Hand Built Gravel Wheels in the Workshop 🚴

[@ThePensionerAdventurer]

Hello Paul, Really interesting video, thank you... I really like the drill bit tool, simple logic what works super well... Take care. Paul,,

[@veloworks9266]

Hi Paul, ah yes a favourite of mine too! Thanks again for watching 👍

[@paulsymons562]

What excellent choice of specification.... I have two pairs of wheels I built to pretty much the same spec except I used silver spokes and nipples. One pair 650b with 2.25 x 27.5 tyres and one 700c with 38mm tyres. I swap between them on my gravel bike dependant on what I am doing. They have proved to be pretty strong and resilient in use. Can't beat a good pair of handbuilt wheels - I still think its bordering on witchcraft how they go from a floppy tangle of wire and to a super strong structure with just a few turns of the nipples. Certainly one of the most satisfying skills I have learned over the years.

[@veloworks9266]

Thank you for sharing your love of these wheels and the hand building process! Happy cycling and thanks for watching 🤩

[@cliveelsmore]

Very interesting, Paul. Using nail varnish (at 2:47) certainly got my attention! ;) I have some questions... Why not 36 hole rims? Overkill for a gravel bike? I've been brought up (by the CTC) to believe that 36 hole wheels are necessary for hard-working bikes. Can you select quiet rear hubs having a large number of detent positions? I have a bike which has 98 positions I think, going by feel, but it's extremely noisy. (It's a Pinion/Gates bike which has ratchets and pawls in the gearbox so you need lots of hub detents to reduce the amount of slop in the drive.) Do the spokes on each side all have a similar amount of "twang"? If so, could you tension a wheel by sound alone? I don't really understand how the tension gauge works - it doesn't look particularly precise. Can't you just keep squeezing it and get a different reading? What was causing the wheel to rotate to a natural position as it did at 10:25? Might it be the steel pins which hold the ends of the rim together - or maybe due to the valve hole? Great video Paul and Sarah. I enjoy all of your content. The wheel building is fascinating!

[@SimonBrowneNZ]

Ha ha. That nail polish got my attention too. Was Paul going out on the town and needed a close up of those nipples? Ok, we know it was you Sarah. Great team work. Thanks for a full explanation of lacing a wheel Paul; totally put me off DIY. Hope you guys are well and enjoying your new location.

[@veloworks9266]

Thanks so much for watching and your comments. Glad you like the polish 😂💅🏻 In answer to your Q’s: - 36 holes - nowadays it’s more common to have a lower spoke count with 24 on the front and 28 on the rear being the most common. We still build a lot of 32 spoke wheels but it comes down to the components you are using more than the spoke count. For example if you have a rim that’s rated to 130kg the spoke count won’t affect this as long as the wheel is built properly. - quiet hubs question - what do you mean? Could you explain a bit more. - The spokes on the non drive and the non disc side have less tension. You could tension a wheel by sound alone but that would be silly when you have tools to do the job for you. - tension gauge works by taking a deflection reading from the spokes therefore it gives a very consistent reading. - wheel rotating to its natural position will be the steel pins holding the rim together. Hope that helps and happy cycling!

[@cliveelsmore]

@@veloworks9266 Hi Paul, thanks very much for your reply. Re tensioning by sound being silly, I don't have a tension meter so sound might be an option for me for very occasional wheel builds, unless I buy one. Hard for me, as an amateur, to justify the expense though. To try to explain the noisy hub issue, I've uploaded a video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHnGnGOdlrSEm8U. I think the hub is probably made by a small engineering outfit and so isn't very refined. This hub is so noisy I don't need a bell! The rim on the wheel is cracked so I've been thinking about my options. I'm not really expecting an answer from you: few manufacturers seem to specify the number of engagement points (maybe that's a better term than detent points), and I've never noticed any specifying how noisy their hubs are. Maybe I should contact Pinion about this issue.

[@veloworks9266]

@@cliveelsmore hi Clive, that may be how it’s meant to be - not sure as we don’t work with Pinion. I would certainly contact them. Tool wise - Even if you do only a couple of wheel builds I think it’s definitely worth investing in this tool 👍

[@robrobinson420]

I got them rims on both wheel sets one with Shimano hubs for gravel. one with dt swiss hubs for road maybe over kill but roads rough and im 17 stone and i get no flex. I did both with the park tool tension and app as both came not done right .

[@veloworks9266]

Great wheels! Enjoy them 👍👍👍

[@robrobinson420]

@@veloworks9266 thanks there alot better than hunt i did have . Thanks for video 👍

[@DavidMolloy-x1m]

Great video and lovely wheels. I was wondering if you could do a 'stealth' version without the DT Swiss logos etc? I live in London and like to keep my bike looking low key.

[@veloworks9266]

Hi, thanks for your nice comments and watching the video. We can do a similar wheel with no logos but a slightly different rim profile. If you want more Info give us a message through our website 👍

[@MrSportster12]

Nice video. With car / motorcycle wheels they are ‘balanced’ by sticking small weights on the rim so when spun they don’t always come to rest in the same place. Do you have to do that with bicycle wheels. Nice shade of nail varnish too Paul!

[@veloworks9266]

No, just balance the spokes. And it suits him doesn’t it 💅🏻😂 (Sarah)