That feeling you get when...
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Eugene, OR
Posts: 1,326
Mentioned: 64 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 535 Post(s)
Liked 346 Times
in
196 Posts
That feeling you get when...
You successfully rebuild your first wheel! Talk about gratifying
Went through the hub last week. Cleaned, greased & new bearings. Left a hint of play in the adjustment that gets taken up when the QR is closed. Spinning them by hand, I can read a very slight bit of “roughness.” But spinning them mounted to the frame, they still go long & come to a slow rocking stop, valve hole always on top. I think that’s smooth enough for my needs.
As far as the spokes & rim goes, the wheel was fairly straight & round to begin with, but tensions were all over the place & extremely high in some areas. I decided to completely loosen the wheel. Once everything was totally slack, I removed nipples one at a time & gave each one & the threads of their respective spokes a good wetting with some Tenacious Oil.
The wheel was rebuilt right to left, bringing the drive side up to within ~60% of its target tension while leaving the non-drive side loose. Then, using the loaded drive side spokes, I checked for radial trueness, and made the few necessary small adjustments.
Next step was to bring the non-drive under tension which brought the drive side leftwards towards center & within the dish zone. This step also gave the benefit of further loading the drive side spokes with additional tension.
Finishing steps included dialing the rim in for dead on dish smack dab in the middle of the lock nuts. And finally, adjustments for radial trueness.
The results? A round wheel within 0.55 mm of true & lateral straightness within 0.25 mm
Drive side is ~110 kgf tension while the non-drive is ~65 kgf. All spokes are dialed in to within + - 10% values for their respective side.
And the kicker? Besides the fact that I almost paid the LBS to do this job? I did it by using a chair with a pair of straps as a make shift bike stand. The frame as a trueing stand along with feeler gauges & zip ties as indicators. And three soup cans as a dishing tool! Oh yea... an iPhone app for a tension meter.
Went through the hub last week. Cleaned, greased & new bearings. Left a hint of play in the adjustment that gets taken up when the QR is closed. Spinning them by hand, I can read a very slight bit of “roughness.” But spinning them mounted to the frame, they still go long & come to a slow rocking stop, valve hole always on top. I think that’s smooth enough for my needs.
As far as the spokes & rim goes, the wheel was fairly straight & round to begin with, but tensions were all over the place & extremely high in some areas. I decided to completely loosen the wheel. Once everything was totally slack, I removed nipples one at a time & gave each one & the threads of their respective spokes a good wetting with some Tenacious Oil.
The wheel was rebuilt right to left, bringing the drive side up to within ~60% of its target tension while leaving the non-drive side loose. Then, using the loaded drive side spokes, I checked for radial trueness, and made the few necessary small adjustments.
Next step was to bring the non-drive under tension which brought the drive side leftwards towards center & within the dish zone. This step also gave the benefit of further loading the drive side spokes with additional tension.
Finishing steps included dialing the rim in for dead on dish smack dab in the middle of the lock nuts. And finally, adjustments for radial trueness.
The results? A round wheel within 0.55 mm of true & lateral straightness within 0.25 mm
Drive side is ~110 kgf tension while the non-drive is ~65 kgf. All spokes are dialed in to within + - 10% values for their respective side.
And the kicker? Besides the fact that I almost paid the LBS to do this job? I did it by using a chair with a pair of straps as a make shift bike stand. The frame as a trueing stand along with feeler gauges & zip ties as indicators. And three soup cans as a dishing tool! Oh yea... an iPhone app for a tension meter.
Last edited by deux jambes; 08-28-19 at 08:59 PM.
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Central Virginia
Posts: 4,789
Bikes: Numerous
Mentioned: 150 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1678 Post(s)
Liked 3,118 Times
in
919 Posts
Nicely done. The feeling will come back every time you ride those wheels too!
I have have two wheel set builds under my belt now. I rode my Cinelli with my first built set a couple of days ago - still look good, ride nicely and perfectly true after a few hundred miles. Yup, feels good.
I have have two wheel set builds under my belt now. I rode my Cinelli with my first built set a couple of days ago - still look good, ride nicely and perfectly true after a few hundred miles. Yup, feels good.
__________________
N = '96 Colnago C40, '04 Wilier Alpe D'Huez, '10 Colnago EPS, '85 Merckx Pro, '89 Merckx Century, '86 Tommasini Professional, '04 Teschner Aero FX Pro, '05 Alan Carbon Cross, '86 De Rosa Professional, '82 Colnago Super, '95 Gios Compact Pro, '95 Carrera Zeus, '84 Basso Gap, ‘89 Cinelli Supercorsa, ‘83 Bianchi Specialissima, ‘VO Randonneur, Ritchey Breakaway Steel, '84 Paletti Super Prestige, Heron Randonneur
N = '96 Colnago C40, '04 Wilier Alpe D'Huez, '10 Colnago EPS, '85 Merckx Pro, '89 Merckx Century, '86 Tommasini Professional, '04 Teschner Aero FX Pro, '05 Alan Carbon Cross, '86 De Rosa Professional, '82 Colnago Super, '95 Gios Compact Pro, '95 Carrera Zeus, '84 Basso Gap, ‘89 Cinelli Supercorsa, ‘83 Bianchi Specialissima, ‘VO Randonneur, Ritchey Breakaway Steel, '84 Paletti Super Prestige, Heron Randonneur
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 2,321
Mentioned: 35 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 767 Post(s)
Liked 1,898 Times
in
889 Posts
Even though I don't look forward to the job when the time comes, I must admit that you are right. The feeling is very gratifying, perhaps even more so when one makes good use of improvised tools (or canned goods).
I'm stealing that idea.
I'm stealing that idea.
#4
Death fork? Naaaah!!
Did you pull all the spokes from the hub?
Top
Top
__________________
You know it's going to be a good day when the stem and seatpost come right out.
(looking for a picture and not seeing it? Thank the Photobucket fiasco.PM me and I'll link it up.)
You know it's going to be a good day when the stem and seatpost come right out.
(looking for a picture and not seeing it? Thank the Photobucket fiasco.PM me and I'll link it up.)
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Eugene, OR
Posts: 1,326
Mentioned: 64 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 535 Post(s)
Liked 346 Times
in
196 Posts
— — —
Ha! The cans worked great. I found the idea here in the forums while searching out the subject of dishing. Found a great thread on DIY dishing tools. Another reason BF & it’s members are indispensable!
Last edited by deux jambes; 08-28-19 at 10:32 PM.
#7
Master Parts Rearranger
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Portlandia's Kuiper Belt, OR
Posts: 4,405
Bikes: 1982 Trek 720 - 1985 Trek 620 - 1984 Trek 620 - 1980 Trek 510 - Other luminaries past and present
Mentioned: 221 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1557 Post(s)
Liked 2,029 Times
in
989 Posts
Well done! Especially with home-available makeshift implements. A win is a win! I just got done building a wheelset from scratch, solo. First time solo, which was met with a bit of trepidation. Having done another set with a good friend (and having him on speed dial essentially, if needed), I had confidence. The wheels built up beautifully, and I'm more of an assembler and tuner as opposed to wheel-builder etc.
#8
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Eugene, OR
Posts: 1,326
Mentioned: 64 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 535 Post(s)
Liked 346 Times
in
196 Posts
Well done! Especially with home-available makeshift implements. A win is a win! I just got done building a wheelset from scratch, solo. First time solo, which was met with a bit of trepidation. Having done another set with a good friend (and having him on speed dial essentially, if needed), I had confidence. The wheels built up beautifully, and I'm more of an assembler and tuner as opposed to wheel-builder etc.
I gotta say, despite all the hesitation to to take the job on, once in, it was actually quite fun, and one hell of a learning experience too!
Likes For deux jambes:
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada - burrrrr!
Posts: 11,677
Bikes: 1958 Rabeneick 120D, 1968 Legnano Gran Premio, 196? Torpado Professional, 2000 Marinoni Piuma
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1372 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,755 Times
in
941 Posts
I really like to build wheels while I catch a flick on the TV. It does take time to learn about what to do and then how to do it.
For those of you who have tried, good for you.
For those who have tried and succeeded, great for you.
And for those who have tried, succeeded and then ridden a dependable wheel set - well done, you are now a wheel builder who others will revere with a small degree of envy and respect.
Not sure how many kilometers on my last wheel set but I do know that the wheels, after three or four thousand kilometers were in no need of truing until a spoke went "ping" on the rear wheel. Took a couple of minutes to road true the wheel and then rode the bike home gingerly. After a week or two of ginger riding, my confidence in my 35 spoke rear wheel grew and, before long, I was once again zooming on the lonely roads of Jamaica...
For those of you who have tried, good for you.
For those who have tried and succeeded, great for you.
And for those who have tried, succeeded and then ridden a dependable wheel set - well done, you are now a wheel builder who others will revere with a small degree of envy and respect.
Not sure how many kilometers on my last wheel set but I do know that the wheels, after three or four thousand kilometers were in no need of truing until a spoke went "ping" on the rear wheel. Took a couple of minutes to road true the wheel and then rode the bike home gingerly. After a week or two of ginger riding, my confidence in my 35 spoke rear wheel grew and, before long, I was once again zooming on the lonely roads of Jamaica...
__________________
"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
#10
smelling the roses
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Tixkokob, Yucatán, México
Posts: 15,320
Bikes: 79 Trek 930, 80 Trek 414, 84 Schwinn Letour Luxe (coupled), 92 Schwinn Paramount PDG 5
Mentioned: 104 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7081 Post(s)
Liked 901 Times
in
612 Posts
This. I finally got around to measuring for two wheelsets, yesterday. I'd been procrastinating for a good six months.
#11
Semper Fi
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 12,943
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1173 Post(s)
Liked 358 Times
in
241 Posts
You'll never forget the first time.........
Bill
Bill
__________________
Semper Fi, USMC, 1975-1977
I Can Do All Things Through Him, Who Gives Me Strength. Philippians 4:13
Semper Fi, USMC, 1975-1977
I Can Do All Things Through Him, Who Gives Me Strength. Philippians 4:13
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
bobotech
Bicycle Mechanics
17
04-21-12 09:09 AM
secretagent
Bicycle Mechanics
12
08-20-11 12:11 PM