mickey85

With a Sun M13 rim, brass nipples, and a Sachs Duomatic hub. Oh, and plenty of liquid courage. The plan for tonight is to get it laced. Truing, tensioning, and the like is going to happen tomorrow, I think.

RubberLegs

Good luck....will be watching, something I have yet to tackle, a complete relace....partials I have done....but NOT from scratch.

rootboy 

Good luck and have fun.
This site helped me immensely.
https://miketechinfo.com/new-tech-wheels-tires.htm

Shimagnolo

I *always* split the lacing and truing across separate days.
Doing it all in one day is too much like work.

well biked

Have fun with it. To me, wheelbuilding is the most enjoyable aspect of bicycle mechanics.

Bill Kapaun

Just use small steps when you start to increase the tension.
Overshooting and then trying to back off doesn't seem to work as well.

mickey85

Well, the lacing was easy...now for the scary part...

dbakl

Seat the spoke heads at the hub. Get it loosely centered then get it round. Bring it up to tension and true.

puchfinnland

I was taught to take up the spokes until the threads disappear in the nipples exactly,

then you could take them up with screwdriver until the driver pops out,
the key is to take them up evenly first, odds are you get pretty close on first shot,
but a rear wheel has dish to deal with,
you will get it

tmh657

It looks like a wheel to me. Remember dish and spoke tension and just go s...l...o...w.

I have built 8 or 9 wheels, usually about 6-8 months between efforts. I always go back to these videos for a refresher.
https://www.ehow.com/video_2363029_to...cle-wheel.html

It's very satisfying to roll on wheels you built yourself. Best of luck.

jeirvine 

Good advice. As long as you are using a matching set of spokes, then the threads are the key to an even start for tensioning. Also, on the first half dozen wheels I laced, I always forgot to lace at least one spoke under on the third cross.

mickey85

It's a rear wheel, but it's a singlespeed, so there's no difference in dish, so no biggie there. I also went with straight gauge spokes, so chances are, there isn't much wrap when tensioning. Looks like I've got it pretty square, but there's one significant wobble. Going to have to straighten that, then continue with tensioning. I started the wheel screwing the nipples to hide the threads, but the problem with that seems to be that the shop didn't even out the thread count - some were stiffly screwed on, others were loose enough to screw by hand, while I tried to tension it by one turn per spoke.

jimmuller 

First wheel I ever built was oh so satisfying. I then commuted 1000 miles on it, and it is still going strong. Oh so satisfying!

Enjoy the process.

zandoval 

Bravo - No longer a wheel cherry...

frantik

The hub, or the drink?

Italuminium

Now that's a great prospect for the winter's eve, i like your style micky!

Wulf

I think I saw the label on the rim located wrong. The label covers the seam and is directly opposite the valve stem hole and the spokes 'should' be laced so that the spokes on either side of the seam are pulling towards each other and the spokes on either side of the stem are pulling away from each other. This serves two issues. 1. more clearance to filling the tire and more strength at the seam.

mickey85

the spokes on either side of the stem are trailing. I used the wheel in the background as a. model, and followed sheldons instructions. I'm a visual kinesthetic learner, so it was really handy to have a model.

puchfinnland

That's a sweet hub, I got three of em, and one in commission, it's so nice not to have cables,
It's on my adopted grocery getter, a early 70's bike, this Mac won't let me copy paste, but snag the pic of my flying arrow from that thread.

John E

That works w/ 36 spokes, but w/ 32 spokes, splaying at the stem also causes splaying at the seam.

MrEss

+1 on the above advice to read Sheldon's and Mike T's pages on wheelbuilding.

The bit that I wish was more explicit in those great tutorials: Don't wait until the wheel has tension to "tune" the spokes!

After the wheel firms up but before you start tensioning it, give it an initial "tuning" -- get all the spokes on each side of the wheel to sound the same as each other. It'll just be a dull thunk at this stage. This gives you confidence that the tensions you are starting with are equal, even if the thread lengths on your spokes were not precisely equal.

Now, start the tensioning loop:

* Bring the whole wheel up an incremental amount (I usually go 1/2 turn)
* Stress-relieve the spokes again
* True the wheel again at the new tension.
** If you can true by tightening (a) "flat" sounding spoke(s) or by loosening (a) "sharp" sounding spoke(s), do it. Otherwise, tighten on one side and loosen on the other, together. This keeps the tension more even on each side; it keeps the wheel in "tune".
* Check the "tuning" to ensure you didn't make some gross error.
* Repeat this loop until the spoke tension is sufficient.

jimmuller 

+1

A 36-spoke wheel has 9 groups of 4, a 32-spoke wheel only 8 groups of 4. With 8 groups, an even number, the pattern will be the same on opposites sides of the wheel, with 9 the pattern will be different on opposite sides.

All that being said...
I've often wondered whether it makes much difference how the wheel is laced at the seam (i.e. at the label). I've never seen a wheel come apart, not that I've seen all that many wheels. But the divergent spacing at the valve stem has been described to me as important for how easy it is to get a pump head on the valve. Then again, I've seen factory wheels be strung wrong, and one can get a pump head on the valve regardless fo the spokes, so maybe that isn't so critical either.

And all that being said, I'm curious how all of you do 32-spoke wheels. Divergent or convergent spokes at that valve and seam? What was the industry concensus when 32-spoke wheels came into general use (in the 80's, right)?

I don't recall Sheldon's nice article describing 32 as being different from 36.

Comments, anyone?

jyl

I diverge at the valve with all hole counts.

sailorbenjamin

I always forget to lube the threads before I start. Don't forget to lube the threads.

noglider 

I put a rubber band around the hub shell. That makes some people scratch their heads and ask how I got it in there.