How much do shops charge to lace up a wheel?

just need an idea of cost, thanks

About 1 Hours’s labour I would have thought, so £20-£40 depending on the shop?

Ever thought of spending the money on some basic tools and a wheelbuilding book and doing it yourself instead?

I phoned up my LBS yesterday with exactly the same question…. They said it would be £25 per wheel for building (inc extra fiver as I was supplying the – brand new – rim and hub…), plus the not inconsiderable cost of £1 per spoke (black, double butted, but standard brass nipples). Oh, and they can’t fit it in for another month.

I only enquired as I need it done fairly quickly, so think I’ll be doing it myself this w/e, having paid the much more reasonable 30p a go for the spokes on-line

BB – Where do you get your 30p spokes from, and does that include nipples?

yeah would consider doing it myself if i could get the basic tools for £20-£40 and had the patience.

£15 at my LBS (Baker street Bikes Brighton)

thanks woodey, thats not to far from me so could be an option.

PP – I THOUGHT it was from Total Cycling, but having just checked back it appears it wasn’t them. It took quite alot of googling to get them for that price, so when I (re)find the link I’ll post back. Whoever it was, yes it did include a 12mm nipple.

PP

How much are the tools, where to buy etc?

Can you recommend a good “how to” guide.

Cheers

BB, cheers mate. I’ve just paid £15 for 36 black PG spokes from CRC, so that’s bluddy cheap!

yeah would consider doing it myself if i could get the basic tools for £20-£40 and had the patience.

All you need is a book (Wheelpro book is £9 download, and brilliant) and a good quality spoke key. £14 for the lot! You don’t NEED a jig….
🙂

I built my 5th wheel last night. A beefy ol’ thing that will see it’s first outing in the Alps. It’s addicive once you know how.
😀

cant u just use a screw driver on the end of the nipple instead of the spoke key? Hence all you need is the book…

Can you recommend a good “how to” guide

Sheldon Brown

How much are the tools, where to buy etc?

all you need is a flat screwdriver, a spoke key, and a bike frame to do all your alignment in.

cheers PP i’ll look into that book also, I guess i assumed a jig was needed coz thats what my Park Tool book said!
maybe i’ll give a shot

you can use a screwdriver to a point, but then the threaded end of the spoke will start to poke trough the nipple preventing you from getting the screwdriver blade into the nipple.

You’ll also need some rim tape to finish the wheel off.

<Holds hands up>

PP – My mistake – I was looking at Total Cycling, but at the STAINLESS ACI 2.0/1.7 spokes, not black…. but they do come with a nipple and are 23p a throw. Best I can do for black DT competitions (my preffered option is 70p a go from PedalOn, but the ACI’s do look appealing at that price…. Apols for the confusion/getting your hopes up! 😉

EDIT: ACI black DB spokes 35p each, with nipple, at CycleBasket.com…. nope never used them either 😉

park tools sell jigs, so they’ll try to say you need one… i’ve built all my wheels just sat in the bike frame/forks.

cant u just use a screw driver on the end of the nipple instead of the spoke key?

Not always, eventually the spoke can get too close to the end of the nipple and pushes the screwdriver out. Plus it’s a LOT easier with a spoke key and they don’t fek the nipples up either.
And then later on you can true your wheels up without having to remove the trte, tube and rim tape!
A good spoke key is very cheap and everyone should have one. I think i have 3 or 4. I carry one in my Camelbak for emergencies, and yes, I’ve used it once, and saved a long walk…
🙂

BB – That sounds pretty good still, I’ve nothing against ACI spokes!
🙂

Thanks for the tip
🙂

PP, cp,

thanks for all the info – another excuse to get the bike in the kitchen!

Cheers

My LBS £24 all in. Old Dave the wheel builder, does a nice tight build and sits firmly in the black spokes are sh1t camp.

never understood the whole black rims/spokes thing. Just adds weight surely?

From a looks point of view i prefer silver spokes and black rims, but my next ones will be silver, I’d rather spend a fiver on a better rim rather than a black one.

My LBS charges £20 inc. decent Sapim spokes. Or £25 for black.

Might have to get myself one of those wheel building books and a spoke key…all my spokes managed to magically untension on a descent on Saturday :(. My wheel is now in a bike shop, should be interesting to see what they charge me!

Lacing a wheel should take an experienced wheelbuilder about 10m.

Decent black spokes are fine and black stuff weight only a negligible amount more than silver (apart from black holes etc)

never understood the whole black rims/spokes thing. Just adds weight surely?

As far as I can tell(/google) there is no quoted weight difference between between black and silver spokes. I accept that in reality there must be a SMALL increase, but even over a pair of wheels the extra weight is going to be trivial in the grand scheme of things.

From a looks point of view i prefer silver spokes and black rims, but my next ones will be silver, I’d rather spend a fiver on a better rim rather than a black one.

That’s fair enough – I’ve nothing against silver either, but having eye-balled a set of silver wheels on the bike in question, they just looked wrong in comparision with a black set due to the colours of the frame/finishing kit. On my race bike, the opposite is true. Horses for coarses.

thebone
i’m based just outside of shrewsbury, and i normally charge a tenner to build a wheel. I’ll be at Mayhem on saturday, if you are there it would save 1/2 the postage.
Cheers
Paul