Thoughts of a dilettante novice wheelbuilder

[Ham]

I wanted to build the wheels for my new bike, not because I thought I could save money, nor because I thought I could build them better, but because I wanted to build 'em. I have a reasonably high view of my own mechanical aptitude and fancied doing it on my own-ish, with someone checking my homework. Local to me I found Arup Sen, recommended by many here and now by me. A more capable, friendly, flexible, accommodating and understanding wheelbuilder would be nigh impossible to find.

I started from Roger Musson's book which is excellent and essential reading to help you understand the process. I had kit which I had accumulated for wheel trueing, including a cheapie "x-tools" building jig, a dishing tool, and a Park Tension Meter. I did say dilettante, didn't I? For those in a similar position, I would say that Tension Meter is the single most essential piece of kit if you want to end up with a wheel as good as any built by a pro. I added a Rixen Kaul Spokey, and made up a spoke tool, grinding out a screwdriver.

I'm not going to repeat any of the tips or instruction I got from the book or Arup, it's their livelihood. This is intended to be a record of what I learned, as much as anything to remind me if or when I build my next wheel.

First that spoke tool. The cranked version would definitely be better for a pro wheelbuilder, but the screwdriver conversion is great for occasional use. I used a big driver, which is right as it gave a good fit into the nipple slot. But, I didn't grind down the shaft quite enough to start with, with the result it manked up the access holes a bit on the first wheel. The 3mm spike is the thing, I did it accurately but it isn't that critical. May add a pic later.

Next, the build sequence. The first time I followed Roger Musson's instructions, and ended up with a sorry mess. I stripped it and built again, taking care and time over the nipple turning, max 1.5 turns from the outset, one spoke at a time in order going around, keeping everything in balance right up to the 3mm max of the spoke tool. Result? A wheel that starts tensioning without any major aberrations.

When tensioning I paid particular attention to the ... ummm...  tension looking at the spokes all around BEFORE changing anything.

Finally I made good use of the Park Tool WTA app - http://www.parktool.com/WTA

End result? two wheels with <10% variance is spoke tension, 0 dishing error, <0.25 mm out of true, and a happy and proud Leporida

[Wowbagger]

It's a very satisfying process, isn't it?

I built the wheels for my Mercian, and also (re)built those on my Thorn when the original rims wore out. Same hubs, obv, as one's a Rohloff and the other's a Schmidt! The Thorn was very easy. Firstly, there's no dishing because it's a hub gear, secondly the rims were embedded with tungsten carbide so they are very stiff, and thirdly, because they are both big hubs in a relatively small (26") wheel, the back wheel is 2-cross and that, it seems to me, makes for a very robust construction.

The Mercian was a different matter. I wasn't hard enough on the front wheel in the first instance, and the nipples started to undo themselves! After my second attempt I noticed a crack in the rim, but after I had done a fair few miles on it. SJS sent me another rim, and it seems OK now, but I haven't ridden the bike for yonks. I ought to get it out and ride it again.

[Samuel D]

Excellent! What hubs, spokes, and rims did you use?

I did something similar recently, with similarly satisfying results. To prove the point, the only specialised tool I used was a spoke key. I thought this might complicate matters but it didn’t seem to. Certainly the bicycle was a perfectly adequate truing stand. The only awkward bit was repeatedly reversing the wheel to check the dishing.

I had a little bit of spoke wind-up, I think because I hadn’t sufficiently lubricated all the spokes and nipples before building. Most were good but I’d missed some spoke threads.

What did grinding down the screwdriver achieve that wasn’t already achieved by a regular screwdriver?

[Brucey]

Some thoughts from someone who has built very many wheels;

- if you want to learn to build wheels, just do it.

- tool-wise, you don't need anything special other than a spoke key.

- You can practice on an old wheel; e.g. take it apart and put it back together again. 

- If you practice like that, you will be so much faster when you are building actual wheels that you want to use that you will probably save time overall vs starting out trying to build wheels that you want to use.

BTW a nipple driver is a useful (rather than essential) thing but one with a 3mm prong is too long.  If you are shooting for full-length spokes (where the ends finish within the depth of the slot, like you should do), all the spokes will still be ridiculously slack if you use a nipple driver with a 3mm prong.

A spoke tension gauge pleases novices because it appears to confirm that they have done a decent job. In truth, they are not very accurate devices in absolute terms and (unless you are tone deaf) you can more quickly hear small variations in spoke tension far better than you could ever hope to measure them.

FWIW the main benefit of handbuilt wheels is not that the wheel is straight, not that the spoke tensions are even; these things are 'nice to haves' as it were, and are very rarely the primary determinants of the way the wheel behaves in service. The main benefit of a hand built wheel is (if it has been built properly) that the wheel has been properly  stress-relieved.  I cannot overemphasise how important this is; by comparison it genuinely doesn't matter what components you use, how straight the wheel is, what the spoke tensions are; but if the wheel isn't stress-relieved, you are going to break spokes.

BTW it is commonly thought that OEM wheels that come with mid-price bikes these days are not worth bothering with; all too often the hubs give trouble and the spokes break. However IME if the hubs are set up and lubed correctly, and the wheels are stress-relieved (preferably when they are new), such wheels will usually give good service. I have seen a set of such wheels (from a mid-price Giant) do ~25000 miles (hard commuting miles, in all seasons and all weathers) without even marking the bearing surfaces up.

NB; if you are coming to a set of wheels late (i.e. after they have started to break spokes) and stress-relieve them, this can prevent much further trouble in the long run. However in the short term you may still break a few spokes even after the stress-relief has been done. This happens because those few spokes may already be cracked and once this happens nothing will save them.

 Jobst Brandt reckoned that you might break a couple more spokes in such a wheel but there is (for wheels that are not built with defective or ill-fitting components) now a more accurate estimate than this;  having tested several thousand spokes from several  hundred failing wheels, I can report that if you stress-relieve a wheel having replaced 'n' spokes, you can expect to break up to about 'n' more spokes in the worst case, and more typically about half that number. 

IME the already-cracked spokes that are going to break thusly will break within  the first thousand miles or so, but this will vary with the wheel and the service conditions. You can gauge when to give up on a set of wheels (rather than replace broken spokes, stress-relieve, and carry on) by assessing your personal  risk/cost/consequence of suffering further breakages in your wheelset.

BTW having read both books, I would recommend Jobst Brandt's if you want to learn how to build wheels and understand why it is that you should build then in a particular way. Musson's book is OK, and may get a novice started a little more quickly, but it is (by comparison)  more 'learning by rote'.

hth

cheers

[cameronp]

@Ham, that's a very impressive and well-researched effort for a first-time wheelbuilder.

I am, in most respects, a mechanical dunce, but usually willing to give anything a try on the basis of "what could possibly go wrong?". This extended to my first (and so far, only) attempt at wheel building:

The only tool I bought for the purpose was a spoke key. I used an upside-down bike and its brake calipers as a truing stand. Downloaded a phone app to gauge spoke tensions. Followed Sheldon Brown's instructions on lacing and truing and ended up with a front wheel within 0.5mm and rear wheel within 1mm (at which point it was getting late and I decided near enough was good enough). I was quite nervous on my first ride on the new wheelset, convinced that they would pringle as soon as I sat atop them, but two years and many thousands of kilometres later, I'm very happy with them.

@Brucey, is there a way to true disc-only wheels without a truing stand?

[fd3]

I built one pair of wheels using the Brandt book and advice from the local tool club + internet.  Interesting to see that each source has different and strongly minded opinions on stress relieving spokes.my experience is very much in conflict with most people here, I could miss a wheel being out of dish or severe spoke tension issues if I did not have the tools to point it out to me.  That said I would probably build my next wheel at home on an upside-down bike and bring it into check with the proper tools when I thought it needed at most another half an hour's work.

[Torslanda]

To true wheels without a jig, turn the frame into one.

BluTak and short sections of spoke for pointers. An Ikea footstool to sit on and the bike upside down.*



* Yes. I know. Unless you have a workstand that holds the frame rigid it's the only way to ensure the bike doesn't move when you spin the wheel. Hang your touring bike from a wibbly Aldi stand and tell me I'm wrong . . .

[Ham]

Some thoughts from someone who has built very many wheels.....yadda yadda yadda

And there you have it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not denigrating what you are saying in the slightest, what you have to say is always worth reading, but we, the innocent wheelbuilding newbies, are in a completely different place. (and if this is sounding like I'm "having a go", I'm really not)

We can't judge the tension properly by pinging, we can't guess what comes next, or why it has gone wrong. We have to substitute your years of experience with our extra time and patience. Oh, and we want to end up with a wheel that's as good as the ones you might build at the end of the process. That 3mm ? Perfect for us, might take a little longer but it leaves the wheel well centred and unstressed. That tension meter? keeps us on the straight and narrow.

The thing I was trying to do is pass on what I was hoping would be some useful hints for people coming from the same place as me. Never mind tension isn't the be-all and end-all, or that the meter isn't particularly accurate (all entirely correct) I know that if I have made a wheel with next to zero roundness faults, in the middle of the tension allowable, with all spokes within +- 10% (not as an objective but as a by product) I can feel rightly satisfied that I've done most of what is needed. That main "thing" I learned was, take time, do it all slowly and evenly. Really slowly and evenly.

And yes, I will only find out if I properly stress relieved them after a while, but hey, that's what learning is all about.

Wheels themselves are H+Son Hydra 32H, with Hope RS4 CL hubs and Sapim race double butted spokes.

[cameronp]

That main "thing" I learned was, take time, do it all slowly and evenly. Really slowly and evenly.

Definitely this. I found it quite meditative in the end.

[Biggsy]

I doubt many new wheel builders start with no experience of wheels at all.  You've probably already plucked and trued spokes before, you know what good tension feels like.  Spoke tension doesn't even have to be very "correct" for a wheel to be completely reliable.  Certainly go on a course and get a tensiometer if you feel like it, but I think it's important to say that those things are not necesssary for your very first wheel to be more than good enough.

[Brucey]

....We can't judge the tension properly by pinging....

I never said you could.

I said that (unless you are tone deaf) you can pick up small variations in spoke tension (i.e. variations in uniformity) quicker and easier without a tension meter, by listening to the spokes.

BTW the easiest way to judge absolute tension values (if you don't have a tension meter, or don't believe what it is telling you anyway  -NB they only work accurately on spokes that are perfectly straight in the unloaded condition....) is to compare tension with a 'known good wheel'.

I applaud anyone for having a go and building wheels (by whatever means) but the last thing I would want to do is to encourage the notion that it is not possible to do it unless you spend £100+ on equipment before you start, or that the work will be significantly eased/speeded if you do. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Re truing wheels without a truing stand; two clothes pegs is all you need; one to clamp to a fork blade or stay, and the second one (if necessary) to clamp to the first and act as a pointer. As Biggsy says, blu-tac and a pointer will work instead. So will zip ties, and/or a whole bunch of other things, including pipecleaners, cocktail sticks, bent paperclips, that green wire that you use in the garden, elastic bands...  the list is almost endless.

hth

cheers

[Samuel D]

How about a thumb braced against the fork? That’s what I used and didn’t find it wanting. With a thumb you can both hear and feel when the rim rubs against it, and it is an instantaneous job to adjust it closer and farther from the rim as needed.

Is the screwdriver grinding explained in Musson’s book? The purpose of that is unclear to me.

[rogerzilla]

My spoke tensions aren't super-even but it doesn't worry me as long as they're all high enough.  The UTS of a spoke is absolutely huge and they don't get tighter in use.  The main thing is that the wheel has enough spoke tension and has been tortured/stress relieved sufficiently during building, and all twist has been released.

I once had a set of wheels built by a LBS and the first time I rode them they pinged all over and went out of true - the moron that built them hadn't bothered to take the twist out*.  Built all my own since.

*according to Jobst Brandt, you shouldn't need to do a separate step to remove twist as you can feel and remove it during tensioning by backing off a bit.  This is certainly something to aim for but, at high spoke tension, it's very hard to detect twist, there will usually be a little bit left and you need to remove it by pushing down on the rim with the end of the axle on the floor.  Then you have to true the wheel again...it's iterative but you do end up with something completely right.

[Samuel D]

What’s the practical difference between pushing the axle against the floor to get rid of wind-up and just riding the wheel a little?

I guess the lubrication matters too. I was a bit sloppy about lubricating the spoke threads (did them in a bunch the way Brandt recommends), and it seems the ones that slip-stuck a bit had the most wind-up. The ones that tightened smoothly (were more thoroughly lubricated) were better.

Doesn’t sound like a serious problem anyway, unless I’m mistaken. Just true the wheel again, no?

[rogerzilla]

But then it takes days to finish the wheel and you have to fit a tyre and tube and remove it again each time!

I find that, even with lubrication, you always get a certain amount of twist followed by a sudden slip as you tighten the spokes.  if you don''t, the spokes can't be tight enough.  Anyone who's built with DT Revolution spokes will know that they can twist a very, very long way before the threads actually move against each other - in the last week I've built a front wheel with Revs and a rear wheel that used them on the LH side.  They are reliable spokes but a bit slower to build with because of all the twist.

[Samuel D]

You mean the tyre must be removed to true the wheel radially in a stand?

I looked at the DT Revolution. It combines a 2 mm thread (so plenty of wind-up torque) with a 1.5 mm main section that would poorly resist that torque. Sounds … specialist.

[Biggsy]

I looked at the DT Revolution. It combines a 2 mm thread (so plenty of wind-up torque) with a 1.5 mm main section that would poorly resist that torque. Sounds … specialist.

They're not too bad as long as you don't try to use them for the rear drive side.  That would be really, er, specialist.  I save them (and Sapim Lasers) for rear NDS and fronts.

[hubner]

At least one advantage with aero spokes is you see any twist. Or you can use a marker on normal spokes.

When you've got the wheel laced and the spokes are still loose you can improve the line of the spoke from the hub to the rim. With the heads in spokes, bend the spoke in towards the hub flange and vice versa.

The modified screwdriver or purpose made nipple driver is so you automatically tighten the all spokes to a certain tension before final truing. You can do the same thing by counting the turns with the spoke key.

[rogerzilla]

Yes, you should remove tyre and tube to true a wheel.  Besides getting in the way, an tyre at high pressure makes the wheel more true.

[Brucey]

What’s the practical difference between pushing the axle against the floor to get rid of wind-up and just riding the wheel a little?

some folk use the pushing technique as a proxy for more aggressive (spoke loading) stress relief. I do not think it is as effective.

I guess the lubrication matters too. I was a bit sloppy about lubricating the spoke threads (did them in a bunch the way Brandt recommends), and it seems the ones that slip-stuck a bit had the most wind-up. The ones that tightened smoothly (were more thoroughly lubricated) were better

.

Very skinny spokes can wind up about 1/2 turn but more normal ones (with any lube at all on the threads) might wind up 1/4 turn or so. This doesn't throw the wheel much out of true even if the wind-up releases.  I normally wind back a fraction with the spoke key to allow for any 'wind up' but if you stress-relieve properly any twist usually  comes out of the neighbouring spokes to the loaded ones.  If you do these things it is very rare that wheel makes much noise when it is ridden on and even rarer that it goes noticeably out of true.

BTW you can feel how much twist you are getting by holding the spoke with one hand as you use the spoke key with the other.

cheers

[mzjo]

This is all so very different from my first experience building a wheel that i really feel inspired to contribute.
When I was a teenager my dad drove over the front wheel of my sister's bike in the garage. At the time sis and I were both members of a YHA local group youth section and went on cycling hostel weekends. Dad replaced the bent wheel with a new one (all cheap steel, less good quality) and the old wheel lay in the garage until I decided to take it apart, straighten it and rebuild it. I had no prior experience, no book, no magic method and no tools. I can't remember if I had already bought my spoke key or if that came later and I did the job with pliars, screwdriver and adjustable spanner. The rim benefitted from an application of knee to help straighten it. The resultant wheel was not round (by your standards) and not evenly tensioned but I could (and did) use it.
The youth section of the club benefitted from the advice and attention of one John Bowcher to maintain our bikes in something like a safe condition (he organised the open 10 for Gloucester CC and was our mentor in many ways). He looked at my wheel during a weekend, didn't pass any nasty criticism and gave me a bit of advice on getting the job a bit more right, as a result of which I went on to build other wheels - including the wheels that I used for my eventual time-trialling, one of which I built the night before my first open event. My only tool was still a spoke key. I used to do the initial tensioning with the wheel held between my knees before putting it in the frame. I knew nothing about relieving the spoke tensions. I did not have a problem ever with spoke breakages and generally used rustless spokes, not stainless.
After a couple of years I read an article in Cycling Weekly on wheel building by Mike Mullet, which gave me some more ideas and refined my technique a bit. Since I have learnt to listen and read comments on forums like this and in clubs and magazines. You are never too old or (I hope) too stupid to learn a bit from others. I still don't have a book on wheelbuilding although it looks likely that Jobst Brandt will find his way onto the Christmas list.
I have an idea that it is a mistake to go out with the idea that your first wheel must be like the pros and that you need to use all the tools. I am (for once) entirely in agreement with Brucey on this one.
I still have the same spoke key, over 40 years on. I still don't have jig, dishing tools, tension meter or smartphone apps. I still don't have a problem breaking spokes, even on a tandem (with at one stage a crew weight of 200kgs on board). But I only build for myself, I am not at pro standards, it's for my pleasure.