Bicycles Stack Exchange
Bicycles Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [wheel-building]

Questions referring to the craft of assembling bicycle wheels.

177 questions
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Is it ok to use one odd spoke for a wheel build?

I will be using sapim D-light spokes for my wheel build. But I want to make one spoke on each wheel a different color, next to the valve stem. The sapim spokes are not available in colors. Would it matter very much if I was to use different brand…
bob
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Wheel centred in frame but dished 8mm to non drive side, why is this happening?

This is a 135mm OLD wheel mounted in a 130 mm frame. I removed spacers from the axle to make it 130mm. I then put the wheel in the frame and proceeded to dish. I made sure the distance between the rim and the chainstays (where the chainstays are the…
tweedi
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How much do spokes stretch when first used?

I built a wheel for the first time recently, so I checked it after a few hundred km. The spokes seemed to all have lower tension (by pitch) than when I built the wheel. I tightened them all about 1/4 turn (except one that needed more) and had to…
Chris H
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Wheel going badly out of true on final tightening

On two occasions (same wheel, loosened everything off and re-did the whole thing after the first time) as I've applied a final half turn to tighten the spokes round the wheel it's gone from being pretty laterally true (within about 0.5 mm) to badly…
henry
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How long should it take to rebuild a wheel?

I'm planning to replace the hub on my front wheel, from a QR to a 20mm. How much labor, skill, equipment, etc. does that need, and how much time should I expect a pro to charge for, to do the rebuild?
cmrnwllsbrn
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Spokes both too long and too short on same side of wheel

I'm attempting my second wheel build. My first build went pretty smoothly, but this time I've messed something up badly. I calculated that both drive and non drive side could take 300mm spokes ( slightly too long on one side, too short the other but…
henry
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Nipple replacement question

I am a home bike mechanic and i have build a few wheels already. I have a perfectly good wheel-set I want to replace the nipples on for aesthetic reasons - the wheel is almost brand new. I have a wheel building stand with dial gauges, a digital…
pgee70
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How to avoid turning the spokes while tuning the wheel

When I tried to practice tuning my wheels, I found my spokes turn with the nipples. I tried to drop some lubricant on on the nipples, but I had the bike for two years now and there are a lot of dust clog in it. So the lubricant doesn't help too…
Ian Song
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Wheel building question - spoke lubricant

I understand that lubrication for nipples is a good idea when building a wheel. Grease ** advantages - sticks around for a longer, prevents corrosion, lowers spoke stiction while building wheel 'dry' bike-chain lube ** dries off to form a film.…
pgee70
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Which is the strongest lacing pattern for 32 and 36 spokes

Since I already hit the problem with wrong spoke length (changing my old front 32H hub with asymmetrical flanges to a new one with symmetrical), just started to think about the stiffness of the wheels. Heard that the standard lacing pattern is…
1000Gbps
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Rounding spoke length calculator results

The spoke calculator gave me the following results left 292.34 and right 290.98. I am going to buy DT Swiss Competition spokes which are sold by 2mm increments from here. So which spoke length is better to buy ?
Abrahamyan Samvel
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Why is it important to keep equal number of turns when building a wheel?

My first wheelset build here. I am following Sheldon and this guy. They both stress very much to tighten the nipples to an equal length, for example just as the spoke threads stop showing, and the even more carefully, do equal number of turns on…
Vorac
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linseed oil with DT Swiss Pro Lock nipples

I will build a new wheel with DT Swiss Pro Lock nipples. It will be wy first time with these. Iread they feature an adhesive compound that helps the wheel to keep true (DT Swiss marketing). Will I still have to use linseed oil as usual ? Or could…
rvil76
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Trying to understand the impact of different tensions between inner and outer spokes

I am seeing variation between inner and outer spoke tensions on straight pull wheels (3x but no interlacing). The guidance given to me is to have even tension of all spokes on each side of the wheel, and while I can achieve this it seems that a…
Roger Webber
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Choosing parts for wheel build on a cargo bike conversion

I am using an old Xtracycle Free Radical to convert my hybrid 90s Specialized CrossRoads to a cargo bicycle. The Free Radical was originally designed for 26” wheels, but many people used them on 700c bikes using disc brakes. My plan is to stay with…
codeadventurer
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