Wheel building

[MontyVeda]

...until I bought a tension gauge I used to take them up to somewhere in the right ball park and then call my wife "Dear? Can you tell me whether this on the A above middle C" - ... she'd call out "sharp" "flat" as the case may be. Interestingly when I bought a tension gauge I checked some of those older wheels... and didnt feel the need to go round tightening or loosening any of them.

would a cheap chromatic guitar tuner help? some of them sense vibrations when clipped on, others audibly listen through a tiny mic. If they're good enough for a guitar, won't they be good enough for a wheel?

 

[lulubel]

nice post... I'm toying with the idea of building a set of wheels too, although my attempts at simply straightening a wheel to date would only work in my favour if i wanted a job in the Pringle's factory!

That doesn't mean you'd have problems building one from new components that are straight to start with. From what I've learned so far, you're much more likely to build a good wheel with new, good quality components than by re-using components or trying to fix a wheel.

In any case, I've only managed to build the front wheel so far. I tried to finish the rear one yesterday, and it's going spectacularly wrong at the moment - think Pringle! I've come to the conclusion I've either not oiled the spokes/rim holes well enough or got the spokes too tight before I started truing, or both. I was getting spoke twist when I should have been tightening, and the wheel was going all over the place. I've taken it apart to start again, and hopefully learn from the experience!

However.... if you want to check and have an ear for it this article is interesting.

I wish. I failed my piano exams several times, despite being able to play beautifully, because I couldn't "hear" a note. Apparently, being able to read music is not good enough!

I'm hovering over the buy button on a tension meter because I think it's probably a very useful tool.

 

[PpPete]

would a cheap chromatic guitar tuner help? some of them sense vibrations when clipped on, others audibly listen through a tiny mic. If they're good enough for a guitar, won't they be good enough for a wheel?

Honestly you won't need anything as sophisticated as that !
if you can get all the front spokes and rear drive side within a semitone of each other it will be fine.

 

[PpPete]

That doesn't mean you'd have problems building one from new components that are straight to start with. From what I've learned so far, you're much more likely to build a good wheel with new, good quality components than by re-using components or trying to fix a wheel.

Very true !

I'm hovering over the buy button on a tension meter because I think it's probably a very useful tool.

I'd be the last person to say they are a necessity...but I did buy one when I was in the USA last year (lot cheaper over there for some reason), but can't emphasise enough that I built a number of good wheels without one.

If you do get one, one hint I did pick up from these videos is to start using it as soon as you have taken up the slack in the spokes (long before they are tight enough to get a note out of them). If you make sure you start with even tensions at that point (plus or minus 1 mark on the Park TM-1 gauge) , then with a good quality rim like you have, then an equal number of turns will get you very close to true. You may need an extra turn on all the spokes on one side or the other to get the dish of the rear wheel correct, but it will give you a good starting point.

 

[lulubel]

If you do get one, one hint I did pick up from these videos is to start using it as soon as you have taken up the slack in the spokes (long before they are tight enough to get a note out of them). If you make sure you start with even tensions at that point (plus or minus 1 mark on the Park TM-1 gauge) , then with a good quality rim like you have, then an equal number of turns will get you very close to true. You may need an extra turn on all the spokes on one side or the other to get the dish of the rear wheel correct, but it will give you a good starting point.

I only hovered over the button long enough to check there was room for it on my credit card!

I'll hold off re-building the rear wheel until it comes, so I can use it from early on. It will also be good to see how close the tensions are on the front wheel I've already built, and whether I do need to tighten it or not.

 

[Davidc]

I used to build my own, and from reading this it sounds as if you've done a good job lulubel. I haven't bothered for some years but may do so again.

I had more confidence in my own home built wheels than I've ever had in bought ready made ones. Every broken spoke and distorted wheel I've had has been on a bought one, never on my own despite the home made ones having done more miles with more load. You'll probably find the same.

The Sheldon Brown website shows a crank being used for stress relief. I was shown the same principle but using a metal tyre lever, and it always worked (Halfords still sell metal tyre levers quite cheaply). It would certainly save your hands.

You may have inspired me to see if I can get a couple of old forks to use to build a new wheel stand!

 

[andrew_s]

With PpPete about the relieving - put wheel on ground, and press real hard on either side of the hub and roate round the wheel. Repeat other side.

This isn't stress relieving - it's releasing spoke wind up.
Pushing down on the rim makes the spokes on the under side go slack, and if there's any twist in the spokes, they will untwist. If you don't untwist the spokes properly, it will happen when you ride on the wheel, giving pinging noises.

Stress relieving is either squeezing handfuls of spokes very hard, or shoving an old crank/tyre lever/screwdriver handle into the spoke crossing. It gives the spoke elbows a "set" so they are less likely to break.

You should really do both.