What do you use when building wheels?

[Lovetoclimb]

I am building my second set of 32 spoke 3x clinchers and looking to improve on both time and quality of the build.

My first build was/is Record Hubs to black Velocity A23s with black DT Revolution spokes. They have been great, but already had a spoke come loose on the rear drive side, then about a month later a spoke snapped at the nipple on the rear non-drive side. I believe I finally got the rear properly dished and trued both radially and laterally today. I am following the instructions from a wheel-building manual that are pretty straight-forward. But ultimately it seems like patience and persistence win out . . .

The upcoming set will be Campy Chorus hubs to silver Velocity A23s with silver DT Comp. spokes. Also 32, 3x.

Open to suggestions for improvement! Thanks!

[JAGI410]

Phil's Tenacious Oil

[Jaq]

A dab of grease on the spoke threads.

[slidey]

Wheels! :banana:

[ultraman6970]

I use saliva to prep the spokes.

[AgilisMerlin]

curious,

how old/many miles were (on) the wheels when the spoke problems occurred?

roads/your weight - in combination, come into play - sometimes

high, high pressure never done me many favors, over the years...btw


just wondering

http://image.spreadshirt.net/image-server/image/composition/2502314/view/1/producttypecolor/26/type/png/width/280/height/280/vintage-campagnolo-hub-retro-heaven_design.png

[DogpawSlim]

"Something weird or exotic" a.k.a. trailer bearing grease.

[buldogge]

Brass nipples.
Grease on the interface between the nipple and the rim.
Linseed oil on the spoke threads.
Probably more tension than you think...do you have a tensionometer?
Also, try to pull as much wind-up out as you tension.

My meager 2c after a few wheel builds.

-Mark in St. Louis

[TMB]

Grease.

[cnighbor1]

to take spoke wind up out of wheels
1. remove skewers
2. Place wheel horizontal with axle on block of wood on sturdy surface
3. Using both hand opposite each other push down on rim
4. turn wheel a bit and repeat at 45 degree etc
5 Flip wheel over and repeat
You will hear spokes pinging has they unwind
6. retrue
7. repeat above till wheel stays true
8Your done

[Marcusaurelius]

Spoke prep on the threads works well--if not--grease.

[monkeybanana86]

I've only built like four wheels but I always used grease on the threads just bc I had that on hand. still rolling!

[oldpotatoe]

I am building my second set of 32 spoke 3x clinchers and looking to improve on both time and quality of the build.

My first build was/is Record Hubs to black Velocity A23s with black DT Revolution spokes. They have been great, but already had a spoke come loose on the rear drive side, then about a month later a spoke snapped at the nipple on the rear non-drive side. I believe I finally got the rear properly dished and trued both radially and laterally today. I am following the instructions from a wheel-building manual that are pretty straight-forward. But ultimately it seems like patience and persistence win out . . .

The upcoming set will be Campy Chorus hubs to silver Velocity A23s with silver DT Comp. spokes. Also 32, 3x.

Open to suggestions for improvement! Thanks!

I know the first wheel is done but I wouldn't use Revs on the drive side of any rear wheel. PLUS use brass nipples.

Tension keeps spokes tight, not glue. BUT I have been using boiled lindseed oil between the spoke and nipple for the 27 or so years I have been building wheels.

Mobil One(teeny dropper) between rim and nipple. Proper tension, as measured on a tensionmeter, not plucking or some other such nonsense.

Tapping the wheel against a pad, vertically, takes windup out of the spokes. A finished wheel, when ridden, should not 'ping' at all.

Read Gerd Schraner's book, Art of Wheelbuilding and Jobst Brandt's The Bicycle Wheel

[echelon_john]

boiled linseed on threads; dab (tiny) of grease on spoke hole to reduce friction on the nipple--especially important with alloy nipples, esp. non-ferruled rims (which are most these days), esp. drive side rear.

during tensioning i:
-seat/flatten the spoke elbows at the hub with a rubber mallet
-use a pipe vigorously in the 'crotch' between the rim and the first cross of spokes to seat everything, stress-relieve the spokes, and potentially mitigate twist
-am very careful to turn spokes past where i want them, then return the nipple to position so as to eliminate twist.

if you keep a hand on the spoke near the nipple while you're turning it at first, you'll get a feel for how much twist you're getting and how much you need to turn past/relieve. You can feel this with the spoke wrench after some practice, but physically holding the spoke and feeling the twist will be a good way to get attuned.

[DRZRM]

Brass nipples, boiled linseed oil, little grease on rim holes, tension meter. So far so good.

[aaronf]

Boiled linseed oil or Wheelsmith SpokePrep on threads.
Oil or grease between nipple and rim.
Seat spoke heads in hubs.
Avoid/release spoke wind-up.
Tensiometer.
Patience.

[ergott]

Wow, page 2 and I'm the first to mention anti-seize compound.

There's a reason that stuff is used in the auto industry and other extreme applications. Like Potato said, tension keeps the spokes in place. Anti-seize compound allows threads to work through their lifespan. Nothing guarantees that better.

[oliver1850]

I've used grease and anti-seize compound. My main concern is that they remain easily serviceable. I've attempted to work on several old wheels that were most likely built dry, and ruined the nipples trying to adjust them.

[Bob Loblaw]

With brass nipples, you don't NEED anything. However, I like to make work for myself. First thing I do is wrap the threads of each spoke in a thin layer of teflon tape.

Wheels I have done since starting that technique stay true longer, run quieter, and last longer than anything else I have tried. Brass nipples preclude seizing, I strongly recommend them.

BL

[russ46]

I have a rear mavic ksyrium elite I'm going to rebuild when the rest of the spokes arrive. The wheel had 2 broken spokes when I started. When I was taking the tension off the other spokes, I decided to disassemble the wheel & start from scratch. After removing 20 spokes there was only one where the spoke nipple was not frozen to the brass retaining nut. The spoke nipples all showed signs of corrosion.

Mavic recommends using loctite on the spoke nipple & is non-commital about any lube on the brass nut. I'm considering using ant-seize on both based on what I've seen. Has anyone had experiece with this type of wheel?

[bambam]

I have built about 10 wheels for background and all 3 cross.
I use Phil wood tenasious oil on the threads.
The last wheel I used a little of the same oil betewwn the rim and nipple head.
I ten to build a wheel up over 3 or 4 days about an hour at a time. Sometimes I put a drop on the spoke by the nipple and spin the wheel to get a little on the threads again if I'm retrueing or its been sitting longer that I wanted.

I have both books OP mentioned. Plan on building my first wheelset with them. Very soon fo my new ride.
I think Gerd's book seems most helpful.

All my other wheels were built using Zinn's road bike maintenance chaper on wheelbuilding before. no problems except for a 1 broken rim.

Good luck.