fooferdoggie 

even my utility wheels with dt Swiss e bike hub and 50.00 each rims and triple butted sapim spokes built locally were about 680.00 built by a master wheel smith.

SoSmellyAir

I know nothing about wheel building but I suspect it must be like assembling one's own PC -- you do it for a specific combination of components which is not commercially available rather than to minimize costs.

squirtdad

I have done a few, but more for just being part of knowing the whole bike experience, I am not very good at it, but might try another go soon

there is also a lot of hard learned knowledge, I just ordered a wheel set with white industries T11 hubs, which have different flange sizes on the rear hub, so it will be laces 3 cross on the driver side and 2 cross, without actually having a spoke cross under another spoke. the builder I ordered from does it this way because over time they found this avoided spoke breakage

bbbean 

You're entering a market full of skilled competitors. That doesn't mean you can't succeed, but you're relying offering generic descriptions and no reputation to compete with existing vendors sporting years of experience, positive reputations and specific offerings.

How many wheelsets have you built? Who is riding your wheels? Where can I see your handiwork? How are you different or better than existing vendors?

WizardOfBoz

Yes. Form an LLC before you sell anything. You'll want a couple million of insurance. If you don't do this, and someone has an accident, they can go after personal property. An LLC (or incorporating) shields your personal assets to some extent.

ThermionicScott 

And then, once you've demonstrated to yourself that you can do it, it becomes a point of pride not to just buy them off the shelf.

ClydeClydeson

On a related note, I am starting a dental practice. Do youse gots Toof prollems? Call me!

I have never done it b4 but how hard cn it b?

Andrew R Stewart 

Like the TV ad goes... "are you a doctor? "No, but I've watched a lot of medical dramas".

This might be a tad harsh on the OP but many here have had their own dreams, and some have actually gone so far as to start their own businesses with insurance/sales tax IDs and other permits and such (including employee requirements like withholdings and unemployment taxes) and know the reality of overheads VS income. Of pride VS consumer opinions and of there being someone else that will do the same job for less. I strongly suggest the OP seek out local small business admin or other start up advice from those with more broad ranging experience and the skills to instruct/teach what's needed to run a business. And try to find an investor so it's not your own $ at risk Andy

SoSmellyAir

But I cannot resist the siren song of low spoke count; is there even a front hub to lace a wheel using only 18 straight pull spokes like Mavic can?

ClydeClydeson

Many moons ago, in the basement of the engineering building of a university, me and my buddy converted the 36 spoke wheels on his cheap 10 speed into 18 spoke wheels using only a set of wire cutters. I don't think we cut spokes out with any pattern or strategy in mind, and the movement of the rims were only vaguely connected to movement of the hubs when we were done. Results were predictably hilarious - test rides up and down the hallway showed it was impossible to keep the bike moving in a straight line.. IIRC, alcohol was NOT involved, weirdly.

sweeks

This may be true, but there is great satisfaction (at least for me) in building the wheels you ride on. This is more than enough compensation for the price difference!

sweeks

Heh... there is the little matter of a license!

danallen

#cyccommute, since starting this thread I learned exactly what you said about wheels.

For building a whole bike, i really don't have first hand information. There is a youtube guy whose channel is devoted to showing what he has found by building bikes, starting with bargain, high quality carbon fiber frames. He says this route rewarded him with a bike that would cost about twice the amount he had to shell out. In his case, he says his $1,500 plus his time produced a bicycle that would cost $3,000.

For wheels, i finally found a wheel maker i get get my mind around, Bicycle Wheel Warehouse

danallen

@cyccommute @wgscott
The pride of riding on what I build figures high in my Book of Value

TiHabanero

For decades I worked in a multi-store chain. At one time it was a matter of bragging rights how well a wrench could build wheels. Durability, perfect roundness, and a customer that was happy and sending in more people for a build were part of the reward. In the past 15 years I discovered increased repair business as a manager and as a wrench and sought out wheel building services as it takes too much time.
An old friend of mine stepped up to the plate. He and I worked together in the late eighties-early nineties. He left the industry to make money, but was into vintage bikes and continued building wheels. The cat is as OCD as they come. Very picky and detailed oriented. He also builds seriously pro level wheels. I started farming out my wheels to him. I provided the parts and labor. All he asked for was 60 bucks a wheel which included manually measuring and calculating spoke length. He also guaranteed the wheels from build defects for 2 years. I provided all parts needed, spokes to his spec. He built the wheels.
Best decision as a wrench I ever made was to have him do all wheel builds. He didn't get rich, more of a side job for him as a single shop does not build a ton of wheels. Between all the stores only my shop outsourced.
I strongly suggest coming up with a real business plan, one that includes providing labor for shops as i outlined above. I promise you will not make enough to live on, but it could produce a fun little side income. When you get really good at turning out consistent quality at a quick rate, then consider building wheels for a wheel company and learn the biz from a corporate side. After a year or two with that, give thought to going out on your own. By this time you may have earned a rising reputation and get noticed.

Dan Burkhart 

This is kind of what I do. My primary customers are bike shops (three of them) one of which directs a lot of customers directly to me. My largest client has their own branded line of bikes and wheels, and I build a few hundred a year for them. They supply the parts, I put em together.
Also, a lot of what they send me are repairs, like replace a broken spoke or just a true and tension.
It has taken a while to get a reputation, but it is steadily increasing by word of mouth to the point where I am as busy as I want to be. It's a retirement gig for me, and provides a nice supplement to my pension, but no way I could support a family or send kids through college on what I make.
For the OP, pre built wheels will never be a money maker. I do keep a small supply of pre builts hanging in my shop, as much for show as anything, and occasionally, I will find a buyer, but custom builds is what customers come to a wheel builder for. They can buy pre builts on line for less than the cost of your parts, even if you have wholesale accounts.
I do keep a stock of rims that are commonly in demand, and a few hubs, but I have a large inventory of spokes and a pro grade spoke cutter/threader that is essential to what I do.
A business license and insurance are a must.

HillRider

TiHabanero and Dan Burkhart are the prototype of individual wheel builders who can make it work. They get all of their parts (hubs, spokes, rims) at no cost from bike shops that buy them at wholesale and provide only the skilled labor.

I have a pair of good quality hubs (105 and Ultegra) in excellent condition that were liberated from otherwise trashed wheels. I looked into building these into a wheel set but the retail cost of decent rims and spokes alone exceeded what I could buy good quality complete wheels for.

Dan Burkhart 

I will often get customers in exactly that position. A hub or hub set from a trashed set of wheels that they want rebuilt with new rims and spokes. Or, sometimes the rims are salvageable, but they need a rebuild with new spokes because of repeated spoke breakage. In those cases, I make markup on spokes and sometimes rims, plus the labour.

ign1te

Where exactly do you buy your parts from? Here in EU prices are more reasonable. Even if you want DT swiss alpine 3 spokes, you can buy them as a consumer for 0.5 E / piece. Combine that with nipples at 0.1 E / piece and good rim for 30 E. For a 36 H wheel thats about 110 E for a full set.
There is no way that would exceed the price of machine built wheels at ultegra/105 level, if you already have hubs to work from.