.
Also making sure that spokes are not winding up during tensioning as they will unwind later. I use Teg-Gel on the spoke threads, it prevents corrosion over the long term. I have a Park TM-1 tensiometer. It has limited accuracy but I used it for years with no problems. Not long ago I was building my first set of carbon wheels and wanted more accuracy so I built a tension calibration jig for about $100 which was well worth it. You can get a more accurate tensiometer like the Wheel Fanatyk but it costs $285. You are not going to do a perfect wheel build on your first try, it takes time and experience but can be very rewarding.
Good luck