Building your own wheels, yah or nah?

[Celtic Dragon]

I need new wheels for the mtb and thinking about building my own. They will only be cheap ones as the bike oldish. The lbs has quoted £140 to supply a complete front wheel. Thats a mavic 317 rim, a hope disc hub and spokes plus building.

Is building your own fun and advisable?

[P-Jay]

I'd rather not, it's not a skill I have (it's more of an art if you believe some) I don't have the tools required and honestly if you buy all the bits separately it's often more expensive than buying a built set.

Hope will sell you a prebuilt wheel based on their hubs and an endless choice of rims known as Hope Hoops, or if you want cheaper Superstar do the same with their hubs.

I'm running a pair of Superstar factory build wheels with their hubs and Mavic EN521 rims, they're really good.

[itsnotarace]

Unless you are planning on building a few wheels, or have access to the truing stand and tools required already, it will be cheaper to pay someone else to do it. If, on the other hand, you feel like learning a new skill and have the time and patience to do so, it will be rewarding.

[rhinochopig]

Really not worth it. And if you want a budget wheel I would take a hard look at Mavic's entry level disc wheels. I'm on my second set on my winter hardtail and the only reason for that is that I wore the rims out - I run V brakes on my winter bike. Bearings are still good as new. I have hope wheels as well on my summer FS, and TBH, nice as they are, I've had to replace the bearings in them several times.

[itsnotarace]

I forgot to mention, you'll also need to become fluent with spoke length calculators

[S6PNJ]

when 'homebuilding' wheels, other than getting the wheel true in both directions (circularity, left and right) how can you tell if the tension on the spokes is correct? IE not too loose or too tight?

[itsnotarace]

http://www.parktool.com/product/spoke-tension-mete...

[walm]

S6PNJ said:

when 'homebuilding' wheels, other than getting the wheel true in both directions (circularity, left and right) how can you tell if the tension on the spokes is correct? IE not too loose or too tight?

I used my ear.

I was only replacing like-for-like so it was the same hub, rim and lacing so spoke length was the same.

I would "pluck" the old spokes and then "tune" my new ones until the pitch was roughly equal.

Agree with all the above though - you need the odd special tool and it takes time and the end result probably won't be as good as a pro-handbuilt one, or even factory built.

Fun to learn though.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

[quote=walm]

Agree with all the above though - you need the odd special tool and it takes time and the end result probably won't be as good as a pro-handbuilt one, or even factory built.
quote]

^^ this ^^

I've done a few. They're all "ok" and have lasted for years. They're no better than ok though.

[Justin S]

I'd have a look at Halfords if you need a Hope front wheel, they are flogging factory built ones for £85 ish currently, but be quick.
I 'usually' build my own wheels and mates too. No one has lost life yet, so I cant be that bad. Its quite relaxing, sitting on the floor wth a rim, hub and a glut of spokes and a truing stand in an evening.........

[gazza285]

I've built my own wheels for years, but seeing as I used to build motorcycle wheels professionally I'm a little more experienced than a hobby builder. If it's a new wheel, then it's not really worthwhile as you can get built wheels for around the same price as the bits, but if you can pick up some cheap hubs and rims off Ebay then it makes a bit more sense.

As for the practical bit, you can true the wheel in the frame it's intended for, which can be easier than on a stand if it's an older frame and the offset isn't quite standard, same goes for the front wheel. Other than that I'm not saying, it's a secret.

Good luck!

[Celtic Dragon]

Justin S said:

I'd have a look at Halfords if you need a Hope front wheel, they are flogging factory built ones for £85 ish currently, but be quick.
I 'usually' build my own wheels and mates too. No one has lost life yet, so I cant be that bad. Its quite relaxing, sitting on the floor wth a rim, hub and a glut of spokes and a truing stand in an evening.........

Thanks for the heads up but they all look like disc specific rims. I need rim brake compatible.

[upsidedownmark]

Note of dischord: Do it - if you've got a few hours, it's simple, methodical/mechanical, and not at all hard (quite thereaputic actually). All you need is a spoke key, screwdriver, google and some patience. All this art talk is (IMHO) pish.

Spoke length calculators are available online - DT Swiss have one IIRC. Use that to find out what you need, it's not hard. Sheldon Brown for instructions on how to do it.

Quick overview:
1) thread spokes
2) tighten all the nipples same number of turns (say 5-10)
3) repeat 2 until you start to get some decent tension.
4) Stick it in the frame, spin. See which measurement is out by the most: dish, roundness, true, tension
5) work on halving that, go to 4 and repeat
6) Stress relieve (squeezing pairs of spokes), check 4 again
7) settle when it's good.

For non-disk rims, using the frame and snugging up the brakes to identify high points/assist with truing works pretty damn well - tape a zip tie to frame help measure roundness. Tension can be a 'ping' of the spokes, and compare to a good wheel. Dish - erm, is it in the middle!? Might need to be even more heath robinson for a disk rim.. but when mine went in a (borrowed) truing stand, it didn't tell me anything new.

First one took me a few hours, is still true about 5000 miles later. Since then I've done 4 or 5 - replaced hubs and the like, no big deal, and straighter / more reliable than the R500's that came on the bike.