I have two alfine wheels: (1) silver hub with silver spokes on a retard rim and (2) black hub with black spokes on a Stans 355 rim… The thing is, I really want the silver hub to be on the 355 rim with the silver spokes (matches my front wheel better: phil woods hub with silver spokes on a ZTR Arch 29er rim)

Could I just pull them both wheels apart and rebuild as required? I've never built a wheel, but I have a stand and a copy of 'The art of wheel building'… I guess I could just buy new spokes and nipples, but could I re-use the existing ones?

cheers 🙂

i have, wheels still going 5 years later and used for 18 months on a 14 mile a day commute

no problem re-using old spokes and nipples as long as they are correct length and undamaged. Ive done quite a few rim swaps where I've put a new rim onto old spokes, and currently have a rear wheel rebuilt (after rear mech entanglement episode) with about 12 spokes taken out of a old junked front wheel.

I enquired in a local bike shop about the price of a replacement rim for a worn out Ultegra SL wheel, he told be I'd need to buy a whole new wheel.

I walked out.

I have done this as well. No issues in a couple of years of tandem usage. I taped the new rim alongside the old wheel and transferred the spokes over one at a time to preserve the lacing without having to think.

if the hubs and rims are the same, then yes, as long as you're careful not to cause damage when taking the wheels apart. I've swapped new rims onto existing wheels before with problems. If the rim / hub combinations are different you may need to check spoke lengths, as indicated above

You'll be fine if you do it properly – re-lube nipples etc (assuming lengths are OK)

LeeW wins "irrelevant post" award on this thread. You should know that OEM wheels are pricey to repair – it's probably not your lbs.

I enquired in a local bike shop about the price of a replacement rim for a worn out Ultegra SL wheel, he told be I'd need to buy a whole new wheel.

Yes, and? Quite a reasonable comment if you've got a factory wheel for which the replacement rims are unobtanium (or very expensive if you can get them).

I taped the new rim alongside the old wheel and transferred the spokes over one at a time to preserve the lacing without having to think.

Good idea, that sounds like the way to go!

if the hubs and rims are the same

Hubs are the same, but rims are different… should I take one spoke off each wheel and compare their lengths perhaps?

thanks for the assist all 🙂

I have just done the very same job this afternoon, swapped a silver dt 7.1 29er rim for a black x470,

measuring a spoke, is it just a matter of whipping out the tape measure? or is there some esoteric thing I should be working out?

Take spoke out, take to shop, as for matching spokes.

remember that the spokes will be different lengths on either side of the wheel due to the dishing. So take a spoke from each side.

http://www.dtswiss.com/

click on spoke calculator, type in your hub & rim details & it'll tell you the spokes you need – compare the 2 & see how close they are.

LeeW wins "irrelevant post" award on this thread. You should know that OEM wheels are pricey to repair – it's probably not your lbs.

Och, wheesht. Wheels is wheels.

al.