I really want a Flow rim on my back wheel – 819 at present is just too skinny.

Too skint to buy a new wheel and there’s nowt wrong with the hub.

I have no specific wheel building tools except a spoke wrench.

Will it all end in tears?

Unlikely thouugh Stans wheels can be a bit sensitive to tension so it’s maybe worth getting someone who knows to check them once you’ve built them.

Plenty of good wheel building guides online. The Sheldon Brown one is the one I usually recommend.

I built my first few wheels using the ‘biro rubberbanded to the frame or fork’ technique, worked fine. You might need new spokes, though.

This is the book everybody recommends:

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

there are some rims with profiles like stans but with eyelets, but I cannot remember the brand – saw them on CRC at good prices

I used this article, from the Bike Magic website

I was in a similar situation as you recently and bought myself this book:
http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

And with an old Flow rim and my used Hope pro2+spokes from old wheel, managed to build myself a fairly good wheel. Its still going strong after about 2 months use – I have had to tighten the spokes a little and the wheel is not quite radially true (2mm out), but I can live with that.
Only had a spoke key from my multi tool. Used the forks + my finger to true it up 😀

I quite enjoyed actually and am waiting on a new rim to build another wheel. Front wheels though

I’ve learnt and built several sets now following the instructions in this WheelPro Book. It includes details on how to make your own jigs – they’re not hard.

And this, ‘rubberbanded biro’ technique explained

Has anybody mentioned the Wheelpro book yet?!? If you want to save yourself some money, those two articles I posted will see you fine. Or borrow the Wheelpro book.

I did it last year using the Wheelpro book (Hope Pro II and Stan’s Arch EX with Sapim D-Lights). The wheels are still going strong with no need for adjustment, yet. Turned out to be pretty easy if you take it slow and methodical. I think it took me about an hour-and-a-half per wheel, just truing them in the frame with a home-made template. If I ever do it again I’ll invest in a spoke-driver though.

As with anything it gets easier and better with practice. Be patient.
I’ve been using a turbo trainer, pencil and bluetac for a jig; two piles of books and a ruler to check the dishing.

+1 for sheldon Brown

At the very worst the first time you will get a wheel that is 95% there.
You then take it to the LBS & pay £5 to get it trued.

The bike frame makes a great wheel building true stand.
I have just done the same with some Flows.
It gets easier every time.

As above, I haven’t taken a wheel to a shop or paid to have one built for years now (and neither have my mates 😉 ) I have done well in beer and cast-off parts though. 😀

First build is a huge faff though, (as above really take your time!) and Stan’s are expensive! FWIW though I have found the couple of flows that I rebuilt (superstar friday afternoon jobs it wold seem) much easier to get straight and tight than lighter and narrower xc rims such as xc717’s or xm317’s.

Once you have budgeted for a new rim and most likely shorter spokes (inner rim diameter AKA ‘ERD’ is such that your old spokes may well be too long) then you might be better off getting your friendly LBS or wheelbuilder to do it properly first time for £15-20 more.

Thank’s guys – I’d get my LBS to do it if I still lived in the UK but the bike is in Spain. Now to get the correct spokes and rim delivered there cheap.

Sure, wheel building is not for everyone- you need a fairly decent sized portion time and patience. However the satisfaction you get from the both the sense of achievement and the demystification of that whole area of expertise is very, very rewarding…

Is on my list of things to learn next year.

If only there was a book I could purchase that showed me how to do it.

I’ve built three using Sheldon’s guide, and (by all accounts) I’m not very clever. Mind you, I got that from a guy that believes unicorns might be real, so make of that what you will.

forget all the websites and reading page after page of techno babble OK.
When I rebuilt both my front and rear (819s onto Hope P2’s) I simply took the wheels out of my wife’s bike and copied the ‘lace-up’.

I suffer from intermittent stupidity; but found this task extremely easy….fun in fact!

Don’t know where you are, but if you’re close(ish) to the Peak I’ll lend you the ‘standard’ wheels for the task.

Enjoy 😉

few beers in fridge, small table out, wheel jig on it, spokes, rim and hub standing by, quality Saturday night in IME.

Its a great way to spend a few hours and rewards you every time you take the bike out.

love it, wish i could afford to make more wheels for myself. sad thing is the ones i’m riding now on all my bikes, hope hoops of varying spec, i could not have bought the components for what i paid for the wheels… and the wheels are stunningly well made.

but definitely do it… get a wheel jig, a spoke screwdriver (you can make one) and a dishing tool (do not trust a cardboard one), wheel pro and you are off.

the other top read if you get into it is jobst brandts book. hav’nt read the latest version of wheelpro so don’t know if its been ammended but there were a few little points that brandt makes that are good.

Sheldon Brown’s colour-coded instructions FTW

I got a cheap jig a while ago which does the job. The dishing guide is way out and I need to re-calibrate it on every build, but now I know that its fine. The only downside to the jg is it only takes qr axles, so I reckon I’ll be buying a better one in the future.

Anyway, its amazingly satisfying lacing up and truing the wheel. Just double check you’ve put the correct values into whatever spoke length calculator you’re using. I made a balls-up once when I forget to check it was 3-cross, not 2…

Last build was this week. Laced the wheel on Sunday evening. Trued it and applied tubless rim tape on monday. Tyre on on tuesday and wired up the dynamo and rode it last night.

if your in the kiddy area i have all the tools, jig and book (wheelpro) etc.
welcome to borrow it.

For the novice (like me).
I really like the Gerd Schraner method of lacing the wheel.

It helps particularly if you are using different length spokes.
You do one side then the other so if you keep the spokes completely separate then you can’t pick up the wrong size by mistake.