Following a surprisingly destructive wheel/rock interaction, I recently found myself in possession of a rear hub, a load of spokes, and a uselessly Pringle-shaped rim.

Now, I’ve always fancied having a go at wheelbuilding, so having almost all the bits already, I did some research, bought myself a cheap, new rim and started re-building. Once I’d laced the wheel up I had intended to just stick the thing in the back of the bike and try to true it up there, but whilst I was pulling things apart my eyes alighted on my turbo-trainer. I grabbed handful of M10 washers and some electrical tape to serve as spacers, added a metal ruler and a couple of elastic bands, and created a makeshift truing stand. Behold:

I’m rather chuffed, as I now have a nice, true spare wheel that I built myself, and I didn’t have to buy a stand or dishstick, or faff about in the freezing cold shed for ages getting the thing straight.

It remains to be seen whether the wheel will actually stay true, and not collapse spectacularly on its first outing. Any tips on checking that home-built wheels aren’t potential death traps?

looks perfectly fine to me.

yeh, good that

could’ve just upended your bike instead ? (then any daft dishing requirements would be catered for automatically)

Nice solution, but I also just use my frame/forks!

soz, just actually READ your text

warm is good

soz, just actually READ your text

warm is good

Heh, yep, I would happily bring the bike inside, but the wife complained, something about getting oily marks on the baby, I dunno, sheesh…

Wow. I just put a zip-tie on the stay/fork and cut it so it’s dead close to the rim. I leave it on too, so I can fix spokes out & about.

al.