8) 🙄

Read RM's book, followed it fairly carefully

I took him at his word about tight spokes being good and looking for spoke twist as an indicator. It, err, seems pretty tight (true though)

Am I likely to die when the wheel implodes & bits of rim start flying ?

no and well done
Much easier than you think isn't it.

Out of interest where did you buy your spokes and nipples from – I've been looking at around £0.70 per spoke – seems expensive

I made two back in June / July by following the book and it is very pleasing to be able to ride them. Second one was easier as i had got the idea and process sorted. Quick truing by using my bike and some gaffer tape and hey presto – new wheels!

yeh, was seemed easy – I've trued plenty in the past & I reckon that's harder

yoshimi, I'd had the spokes for ages. Can't remember where from, sorry.

I bought my spokes and nipples from my LBS – worked out at nearly a pound each – getting more expensive as well I believe! I bought a couple of spares at the time (could be used if i broke one when building of if one breaks in the future)

CRC do DT spokes, the Comps are £15 for 36 including nipples IIRC.

CRC is about the best at the mo some small independents may still have old stock and don't realise the massive increase to restock!

Congrats on the first wheelbuild BTW! It really is very pleasing.

well done fella great isnt it 😉

Blimey – at that price I might drive up to Harrogate to get myself some! It's a real pain when looking to build a wheel, as the cost in spokes means that it's often as cheap to buy one ready-made. Particularly when you need 16 of each of two different lengths.

dont know what happened there lol i only meant to add the bit above lol

yeah nick prob cost me a tenner in fuel 😉

Its a good feeling isnt it SP… 😀

I read somewhere (On here IIRC) CRC will provide you with 18 of each length you require… As long as they stock them that is. Cant confirm that tho.

Ended up buying a custom made rear wheel from them cos it was about £20 cheaper than buying all the bits, from them! 😯

(Mr MC posting) I build wheels but have in the past bought fully built as its cheaper than buying the bits, but if youve got decent hubs then you can keep the wheels going by replacing rims/spokes as and when needed/wanted. Bought some 717/Hope XCs from CRC a few years ago, then re-built them with 325's when I got into play riding (gaps/drop offs), have just rebuilt them with the 717's for MC's lightweight hardtail.

Also a useful skill if you, say, stack it in the alps and bounce your rear mech into the rear wheel, wrecking a dozen spokes. Ahem.

Congrats, its a great skill to have, I find it very therapeutic and rewarding, and riding on something youve built is a nice feeling (as long as it doesnt collapse…). Just be careful-you might suddenly become very popular with your riding mates 😉

cheap spokes

Should check out some darkside websites people and ACI are the same as Merlin use for their standard wheel build.

23p per spoke/nipple have to buy 144 mind for standard DB stainless
50pfor black @ 100 spokes

I was going to build a new pair of wheels till I added up the price of the parts Hope proII hubs Mavic XC717 rims and DT spokes and rim tapes and it all came to £274. Same spec handbuilt from Merlin £266 it used to be you could save a few quid building yourself now its for pleasure only. Me I lost heart when I saw the prices and ordered from Merlin.

pantsonfire…. I dunno about that – I agree with new spokes @ £15 a wheel (CRC), but I've always found 2nd hand hubs can be picked up for absolute bargains… Just lat night I let a pair of 32hole Hope Pro2 hubs slip away for the bargain price of £55!! Rims too – often new and unused from other peoples' unrealised wheel builds..

Seek and ye shall find!

I have built all of mmy mountain bike wheels and a set for a mate.
Given the option I will build all of mine in future too, Its a great feeling knowing you can build them and that you are riding your own wheels too

IsaacClarke Your probably right if I had trawled thiefbay or the classified on this site I could have got the parts for less but my point was building your own used to make financial sense but not any longer. My dad taught me how to wheelbuild nearly 40 years ago and for years I built my own road and mountain wheels and a few motorbike wheels as well because you could often save yourself about a third on the price of a shopbuilt wheel and I enjoyed it.

Seeing the price of the components killed any anticipation for the wheelbuild and in future I think I will just stick to repairs. I am not knocking wheelbuilding for anyone else it is a great feeling watching your own wheel spin in the stand but for me personally I have done it got the tee shirt and used it to wipe up oil in the shed.

Fair points pantsonfire… : )

Anytime I've built, its been a project/taking advantage of pairing up cheap hubs/rims with new spokes on a purely "as and when" basis, rather than out of pure necessity.

Still got some mint unbuilt 717s waiting to be dealt with, so I'm gutted I let the pair of Pro2s slip away on ebay!

Oh well, like any well made wheel, other bargains will roll along…

Good job.
I've only done 2 back wheels: the first one was, shall we say, an experiment! The second one worked out very nicely and seems tauter than the cheap wheels I've bought in the past.