Originally Posted by
ThermionicScott
I build my own wheels because I enjoy building wheels.
I tend to want combinations of parts that aren't available in off-the-shelf wheels, but that's secondary because I could always have custom wheels built by someone else.
And I don't save any money at it, quite the opposite!
That's what I was afraid of
It's okay though. I still want to learn to build wheels. It's just a little disappointing that it's not even cheaper if I already have the rims. Even if I just have to buy smokes and hubs, it's still cheaper to have them built by someone else.
I'm guessing the real savings would come if you were building very high-end wheel sets that were generally handmade and the labor costs were very high. In that case, doing the labor yourself would save you a significant amount of money. I'm guessing the labor costs are fairly low with something like a weinmann race to a formula.