A Last Resort ... Re-spoking The Wheel

An old bike that I was going to fix up to donate to charity proved to be more work then I bargained for. I never repoked

[@JohnStevenson-bm2no]

I admire your patience. Good work.

[@edscyclingwithcoyotes]

Thanks. I enjoy a challenge.

[@jstar1000]

I just rebuilt a late 70s early 80s Vista Carrera 7 bike, it has high flange aluminum hubs laced to steel rims that were awful. Luckily I had a set of aluminum rims I robbed some campy hubs off of several years back and swapped them over. When doing that I just tape the new rim to the old rim after loosening all of the spokes most of the way then one by one move each spoke over to the new rim that is tapped to it and then truing it up. Its a pretty fast way to do it.

[@edscyclingwithcoyotes]

Wow! That's a fantastic idea. I'm going to do that on my next really bad wheel.

[@jstar1000]

You can make a dishing tool with cardboard, super easy.

[@edscyclingwithcoyotes]

Great idea!

[@jstar1000]

I have an awesome wheel building book called "Professional Guide To Wheel Building" by Roger Musson. I bought it online and downloaded then printed it out and keep it handy. It has some awesome info. I built a spoke winder tool and a dishing tool he shows you how to make. he also shows how to make a wooden truing stand but I already had one. The book is well worth buying if you plan on building wheels but is also good for just tuning up wheels and keeping them at their best. I highly recommend it. I have built at least a dozen sets of wheels and taken apart, cleaned and rebuilt about as many. Its amazing how well an old wheel can look after doing that. Listening to the spoke tension is the first thing I do with a used wheel, I will loosen all of the spokes about a turn, then get the tone even on all of them, then tighten them back up and truing it up from there. On the rear wheel the drive side will have a higher pitch then the non drive side of course due to the shorter spokes on that side. Start with a front wheel first as they are much easier to deal with then the rear but once you get the front down you can move to the rear to move forward. I can build a set of wheels from start to finish in about an hour unless its been a while since I last did one. That is if I have everything laid out and ready to go.

[@edscyclingwithcoyotes]

Great information. Thank you. This was my first wheel rebuild, and I realized I need to learn more, so I'll look for the book you recommend. I kinda went at it willy-nilly so I bought a wheel truing stand and a spoke tension checker for my next wheels. I have a tin ear so listening for the pitch of the spokes doesn't work for me. Hopefully, my next wheel won't take me three days to true.

[@jstar1000]

@@edscyclingwithcoyotes Lol I understand, I have played guitar and piano my whole life so I have a great ear for it. The first time I did a wheel it was a whole bicycle. I took both wheels apart, cleaned everything up and built them back. I think I used info from Sheldon Browns website back then which was good enough but the book I mentioned is way better and you can print it out and keep it on hand for reference while building them up. Once you do it a couple of times its super easy and fast. I really enjoy building wheels. I like to put colored nipples on like the blue anodized ones and use the same blue anodized cable end caps on the ends of the cables to match it really adds a nice touch. Of course you could to red, orange or what ever.

[@edscyclingwithcoyotes]

That's a neat idea with the spoke nipple colors. I may do that.

[@jstar1000]

@@edscyclingwithcoyotes I emailed you the wheel book did you get it?

[@edscyclingwithcoyotes]

I got it and started reading it. Thank you. I much appreciate it. My wife calls me "Over Do It Ed" because once I get my teeth into something I go full bore into what I'm doing. I love a challenge!

[@jstar1000]

Isn't that a steel rim? I hate those more then anything and replace them with aluminum if I even mess with them at all. I never have used a tension meter I use my ear and pluck the spokes and listen to the tone, that tells me all I need to know.

[@user-cx2bk6pm2f]

A tension meter would have made this easier, and maybe faster and more enjoyable. With a tension meter, you know exactly which spokes to go after. It's feasible that you could have avoided the egg-shape... and having to fix it.

[@edscyclingwithcoyotes]

Good advice. Thanks. I'll buy one. I worked on the wheel some more after I made the video and got rid of the egg shape and got the wobble to a minimum so the tire doesn't rub the stays. This wheel taught me allot.