Wheel Building Questions

[Bill]

Lacing Procedure:
Ok I will try to keep this as simple as possible as not to confuse anyone or start a flaming thread.
The following is from Roger Musson's Wheelpro PDF e-Book
When lacing begins the "inners" are started first. The 1st spoke is put on the 1st hole to the left of the valve stem hole and then skip 3 holes putting another in the 4th hole and so on.
2nd Roger does the inners on the non-drive side as the 2nd thing to be laced.
This video is confusing to me but I guess it works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYl4NO5m16Q .
Noticed how this guy completely does the opposite. He also completely laces one side unlike Roger does. Guess I am a little confused.

[xerxes]

I think it's one of those "different ways to skin a cat" type things Bill. Wheel builders may have their prefered technique or start point, but as long as all the spokes end up laced correctly and in the right holes, I doubt it makes much difference how you get there.

[nfmisso]

ditto

I more or less follow: http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#preparation

except:
* I dip the elbow ends of the spokes in Tri-Flow before lacing, and the nipples in Tri-Flow before installing.
* i use my thumbs not a hammer to bend the elbow area.
* I use my hands for stress relieving, not a lever

And probably a bunch of other exceptions too.

[Joe_W]

I follow Roger as I too found out that it is more difficult to get the spokes in on the second side if you already laced the first completely (inside and outside). In contrast to Nigel I use a light oil for the spokes and leave the nipples dry. I also use my hands for spoke elbow bending and stress relieving (like Nigel). So, yeah, everybody has his or her own preferred ways of doing these things. I find that the exact procedure during the initial phase does not really matter that much, except to take care to already start with a roughly even spoke tension (but this does not depend on the method!).
The more difficult part is the trueing and tensioning, and I guess there most approaches do not differ (take your time, go around the wheel to tension, starting at the valve hole, then identify most deflection to the left, correct it, find bump to the right, correct it, don't try to increase tension too fast ... all of these things).
What differs are things like preferred materials and maybe lace patterns (though most agree to go cross three on 32 spoke rims).

[Bill]

I did my front wheel last night ( more on my GT TRIPLE post) and used Rogers method and that really was an easy way .
EDIT I can't fathom using a hammer on spokes

[RobAR]

(09-28-2012, 03:07 PM)Bill Wrote:  EDIT I can't fathom using a hammer on spokes

Just wait. Just you wait! Hahaaaahaahaaaaaaaaa !!

[Joe_W]

Congrats! How does it keep up? My first one did some pinging and plinking noises the first ride as I did not care for the torsion... stupid me.

[Bill]

Joe good morning! I haven't put a tire on it yet as I am doing both the rear wheel too for the same bike. Got really tired last night and post pined the final truing stage (finess part). Woke up with a cold so may not get to it today. Oh btw the stress relief was done 5 times to make sure. Dishing on both wheels , trickier for the rear, was checked a few times during the process! Must say these wheels are incredibly lighter then the ones I am used to .
So did you have to retune the wheel before the breakin period?

[Joe_W]

The first ones: yes. But that was because I did not relieve the torsion. The others seem to keep up so far. One set for the road and one for cyclocross (retrued rear once, but actually was not needed, the bump was in the tyre...) plus some on friends' bikes (have not heard about those, though I told them to bring it to me once it starts to be wobbly). I also did a front snowflake once, that had to be retrued of course (since it is a nonsensical build anyway).

Congrats! I also do it in two or three sessions, the final truing and tensioning I usually postpone to the next day to be more fresh (since we're not in a hurry, are we?). Enjoy the wheels and post a pic of the result!

[mothergoose]

(09-27-2012, 08:04 AM)Bill Wrote:  Noticed how this guy completely does the opposite. He also completely laces one side unlike Roger does. Guess I am a little confused.

Ah. The dreaded Schraner method.

I think that Master Gerd devised this system of lacing a wheel as trial by fire for beginner wheelaholics; if you can persist with this torturous method (at least until said apprentice comes to his or her senses, that is) then you *really* want to build wheels......

Heh.

Anyway, how did you wheel building go? Any photos available?

[Bill]

Yes it went GREAT! here is the link to the outcome of the whole project which was more then just the wheel build...
http://forums.bikeride.com/thread-4362.html
Took 1 week per wheel essentially. Although long process it was worth taking the time on. My older son wants some custom wheels for his BMX to which I just may build him a pair. The main factor of the whole process is patience.

[Joe_W]

(01-01-2013, 09:40 PM)Bill Wrote:  The main factor of the whole process is patience.

Well, assuming you start with some technical skill / knowledge (but here we all have that to some extent + you actually do not need that much otherwise I couldn't do it)...
But yeah, patience is the key. And a nice cold beer after the first round and doing the second round (the final truing tensioning) on the next day - patience is not my main virtue, nor is focus.