Custom Wheels- Which is more important to you? - Hub vs Rims

Pffft doesn't even come with dial indicators

Posted by: DanL

Holy cheese, that looks like something I'd expect an espresso out of....

I played with one at last Cranworx... it’s fucking amazing.  But not worth $2,500 more lol

(I bought the dial indicators for my park truing stand... I don’t use them at all anymore)

Posted by: DanL

For all you home wheel builders, what gear has served you best in terms of wheel stands/gauges/dishing ? It would be very easy to go all out and buy the top of the line stuff but that's almost the cost of a set of We Are One's...I did a course at Wheelthing and they had a full set of really nice gear. And then there's all the de-burring stuff....

I've built a bunch of wheels using the frames/forks they'd go into as a stand, with some zipties as gauges. In almost all cases you can just flip the wheel to check dish. A bit less convenient than a dedicated stand, but if you don't build wheels all the time, it does the job perfectly well.

On this topic of custom wheels. What are some good resources for someone who wants to learn how to build wheels? I've got a Park stand, the home mechanic one. Thinking this could be a good winter project.

Youtube?

Sheldon Brown?

Any other solid sources to check out?

Posted by: Poz

On this topic of custom wheels. What are some good resources for someone who wants to learn how to build wheels? I've got a Park stand, the home mechanic one. Thinking this could be a good winter project.

Youtube?

Sheldon Brown?

Any other solid sources to check out?

Worth a read. Free PDF download at link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mbsx865uzz0s7jq/Bicycle_Wheel_-_Jobst_Brandt.pdf?dl=0

Seems to be out of print in English.

Posted by: Poz

On this topic of custom wheels. What are some good resources for someone who wants to learn how to build wheels? I've got a Park stand, the home mechanic one. Thinking this could be a good winter project.

Youtube?

Sheldon Brown?

Any other solid sources to check out?

I used YouTube... but a long time ago.  There has got to be better tutorials out there now...

This one looks pretty good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2jTrJYJGd8

Also, use nipples with threadlock already in it like DT Swiss Pro Lok.

Tbh whenever I've had wheels built, I've almost always used shimano hubs. 

They're cheap. Extremely reliable. Pretty easy to work on (if you use their service manuals), easy to get parts for. Occasionally I've used a different front hub, but rear I've always used shimano. I've never had a problem using or replacing centrelock discs eitherm

I'm really hard on gear, but my current xt hubs are four years old and have worked flawlessly through too many rims to remember. The only time I've had them apart was to replace seals preemptively (twice), and only because I was waiting on new rims to arrive for them.

Posted by: Poz

On this topic of custom wheels. What are some good resources for someone who wants to learn how to build wheels? I've got a Park stand, the home mechanic one. Thinking this could be a good winter project.

Youtube?

Sheldon Brown?

Any other solid sources to check out?

Worth every penny. Even has plans for a really nice, simple DIY truing stand.

https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

Awesome. The forum delivers again.

Lennard Zinn's mtb mechanic's guide is really good too, nice diagrams, probably the easier of the first time builder guides I've seen.

On the cost front, I'd suggest:

DON'T Spend on:

Alloy nipples

Aero spokes (Aerolite / CX Ray)

Do Spend on:

Nipple washers

A basic park tension gauge

Grease

Quality spoke tool

Rims are mostly pretty good these days, there aren't many that build up badly. DT supply with Squorx nipples (make sure you calculate spoke length with those if you plan on using them).

If I was building a nice, but on budget wheelset I'd use the new Shimano XT hubs, they look awesome and are amazingly well priced. Those, with DT Comps and an Arc, Praxis, or DT alloy rim and it's hard to go wrong.

Posted by: Heinous

On the cost front, I'd suggest:

DON'T Spend on:

Alloy nipples

Aero spokes (Aerolite / CX Ray)

Do Spend on:

Nipple washers

A basic park tension gauge

Grease

Quality spoke tool

Rims are mostly pretty good these days, there aren't many that build up badly. DT supply with Squorx nipples (make sure you calculate spoke length with those if you plan on using them).

If I was building a nice, but on budget wheelset I'd use the new Shimano XT hubs, they look awesome and are amazingly well priced. Those, with DT Comps and an Arc, Praxis, or DT alloy rim and it's hard to go wrong.

Hows about a trueing stand - or as twk mentions, use the frame/fork ?

Posted by: DanL

Posted by: Heinous

On the cost front, I'd suggest:

DON'T Spend on:

Alloy nipples

Aero spokes (Aerolite / CX Ray)

Do Spend on:

Nipple washers

A basic park tension gauge

Grease

Quality spoke tool

Rims are mostly pretty good these days, there aren't many that build up badly. DT supply with Squorx nipples (make sure you calculate spoke length with those if you plan on using them).

If I was building a nice, but on budget wheelset I'd use the new Shimano XT hubs, they look awesome and are amazingly well priced. Those, with DT Comps and an Arc, Praxis, or DT alloy rim and it's hard to go wrong.

Hows about a trueing stand - or as twk mentions, use the frame/fork ?

Feedback Pro is a cheap alternative for a truing stand, but it is only one sided. I used one for years until I found a Park TS-2.2.  A Park stand is a great investment, and you can often find them cheaper in the buy n sell ads on CL or PB.

With all the good prebuilt wheels available, going custom generally makes sense only if you are going to spend some legitimate coin on both the hub and rim.  Or, if you just like building your own wheels, which I totally respect.