Touring bike riders, where do get your wheels?
05-12-24, 02:40 PM
#26
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If you end up still looking for a decent wheel builder ...
R&E Cycles (aka, Rodriguez), in Seattle, WA -- A good shop that crafts high-quality, high-strength wheelset builds.
Had a wheelset made by them. Velocity CliffHanger 26", 36H, with White Industries MI-5 hubs, DT Swiss spokes. Very strong, reliable. Exceptional build quality. If I need another wheelset, I will certainly consider them. They aren't inexpensive, on a par with the earlier Sugar Wheel Works mention. But if a strong, reliable, high-quality build is what you're seeking, they can do.
R&E Cycles (aka, Rodriguez), in Seattle, WA -- A good shop that crafts high-quality, high-strength wheelset builds.
Had a wheelset made by them. Velocity CliffHanger 26", 36H, with White Industries MI-5 hubs, DT Swiss spokes. Very strong, reliable. Exceptional build quality. If I need another wheelset, I will certainly consider them. They aren't inexpensive, on a par with the earlier Sugar Wheel Works mention. But if a strong, reliable, high-quality build is what you're seeking, they can do.
05-15-24, 02:43 AM
#27
aka Timi
About how long/how many wheels does it take until one may feel confident in building wheels?
05-15-24, 06:02 AM
#28
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How long and how many? Somewhere between 2 and over a dozen.
05-15-24, 06:02 AM
#29
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Download Roger Musson's booklet. He'll walk you through the process step by step. It's quite easy. My first set of wheels(H Plus Son Archetype rims, Ultegra hubs, Sapim 2/1.8 double butted spokes, brass nipples) has about a thousand miles on them now and they run as true as when I finished assembling them. Once you've gone through the process of building a wheel, wheel maintenance/post build truing tweaks are a minor event.
05-15-24, 08:03 AM
#30
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Start with one. Ride it and see how it goes. The second one is easier as is the third, fourth, fifth, etc. But if you never build the first one, you'll never get confident at all.
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
05-15-24, 08:09 AM
#31
Junior Member
The best thing I did in my story of wheelbuilding was to get a Park Tool spoke tension meter, very late in the game.
It's incredibly easy to go around the wheel and get all spokes practically identical or to see where changes can be made for adjustments.
Especially useful on the rear wheel with it's very different tension on each side.
Then once a year while getting ready for the new season, I just go around and make sure everything is still fine.
Sure you can do things by feel and I did for a long time, but I wouldn't go back to that.
It's incredibly easy to go around the wheel and get all spokes practically identical or to see where changes can be made for adjustments.
Especially useful on the rear wheel with it's very different tension on each side.
Then once a year while getting ready for the new season, I just go around and make sure everything is still fine.
Sure you can do things by feel and I did for a long time, but I wouldn't go back to that.
05-15-24, 08:40 AM
#32
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Second the recommendation of a Park tensiometer. Old pros don't need one, but it's a tool that will let an amateur closely approach a professional's work.
05-15-24, 12:41 PM
#33
aka Timi
Thanks for all the awesome replies about wheel building.
Like many things,I find, until I’ve started it’s a mystery
Like many things,I find, until I’ve started it’s a mystery
05-15-24, 07:24 PM
#34
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..forgot to post the link to Musson's booklet
https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php
It's mysterious until you get started and then Roger's instructions take the mystery out if it.
https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php
It's mysterious until you get started and then Roger's instructions take the mystery out if it.
05-16-24, 05:04 AM
#35
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I built my first wheel before the internet existed, and those that knew the secret dark arts of wheel building were slow to share their wisdom. Thus my first wheel was a disaster. But I learned from many mistakes on that first one.
If you really want to build a wheel or two, if you have not yet learned how to true up a wheel, buy a used bad wheel or find one in the garbage. And learn on that one.
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05-20-24, 08:23 PM
#36
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I build my own,
Rims; Velocity Dyads or A23,
A512 or A312 are also nice rims
Any solid hub mostly 36b holes
typically any SS spoke and only brass nipples
Rims; Velocity Dyads or A23,
A512 or A312 are also nice rims
Any solid hub mostly 36b holes
typically any SS spoke and only brass nipples
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Cambodia bikes, Bridgestone SRAM 2 speed, 2012 Fuji Stratos...
Cambodia bikes, Bridgestone SRAM 2 speed, 2012 Fuji Stratos...
