Harris Cyclery wheelbuilding

On May 6, 10:46 am, landotter wrote:...
if you need a very normal
combination of rim/spoke/hub--it's more economical and fun to just get
a wheelinabox and tune them using Sheldon Brown's instructions--takes
all of fifteen minutes, and they'll be as durable as something hand
built.

Can you give a pointer to SB's instructions for tuning a new generic
wheel? (aka wheelinabox). I looked on his site and only saw very
lengthy and detailed wheelbuilding instructions. I have no idea which
portion to concentrate on. I'm curious because I recently purchased
that type of wheel and am interested in giving it a once-over before
riding. I need "idiot's guide" type stuff that assumes no knowledge
(although I understand hubs, rims, spokes, spoke wrenches, etc - I've
never actually tuned a wheel)

Thanks.

On May 7, 12:07 pm, Camilo wrote:
On May 6, 10:46 am, landotter wrote:...

if you need a very normal
combination of rim/spoke/hub--it's more economical and fun to just get
a wheelinabox and tune them using Sheldon Brown's instructions--takes
all of fifteen minutes, and they'll be as durable as something hand
built.

Can you give a pointer to SB's instructions for tuning a new generic
wheel? (aka wheelinabox). I looked on his site and only saw very
lengthy and detailed wheelbuilding instructions. I have no idea which
portion to concentrate on. I'm curious because I recently purchased
that type of wheel and am interested in giving it a once-over before
riding. I need "idiot's guide" type stuff that assumes no knowledge
(although I understand hubs, rims, spokes, spoke wrenches, etc - I've
never actually tuned a wheel)

Basically you just want to make sure the relative spoke tension is
fairly even. If you're musical, you can do this by ear by plucking, or
see if someone can lend you a spoke wrench. It doesn't have to be
perfect, just no wild disparities. Most wheels will come pretty close
enough. Most wheelsinabox will need to be brought up to tension 1/4 to
1/2+ turn to get to good stable tension, as wheel building machines
can't build at such tensions. Again, in a perfect world, you'd use a
tensionometer and research the suggested tension for your rim, but in
the real world, basic machine built wheels can usually take a 1/2
turn. No warranty from yours truly if you crack a rim, so start with
1/4 turn and do one rotation. Lube your nipples if you want to avoid
spoke wind up. Then destress. You can search this group for all of the
various methods. I usually just seat the spoke heads by pushing the
wheel axle (remove skewer first) into a block of scrap wood by leaning
on the rim with my body weight and working my way around the rim
carefully, trying to not actually taco the wheel. You can see the
spoke head pull into the hub flange. Then fine true it. Good to go.

landotter wrote:...
if you need a very normal
combination of rim/spoke/hub--it's more economical and fun to just get
a wheelinabox and tune them using Sheldon Brown's instructions--takes
all of fifteen minutes, and they'll be as durable as something hand
built.

Camilo wrote:
Can you give a pointer to SB's instructions for tuning a new generic
wheel? (aka wheelinabox). I looked on his site and only saw very
lengthy and detailed wheelbuilding instructions. I have no idea which
portion to concentrate on. I'm curious because I recently purchased
that type of wheel and am interested in giving it a once-over before
riding. I need "idiot's guide" type stuff that assumes no knowledge
(although I understand hubs, rims, spokes, spoke wrenches, etc - I've
never actually tuned a wheel)

Once the spokes are in place, which we assume yours are, skip past the
'getting spokes in the hub and connected to the rim' part and continue
reading.

As noted, continually observe:
overall tension
roundness
lateral variance
and keep the rim centered over the locknuts.

Dropping the overall tension to lubricate the nipple thread and the
surface between rim and nipple can actually save time over struggling
with a recalcitrant 'box' wheel.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Camilo Wrote:
On May 6, 10:46 am, landotter wrote:...
if you need a very normal
combination of rim/spoke/hub--it's more economical and fun to just
get
a wheelinabox and tune them using Sheldon Brown's
instructions--takes
all of fifteen minutes, and they'll be as durable as something hand
built.

Can you give a pointer to SB's instructions for tuning a new generic
wheel? (aka wheelinabox). I looked on his site and only saw very
lengthy and detailed wheelbuilding instructions. I have no idea which
portion to concentrate on. I'm curious because I recently purchased
that type of wheel and am interested in giving it a once-over before
riding. I need "idiot's guide" type stuff that assumes no knowledge
(although I understand hubs, rims, spokes, spoke wrenches, etc - I've
never actually tuned a wheel)

Thanks.


http://www.bbinstitute.com/DX%20Demo%20Chap%2017.pdf

Stabilizing the True
Precision Tension Balance
are the sections to pay particular note. + the advice given by Muzi in
another response


--
daveornee

In article
,
jim wrote:

On May 7, 8:30*am, landotter wrote:
On May 6, 4:39 pm, "





wrote:
On May 6, 8:46 pm, landotter wrote:

On May 6, 7:22 am, jim wrote:

Hi all, wondering if anyone out there has had experience with their
custom wheels, *good or bad?

If they're building them as Sheldon recommends and checking tension--
I'd trust them for sure. The prices are extremely fair, $40 labor per
wheel and $1 each per butted spoke. Mind, if you need a very normal
combination of rim/spoke/hub--it's more economical and fun to just get
a wheelinabox and tune them using Sheldon Brown's instructions--takes
all of fifteen minutes, and they'll be as durable as something hand
built.

It's even more fun to build them from his instructions!

I don't know if it's fun in the classical sense, but it can be
meditative after you've gotten into it. Tuning a wheelinabox set,
riding them hard and discovering that you've managed to add stability
and value to a commodity is sort of the first little baby step until
you one day arrive at the point where you really need a hub and rim
combo that's unusual enough to require a custom build.

I got to see a gal riding on one of my first sets of custom wheels in
the park this weekend, a trash heap huge orange German woman's bike
with 60cm bars and MA3s on a Sachs Torpedo hub with a premium
assortment of stainless recycled spokes from domestic and European
sponsors (consider the project, people). She'd ridden the snot out of
the thing the last year and had just been to the LBS to put a fine $40
top-of-the-line Electra basket on it, as she reported, "it had been
utterly bullet proof." Good wheels are good wheels, no matter what ya
bolt them to. Good wheels can make orange trash heap bikes pretty fun
bikes, especially if you add gold KMC chains. *bling*- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah, my current rear wheel is a 36hole Deore hub on a 700C CR-18.
I'm looking for something similar and none of the nashbar/performance/
jenson offer those sorts of wheels. I have 5 years on this wheel, and
the side of the rim is looking kind of grim after all the braking...I
guess Performance has a decent 32 hole wheel with the CD coating. I
could practice up on that one...

Replace the rim with a new CR-18 and go.
By replace, tape the new to the old,
loosen the old spokes until all are slack,
then move spokes one at a time to the new
rim. Be sure to lubricate the threads
and new spoke beds. Run up the tension
keeping the rim true, and balance the tension.
Done.

--
Michael Press

On May 7, 10:07*am, Camilo wrote:
On May 6, 10:46 am, landotter wrote:...

*if you need a very normal
combination of rim/spoke/hub--it's more economical and fun to just get
a wheelinabox and tune them using Sheldon Brown's instructions--takes
all of fifteen minutes, and they'll be as durable as something hand
built.

Can you give a pointer to SB's instructions for tuning a new generic
wheel? (aka wheelinabox). *I looked on his site and only saw very
lengthy and detailed wheelbuilding instructions. *I have no idea which
portion to concentrate on. *I'm curious because I recently purchased
that type of wheel and am interested in giving it a once-over before
riding. *I need "idiot's guide" type stuff that assumes no knowledge
(although I understand hubs, rims, spokes, spoke wrenches, etc - I've
never actually tuned a wheel)

Ditto what everyone else said. The usual problem with box wheels is
that the tension is too low and the wheels are not "stress relieved"
-- although some wheel building machines do that. The machine
manufacturers call it "stabilization."

http://www.hollandmechanics.com/2007...tabilizer.html

You should find out what tension is recommended for the rim (from the
rim maker's web site) and then borrow a tensiometer from a neighbor to
check the tension. If you don't have a neighbor with a tensiometer
(time to move to a better 'hood), then you could try squeezing a good
set of tried-and-true wheels to get an idea of proper tension. You
could also just add a half turn of tension (that is usually safe with
box wheels) and see if that keeps things true. If not, consider
another half-turn. I don't like the Bicycle Wheel soft-taco approach
to determining tension because rims these days are too whimpy, and you
could get cracking at the spoke holes using that approach. -- Jay
Beattie.