Buy wheels or Build wheels?

[mudmucker]

Kathi - Lots of great dialog and perspectives with your TE postings and on Serotta. I'm leaning towards custom now as opposed to just outright buying. I still really need to get out there and become familiar with rims and hubs and such as I'm starting from zero.

And thank you Mimi and Roadfix.

But then, the tech-y curious side of me is still interested in building my own. Which leads me to DebW:

If you're close to Wayland, MA I'd be willing to help you out.

This is very generous of you. I might take you up on that. Again, I want to get familiar with stuff, get some questions and answers in order. As for products, I need to discern what is "good", what is "suitable". I don't live close to anything but I've resigned myself to that notion. I commute to Lowell everyday for work (at least I get in under an hour at 50 min) - so travelling is not an issue since I usually have to do that for anywhere I want to go. I bought and downloaded the wheelbuilding book you recommended. GREAT book. Very clear and well written. Even if I don't build my own wheels it is a great read in terms of understanding this part of the bike and for maintenance.

[DebW]

Broadway Bicycle School in Cambridge has wheelbuilding classes. 4 classes, 2 hours each. Prior truing experience is necessary. Nothing on their schedule now, but something to keep in mind.

mudmucker, I've got two sets of wheels to build this spring. An opportunity for a lesson if you want to spend a couple hours with me while I'm building, and try some wheelbuilding tools.

[indysteel]

Mudmucker, I'm the OP of the thread that you included in your initial question. I can't help you with the wheelbuilding; that was beyond my aspirations but hat's off to you for giving it a try if you go that route. I would be a great skill to have, although I will tell you that the price my builder charged for building the wheels was really, really minor. It's the components that will set you back.

Like Kathi, I was interested in having wheels built specifically for my size (115 pounds). I was looking for a good all-around wheel rather than a climbing wheel, but I assume that you'd like your wheels to be stiff but very light weight. A good wheelsmith will be able recommend some builds for you. Depending on your price range, you will likely have any number of options. You might check out the website www.weightweenies.com or www.roadbikereview.com for some suggested builds.

I preferred having my wheels built by a dedicated wheelsmith rather than at an LBS. I decided on Ligero Wheelworks because I'd read so many positive posts about the company and the builder--Troy Watson--on various cycling forums. There were a handful of other names that came up a lot--Eric Ergott comes to mind--too. I was pleased with Troy's services. I have not, however, tested the wheels out yet because the weather has been awful since I got them. My LBS was impressed with them though.

Here's a link to Troy's website: http://www.ligerowheels.com/

Good luck!

Kate

[mudmucker]

Well, it’s been close to a year since my initial post. Some people had PM’d a while back asking what if anything became of this. I said I went the route of wheelbuilding, it was in progress, and that I’d post pictures when I was done. The front wheel is built. One down, one to go.

See this link for more detailed pictures and narrative. http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562286905oyplvC

Remember to scroll down under the picture if you want to read more.

This whole thing was really fun, especially since I was clueless as of last year’s first post. I did a lot of homework and it took a long time for me to decide which rims and hubs I wanted, naturally dictated by what kind of biking I did and cost. But that was part of the fun. I settled on Velocity Aerohead rims and White Industry H1 hubs with Wheelsmith double butted 2.0/1.7 spokes. I went on a couple of wheelbuilder sites and this combination as I found out halfway through my decision, is a pretty common build. I am using Veloplugs instead of rim tape based on some conversations within links of this thread. I let the project rest through the summer and didn’t order parts until November. I ended up building a homemade truing stand and dish stick (see web link photos) based on Roger Mussen’s Wheelbuilding book. The set up with building a homemade truing stand was intentionally part of the journey and half the fun. To try and come up with homemade tools that will do a sufficient job at zero dollars, and use things I already had. The fun part also was that I didn’t know how that part would play out and I just went along with it as it happened.

My friends, biking and non-biking, were enthusiastic and so that was fun too. Several of the non-biking friends didn’t understand what I was doing so I just said that I was re-creating the wheel.

I used Roger M’s and Sheldon’s guides for lacing and truing and dishing, etc. None of that was very difficult. The most important things is to pay attention to what you are doing when you are doing it. I stayed with a traditional cross pattern for my first wheel and kept away from radial spoking or bladed spokes. The 2x pattern is fine as I am not a heavy person. I was able to get lateral truing to 0.25 mm due to an insanely accurate Starrett dial gauge that I borrowed from a friend. That gauge wasn't necessary but I was just curious. I got dish to within 1 mm and radial truing to less than 1 mm, all acceptable tolerances. This is shown all on the weblink. I did invest in a tensionmeter which was essential for me at least, to get the spokes to the proper tension and evenly. I can’t play the harp on spokes like some of these guys can.

Someone mentioned that the cost of the components basically comprised the cost of the wheel. That’s true. For not much more, I could’ve let a wheelbuilder finish the job but that wasn’t the point.

Right now they might look good, but I'm very interested if they will hold true after the first 200 miles. That will be the real test of a well-built wheel.

The next thing I want to do is get a new frameset and build a bike up with the components I want.

I'm not sure how to place text between the photos so I'll list here:

1. initial construction of homemade truing stand
2. truing stand painted and with old wheel
3. wheel parts
4. the leading spokes are in
5. bringing the wheel up to tension

[DebW]

Wonderful job!! Glad you had fun building, too. You really went all out, reading, learning, building a jig, calibrating tolerances. Now you'll enjoy your wheels in a new way, knowing that they are strong and light and build to your specs and built by you.

[indysteel]

Wow, that's really cool. I'm so impressed. I'm a big believer in handbuilts--especially for female riders because a lot of factory wheelsets are more wheel than we often need.

I hope you like the wheels. Minus the spokes, that's the build that I have, inlcuding the Veloplugs.

[Melalvai]

I loved building a wheel and I'm really proud of it. My bike though got pretty snooty because SHE has a hand-built wheel, and everyone else in the bike shelter at work is inferior.

I told my husband "It was fun, and pretty easy!" and he replied, "So easy a caveman could do it?" In fact, I got a lot of caveman-type jokes when I boasted "I built a wheel!"