I currently have a rear wheel that is slightly dented and buckled and another that has a duff hub. I want to swap the rims over from one to the other as the one currently on my bike is too narrow and, more importantly, the wrong colour!
I have seen someone do this by taping the spokes together where they cross and swapping the rim that way but I have no idea how tight they spokes should be and how easy it is to get it running true (I don't have a truing stand). Should I just bite the bullet and take it to the LBS or have a go and then take it to the LBS should I fail?
Soon an expert will come along
But in the mean time unless the rim and hub are identical for both the chances are that the spokes won't be the correct length.
The truing and tensioning is a skilled job, but one that clearly many amateurs have mastered
check it has the same amount of spokes on both wheels !! Undo the wheel with the good rim and tape the rim to the other. Check the inside of the rim is the same diameter. Just go for it , if it is one spoke at a time. Hardest part is getting the ovality of the wheel ( going egg shaped) then true it up. There is an art to doing it, but there is only one way to learn it. If you cant get it right, loosen off and try again. Then if it still doesnt work, then just get the LBS to true it up and you have done the majority of the work so wont cost a lot.
If the rims are the same drilling (no. of spokes) and approximate depth/spoke length (+/- 2mm max I'd say) then you tape the new rim to the old wheel/rim (having cut the new rim off the old wheel), loosen off all the spokes a few turns, swap them over 1 by 1, then tension & true.