Re: Hand built wheels



K

K&C Russell

Guest
"ritcho" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> For once, I actually used my own hands! I proved that any klutz can put
> wheels together and make them work.
>
> Ingredients:
> CXP33 rims (silver - to match the bike)
> 32h Ultegra hubs
> 14/15/14 dt spokes
> brass nipples
>
> Tools
> Spoke key, flat blade screwdriver, Minoura rim trainer (in place of
> truing stand), some light household oil.
>
> I just followed the directions at www.sheldonbrown.com
>
> Getting the dishing right is easy if you have a wheel that is already
> ok. Set the bike with the good wheel in the rim trainer so that one
> side is lined up on one of the (opened) rollers. Next, swap out with
> the new wheel and start truing the wheel in situ using the rim
> trainer's roller and the bike's rear brake as the dishing guide.
>
> The tricky bit was figuring out how tight to make the spokes - "As
> tight as they will go without damaging the rim" is not very helpful for
> a first timer. A tensiometer would have taken the fun out of it, as well
> as costing lots of money. Sheldon's site suggested two ways - 1. the
> nipple gets hard to turn (not very precise); 2. Guess around an A
> (440Hz) for the pitch when the spokes are plucked. A primary school
> recorder is an excellent tool for comparison as it is much more
> portable than a piano. Combine the two ideas and you get a pretty tight
> wheel.
>
> Follow the instructions on stress relieving spokes and voila! Fresh
> wheels that are lighter than my Shimano 535s and much easier to fix.
> Hopefully, they'll be more reliable too.
>
> I'm slow, so it took me about 3 hours of work for each wheel (F and
> R).
>
> If you haven't had a go at it, try it next time you want a new wheel.
> If you have, then I can already hear the "I told you so"s
>
> Cheers,
> Ritch
>
>
> --
> ritcho


Congrats Ritcho,

You have now graduated in the Dark Art of wheel building. I did a similar
set in silver with Open Pros to match the bike. Now enjoy the ride, it a
great feeling on your own wheels. Well done.

Kevin