Using some Hope hubs and new rims I already have, what’s a reasonable price / going rate for a decent wheel builder / lbs to build front and rear with new (stainless) spokes? About to call around tomorrow
cheers

£25-£30/wheel is about right

I got mine built up at Stif Leeds (which is no longer there) for £20 a wheel.

Learn to do it yourself?

Well worth it in the long run…

Cheers

Danny B

Learn to do it yourself

I’d really like to, can change spokes and true wheels no problem, need to find someone good down south to teach, probably better than by book/you tube. Mind you £20-30 a wheel doesn’t seem too bad

I lace mine and take them into my preferred local builder, who charges me £10 a go. I could probably learn myself but he’s better than the other pros never mind a beginner amateur so it just makes sense.

Are you supplying the spokes too? As your first post was a bit vague.

Just be warned that a few shops may be a little shirty if you walk in with all the stuff bought cheap somewhere online.
I’m not saying it’s right, but a few places I’ve worked have used the profit on parts to make the labour worthwhile.

But, like above, I’d say that 20-30 per wheel would be a fair estimate

Building from scratch is easier than trueing a bent wheel.

So, if you can already true a wheel…

Roger Mussons’ book is a very good read. It’s very interesting to read and explains everything simply.

2nd what mrmonkfinger says.

Building a wheel is surprinsingly easy when you do it methodically.

Or do the fun part – the lacing and most of the tensioning, then take it to into the shop for £10 truing – you learn a bit, get the peace of mind that the wheel’s got the correct tension in it, save a bit of cash, and no iffy feeling about throwing a bunch of internet bought parts over the counter and saying: “Make this into a wheel!”

The hubs are really nice red Hopes but the rims were worn out (used with v brakes) so I did send off for rims at a good price. I kept the stainless spokes and red ally nipples (all came out fine) so not sure if they are okay to use again, look fine to me. Maybe I’ll have a go at re-lacing myself and see how it goes, what could possibly go wrong….

£20-30 labour for the build is true but £1 per spoke too so it’s more like £60 for the build if you turn up with your own hub and rim.

Oh plus another £1 for a rim tape!

Don’t feel bad about asking a bike shop to build the wheels out of your parts, if they don’t want to do it they’ll tell you so.