Wheel building book?

[Lewis Moon]

I've been building wheels since God was a boy....but always 32 - 36 hole and 3 cross. I'd like to dive into the world of mixed radial/cross and radial wheels. What's a good modern wheel building book?

[Gsinill]

Roger Musson - Professional Guide to Wheel Building

I've been building wheels since God was a boy....but always 32 - 36 hole and 3 cross. I'd like to dive into the world of mixed radial/cross and radial wheels. What's a good modern wheel building book?

[weehastogopee]

I'm probably not the right person to be saying this.....but similar principles can from building the 32/36 hole wheels can be applied to more modern wheels.

I think if you have a lot of experience, you should be able to figure out more modern stuff pretty easily.

[Scooper]

Roger Musson - Professional Guide to Wheel Building
I second Musson's book. It's an e-book purchased online and downloaded as a pdf file. Revised editions are free to the original purchaser.

The Professional Guide to Wheel Building, 6th Edition (http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php)

[Lewis Moon]

I second Musson's book. It's an e-book purchased online and downloaded as a pdf file. Revised editions are free to the original purchaser.

The Professional Guide to Wheel Building, 6th Edition (http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php)

Bought it. Thanks!

[oldpotatoe]

I've been building wheels since God was a boy....but always 32 - 36 hole and 3 cross. I'd like to dive into the world of mixed radial/cross and radial wheels. What's a good modern wheel building book?

Only thing different is the lacing..the basics of building the wheel are the same for 32/36/3cross as 2cross/3cross, 3cross/radial, etc..

BTW unless the wheel is a purpose driven wheel, like a 18h, deep carbon, radial laced, front TT wheel or something or number of holes won't allow more crosses(like 20 or 24h), mixed crossings and such doesn't really answer any question, solve any problem with say a 28h/32h wheel. When I see a 32h rear that's 3 cross RH and 2 cross LH, I just giggle..same with a 28h front , 1 cross, all head in, type stuff, 'race lacing', twisty spoke lacing...funny.

IMHO

[parco]

Not to hijack the thread but what it your opinion is the best configuration for a set of road wheels?

[cnighbor1]

to build different number of spoked wheels all you need is an existing one to copy
Which I have done many times
Charles

[Scooper]

Not to hijack the thread but what it your opinion is the best configuration for a set of road wheels?

I don't think there's a single "best" configuration. It depends on your weight, the kind of riding you do, and the trade-offs you're willing to make between weight and durability.

I'm not a competitive racer, but I do like to ride fast. I weigh ~185 lbs and like boring 32h 3x wheels. My current "go to" bike has 32h 3x front and rear, with DT-Swiss 240-S hubs laced to DT-Swiss RR 1.1 alloy rims. The cassette is Campy Record 10-s, and tires are Conti Ultra Race 700-23c tires.

The front wheel with the tire mounted weighs 1250g, and the rear wheel with cassette and tire weighs 1610g. They're not the lightest, but plenty sturdy.

[Mark McM]

Not to hijack the thread but what it your opinion is the best configuration for a set of road wheels?

The best configuration for road wheels is the hub in the middle, the rim on the outside, and the spokes connecting the two. The rest is dependent on what factors the user places priority on (cost? stiffness? durability? weight? looks? aerodynamics?).

[martl]

I've been building wheels since God was a boy....but always 32 - 36 hole and 3 cross. I'd like to dive into the world of mixed radial/cross and radial wheels. What's a good modern wheel building book?

last time i checked, wheel building hasn't been reinvented. Therefore, Jobst Brandt should still be the reference.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bicycle-Wheel-3rd-Edition/dp/0960723668

[11.4]

last time i checked, wheel building hasn't been reinvented. Therefore, Jobst Brandt should still be the reference.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bicycle-Wheel-3rd-Edition/dp/0960723668

Actually, rims are better than when Brandt wrote his book, and spokes are somewhat better. Spoke count is down, which also means you get into many more 2-cross or even 1-cross rear wheels. I build a lot of wheels and find that Jobst is relatively dated. The DT book is a bit better, Musson is probably the best of the published books. The best reference for race wheel building -- not funky stuff like crowfoot but either bulletproof heavy duty wheels or ultralight carbon wheels -- are the wheel building threads across the hall and on Weight Weenies. It's a lot to read, but it has the most current info and best discussions of strengths and weaknesses.

[Mark McM]

Actually, rims are better than when Brandt wrote his book, and spokes are somewhat better. Spoke count is down, which also means you get into many more 2-cross or even 1-cross rear wheels. I build a lot of wheels and find that Jobst is relatively dated. The DT book is a bit better, Musson is probably the best of the published books. The best reference for race wheel building -- not funky stuff like crowfoot but either bulletproof heavy duty wheels or ultralight carbon wheels -- are the wheel building threads across the hall and on Weight Weenies. It's a lot to read, but it has the most current info and best discussions of strengths and weaknesses.

I agree that rims are much better and spokes are also better these days, so that reliable wheels can be built with fewer spokes than in the days Brandt wrote his book. But, the book is still correct in the fundamental principles on how wheels work. And many of the conclusions of the book still apply. For example: Spoke tension doesn't affect wheel stiffness (i.e., low spoke tension doesn't make a wheel "softer" and more compliant); large flange hubs don't make a wheel stiffer; wheels with crossed spokes have so much torsional stiffness that torsional "wind-up" is functionally non-existant; spoke loading from torque is very small, and contributes little spoke fatigue (which is also why rear wheels with as few as 16 spokes only need crossed spokes on one side); tying and soldering spokes has no affect on wheel performance/durability; etc. Despite the book being about 40 years old at this point, it seems many wheel designer still haven't learned the lessons Brandt taught us.