Wheelbuilding

[SadieKate]

Just had to share my fun and games this week. I built a set of wheels! Ok, some of you have done this already but I hadn't.

The background: Bubba bought a singlespeed mtb last winter and wanted 700c wheels that he could put slicks on for our nighttime training rides here around campus. I gave him a pair of spiffy red Velocity VXC disk-specific rims for Valentine's. They're red, right? What was he expecting? Lingerie?

I had been saying I wanted to try building wheels so he made a deal with one of the employees at our LBS who managed the production shop for Wheelsmith and had been lusting after a pair of NOS polished Campy Record brake levers we had in our stockpile o' parts. Levers for a teaching session.

Thursday which also happened to be Bubba's birthday I had my first lesson. Unfortunately, there are no photos of the early stages but suffice it to say that I made a couple of the other LBS employees mad because I laced my first wheel three cross with all 32 spokes in the hub from the beginning - no sectioning for me! Piece of cake for someone who uses 5 needles to knit socks.

We got the laced wheel in the stand and I learned about tensioning, dishing, hops and true-ing (how do you spell the word true-ing?).





Wheel No. 1 - finished! Nothing like lacing your first wheel on a painted red rim.



I took the front wheel home and laced it the next day day - three cross on the brake side and radial on the other. Took it back to the shop where John helped me once dish, tension and true. I managed more of it this time before John put the finishing touches to the wheel.

Voila! Ain't they purdy?







John says they have an extra trueing (sp? ) stand I can take home to practice with. I can use an old wheel to untension (in his words, ruin) and re-tension.

[roguedog]

Very nice SK. Nice looking on the bike too. I like that touch of color to spice it up without it being overdone.

New career in your future??

[Veronica]

Very cool! The bike looks great too!

V.

[SadieKate]

New career in your future??

Will work for bike parts?

[snapdragen]

Will work for bike parts?

Or chocolate?

tres cool sk - tres cool!

[Bikingmomof3]

Well done SK! Great pictures and I do like the splash of colour on the wheels.

[Trekhawk]

Clever Girl!!

Oooh the bike looks fab.

[DebW]

Congrats on the wheels! What did you use to lube the spoke threads?

[SadieKate]

Wheelsmith spoke prep on the threads and Tri flow on the eyelets after it was laced.

[jobob]

Looks stunning in real life too. Waay impressive indeed!

[DebW]

Is that a 36 inch crescent wrench in the upper right corner of the first 2 pics? I'm impressed! What do they use it on?

[aka_kim]

New career in your future??

Hey, I need a new set of wheels, when do you open for business?

Good job, SK. So wheelbuilding is easier than knitting? Akin to knitting?

[SadieKate]

Deb, haven't a clue. This shop has been around for a while and through a few owners. The current owner and all of the employees except John are in their 20s, so my husband (who is 58) is frequently used as the museum curator. Something will be unearthed from the bowels of the shop and he'll be asked what it is. The last thing was some Torquemada-like device that was for replacing the springs in old sprung saddles.

[SadieKate]

Hey, I need a new set of wheels, when do you open for business?

Good job, SK. So wheelbuilding is easier than knitting? Akin to knitting?

Thank you, ma'am. I was truly amazed at how fast and easy it is to lace the spokes. Even dishing was pretty fast. But getting them true and removing hops is an art. I have a long, long way to go.

I have a couple of pairs that I want to rebuild with lighter spokes and John said he'd spec the parts and spoke design. I'd lace and get them started and he'd do the QA and final touches.

[DebW]

Something will be unearthed from the bowels of the shop and he'll be asked what it is. The last thing was some Torquemada-like device that was for replacing the springs in old sprung saddles.

An old tool from my shop days in the 70s that I would LOVE to find again is a wooden cotter pin puller. It had 2 foot long lever arms and a screw-adjusted jaw width. Wasn't a cotter pin that thing couldn't pull. It was given to us by our Motobecane salesman Jean-Jacques. Not sure if it was ever widely available. Keep your eyes out for that, SK.