Buy wheels or Build wheels?

[RoadRaven]

Well, have shown this impressive feat to the lads in the house and we are all well impressed.
In our opinion building a good wheel is much more difficult than building the frame.
Thank you for all the pix, the photos of the true-ing stand have sparked a desire in the house to build some of our own wheels.
Well done you

[mudmucker]

Thanks you guys.

I've wanted to build a bike, and as I said before now I want to find a frame and build it. But smilingcat, you are partial inspiration. Those bikes you built last year are the cat's meow. Pun intended.

My mother always used to use that saying.

[Popoki_Nui]

GREAT job! That is really impressive.

[mudmucker]

Well, after all this time, I finally built the rear wheel of my wheelbuild and finished up the final truing this morning. I had finished the front one in Feb.

Wheeeee !! So today I took them out on their maiden voyage. I half expected to be crumpled by the roadside about 3 miles from the house. No, just kidding. There were enough checks and balances. Just some pinging in the first half mile or so, and up the first hill when I stood on the pedals. Still some serious frost heaves around.

Wheeee ! I LOVE THEM. My test ride was short, about 15 miles. They're beautiful and rode nice. They came out better than I ever thought they could. I am so happy and excited that they came out as well as they did, especially for my first build. Will check them in 100 miles or so.

The front one weighed in at 685 g and the rear one at 860 g. Post #10 has a link to all the pictures.

Photo1 = the happy couple
Photo2 = old wheels, 105 hubs, Mavic Open Sport rims
Photo 3 = new wheels, H1 White Industry hubs, Velocity Aerohead front and Aerohead OC rear.

Guess this thread is done.

[DebW]

I'm happy for you and your new wheels.

[jobob]

Guess this thread is done.

Except for the congratulations. Very, very nicely done.

[DebW]

I learned that a professional mechanic should be able to build a wheel in an hour. That's my next goal, getting my wheelbuild time down from 2 hours to 1 hour. The world record for wheelbuilding is held by a woman from Seattle: 8 minutes.

[ridebikeme]

Congradualtions on your new wheels!

Deb, pretty intersting about the world record for wheel building... does that mean that wheel was round and true? Definitely hard to believe, but an accomplishment in itself. Like you, I have been building wheels for many years, and in reality just finished one about 15 minutes ago. Depending on the brand of rim, ( they definitely vary) it normally takes me between 45-60 minutes, Although I have to admit that I've also spent 90 minutes HA!

Thanks for the info!