So following on how to make my front wheel boost compatible...what do I need to do to re dish the wheel to compensate for the adaptors?
Will I need tools? I do not have a wheel spoke key but built a number of bikes and bled brakes but wheels apart from bearing and axel changes I have not attempted to do anything with. So how hard is the process?
So is this a opportunity to learn a new skill or just a faff I do not need if I get a different adapter set?
you do need a spoke key. Its fairly easy to do. loosen one side spokes half a turn and tighten the other side half a turn. The rim will move over to the side you tighten. do it with the wheel in the forks so can measure the gap each side. might needto repeat a few times ordo it a quarter turn at a time.
It's dead easy, you can even take the opportunity to tweak out minor imperfections.
Use a blob of blu tak on the forks and a cocktail stick as a gauge. As above, loosen all of the spokes on one side by a turn, tighten the opposite side by a turn.
To check the dishing, I take the caliper off(it can foul the DS spokes) and just flip the wheel the other way round. If it's not far enough over, do the same with the spokes again but only half a turn at a time. Repeat until it's mostly the same when mounted either way.
Spokey spoke keys (almost certainly the red ones) are nice to use and cheap, i don't like the Park ones. Really cheap ones tend to be horrible to hold and slip on the spokes.
All the above carries the caveat that it's not an ancient wheel with alloy spokes that has spent it's life in a salt bath....
I have a wheel jig and all the tools to build wheels (i used to do it as a sideline years ago).
I used the forks and a zip tie to redish my wheel when i changed the hub spacing.
It's easy, just take your time, make small consistent changes and work to where you want to be. Although tightening and loosening are backwards as the nipple is upside down from where you're twisting it:
Every so often, go around and squeeze each parallel pair of spokes on each side (assuming your wheel is laced fairly normally) gently towards each other. This may well "ping" a bit, and stops the twisting tension building up at the crossover points (as I understand it... happy to be corrected!) and also lets you feel that the tension is similar in all the spokes - although it may vary a bit if you've had to true out a bad buckle somewhere.
I find it very relaxing in a zen kind of way.
it's easy unless it isn't- seized nipples can fight you, especially if they're shitey aluminium or old. A little penetrating oil can help before you start, with older ones. A good fitting spoke key really pays off with alu. And if the wheel's been beaten up in the past sometimes messing with tension at all can cause unexpected changes. But still, worth trying, what's the worst that could happen, you have to take it to a shop?
One thing is, quite a lot of wheels could do with a bit more tension anyway so sometimes you don't even need to mess with the other side, just tighten it over and call it good.
Start at the valve hole and always turn the wheel the same direction - makes it easier to keep track of where you are. Worth spraying penetrating oil on each nipple first, leaving overnight and ‘cracking’ each one a quarter-turn first - really annoying to find a seized or crumbled spoke half-way around a wheel. If alloy nipples, try ACF50 to deal with any corroded nipples.