BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

anybody know a good wheel builder?

Rick at TRM Cycles/Trek of Pgh (Castle Shannon) does real nice work. The shop phone number is 412/343-6885; I'm sure he can give you an idea what it would cost.

Yeah, Castle Shannon, kinda hard to get to on a bike that doesn't have any wheels, Anybody have an idea on what I could expect to pay? I'm thinking $50.00 , am I close?

I think your average labor cost per wheel is $30-$50, depending on the builder. That's only labor. Spokes will probably cost you up $1 each.

47S trolly will drop you within a block and half of TRM

Are these hubs you have something special? And have you priced any ready built wheels? Unless your hubs are something you're really in love with, you can probably buy wheels for about the same cost as building. That's been my experience, and I am able to build the occasional wheel (wouldn't want to do it for a living, tedious as hell).

I built a couple of wheels for myself, and if you have the time it's not terribly difficult. The wheels have held up pretty acceptably too.

Free Ride had a big box of new spokes (maybe more in 26" lengths) that you can pick up a couple of wheels' worth for pretty cheap.

If you want something amazing rather than just a handbuilt set of wheels, I would try george at speedgoat. He works there only building wheels.

He built me a set of touring wheels that I rode

offroad for 2100 miles with 40lbs gear with no

problems.

re: "...He works there only building wheels."

My god, he must be a zen Buddhist or something.

No I mean he like has a real job, but they hire him just to build the wheels cause he is wheelie wheelie good at it.

There are two solid lines of advice above... Either go whole hog and pay someone who really knows what's up to build your wheels, or build them yourself. Another builder worth mentioning is Scooter out at Top Gear in Wexford. He knows wheels.

Building them yourself isn't that hard if you have access to a truing stand and read a few different methods through before starting. If you can otherwise work on and reasonably tune your own bike building wheels isn't that far off.

crying shame no one at trek shadyside or iron city bikes could lace you up a set of wheels.

anyhow, the most important thing is that you get the proper spoke lengths per your choice of hub/ rim and lacing pattern. After that, a little practice and the consultation of some online manuals such as Jobst Brandt's, Gerd Schraner's, or Sheldon Brown's will set you in the right direction.

also, knowing how certain gauges of spokes 'stretch' in terms of rounding your spoke length is also of great concern. spoke head setting is also very important.

also, getting these things to occur in the build process is of great importance. the wheel should not settle after you ride it. if it does, this can lead to irregularities in the tension balance of the wheel (some spokes may have set and others may not - if you ride a wheel and hear it ping, your wheel is no longer in true as it was when it left the wheelstand) and consequently to premature spoke breakage, hops in the rim that are later impossible to get out, and wheels that never seem to stay in true.

but to recommend someone build a wheel themselves without any prior experience (especially at rounding a wheel, or truing a very soft rim, which is what most people start with because they're cheaper), seems to be taking one's own knowledge for granted. i've watched people build wheels for the first time, and i've had to fix their problems (which is generally taking all the tension off the spokes and starting over) many times.

it's not the hardest thing to do (that comes with figuring out what lacing patterns work to make the strongest/stiffest/lightest wheel), but it's definitely not easy, and i've watched several mechanically adept people struggle with it and take an extremely long time with it.

i'm a mechanically adept person who sucks at building wheels.

that said, steve, i swear one day i'll make it to your house with that hub.

thanks for everyones input.