http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: wheels - LBS or DIY? en Wed, 24 Jun 2026 23:03:08 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294380 Sat, 27 Oct 2018 20:55:29 +0000 I were right about that saddle 294380@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>useful and informative</em></p> <p>Can't have been me. Happy to look after your credit card mind. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294375 Sat, 27 Oct 2018 20:33:23 +0000 urchaidh 294375@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Thanks to IWRATS (aka I would replace all those spokes) for a really useful and informative afternoon at the bike station, teaching me how to look after my poor abused wheels.</p> <p>Turns out it's a remarkably relaxing and rewarding task, have had to hand over my credit card to my wife for safe keeping until the buzz dies down a bit. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294097 Wed, 24 Oct 2018 15:47:55 +0000 urchaidh 294097@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Thanks for all the great advice, much appreciated. One of our number has generously offered to meet up with me at the Bike Station and talk me through the basics so we'll see how I get on.</p> <p>This forum is utterly brilliant! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294095 Wed, 24 Oct 2018 15:26:05 +0000 DaveC 294095@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>EBC have a course soon I understand. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294056 Wed, 24 Oct 2018 09:01:10 +0000 threefromleith 294056@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@dougal I can't remember what I did yesterday, never mind 10 years ago. But you're welcome to come and hear me say "No idea, sorry!" for a nominal fee :-) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294026 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 18:40:06 +0000 Arellcat 294026@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>While I'm sure jumping on a bicycle wheel is a great way to de-stress after a hectic day building wheels/working in the office/etc, I always referred to the wheel building step as stress relieving. I wear cycling mitts for it, as it can get hard on the hands. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294023 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 18:38:25 +0000 I were right about that saddle 294023@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I am confused about many things, I must admit. But not that. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294017 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 17:31:19 +0000 le_soigneur 294017@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>re jumping: I think you are confusing wheel dishing with <a href="https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/stress-relieving.html">de-stressing</a>. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294016 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 15:47:45 +0000 I were right about that saddle 294016@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>My mate at school used to dish rear wheels he'd built by jumping on them. True. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294015 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 15:37:07 +0000 chdot 294015@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>“The main bit of advice I remember from the wheel course was to make only small adjustments, and check often!“</p> <p>No one told me that when I was 14... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294013 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 14:46:21 +0000 Snowy 294013@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I have long intended to make a basic DIY wheel truing stand such as <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/folkdevil/561283466/">this one</a>. Proper ones are a bit pricey.</p> <p>The main bit of advice I remember from the wheel course was to make only small adjustments, and check often! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294006 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 13:16:07 +0000 dougal 294006@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@threefromleith See one, do one, teach one - presumably you're offering courses to finally consolidate those skills :-) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294003 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 13:10:34 +0000 threefromleith 294003@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Ask Santa to pay for you to do the EBC wheel-building course.</p> <p>I did it a number of years ago &amp; came away with a lovely set of hand-built wheels that I still have (the parts cost me something like £80)</p> <p>Sadly, I've never built or had to maintain a wheel since, so all of the skills learned have been long-forgotten through a complete absence of use..... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-294001 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 13:08:14 +0000 wingpig 294001@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Read both Sheldon's wheelbuilding page and the equivalent from Zinn's bike maintenance textbook if possible.</p> <p>Get a spoke key - one of the circular ones with multiple sizes is best - you might already have some popular sizes on multi-tools or toolsets.</p> <p>Get a packet of Lidl/Aldi baby wipes for cleaning your fingers after touching the wheels.</p> <p>Start with the warped wheel, assuming it's side-side warped rather than in-out: Upend the bike. Pluck all the spokes and listen to the pitch. Compare to a similar non-warped wheel if possible to get an idea of what a non-warped wheel should sound like. If it's a rear wheel it'll probably be lower on the drive side. If there are any obvious major differences in pitch between the warped bit and the majority of the rest of the wheel, initially try to resolve the warp by loosening higher-pitched/tighter spokes on the side the warp waggles towards and lower-pitched/looser spokes on the side it waggles away from by adjusting single spokes a quarter-turn at a time, applying righty-tighty/lefty-loosey by imagining the spoke as a screw with the head on the rim . After each tightening or loosening lightly grab clutches of four spokes at a time (at the crossover points) and gently squidge them so that they settle.</p> <p>If the warp is not corroborated by differences in pitch, you still have to resolve it by tightening and loosening but have to watch out more for radial warp, so might have to gently and evenly tweak the spokes in the unwarped section to keep the wheel round.</p> <p>Bits which are noticeably looser or tighter than other bits but which are not warped might well decide to warp later, under appropriate knocks/bashes/use, so resolving any imbalances is generally good for wheel-health.</p> <p>For the broken spoke, you need to measure the spoke from the elbow to the tip (inside the nipple) and purchase a replacement. As it should be retained by the rim, you should be able to re-use the nipple. You might have to remove the cassette if it's a rear wheel. Follow the pattern of inward/outward poking-through seen elsewhere in the wheel and insert the new spoke, tighten the new spoke to ballparkish pitch compared to the same-side spokes elsewhere on the wheel then follow the process for truing - as you tighen the new spoke to around the correct level it might start pulling the wheel about even if it's somehow not warped already. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-293998 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 13:04:49 +0000 unhurt 293998@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Advice: when faced with tooth-sooking lie through your own teeth. Never admit it! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19214#post-293996 Tue, 23 Oct 2018 12:58:15 +0000 urchaidh 293996@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Having come back from holiday with a broken spoke on my 'dad bike' and a possible minor warp in one of the kids' wheels I'm considering trying to learn a bit of wheel maintenance. </p> <p>Normally the wheels would be off the the LBS for this sort of thing, they're pretty good and reasonably priced, but this sort of job is only going to get more frequent and so I should maybe learn to do it myself.</p> <p>The obvious danger is that I'll end up at the LBS anyway, with wheels in a worse state than when I started, listening to air being sucked in through clenched teeth and being asked 'what cowboy did that for you?"</p> <p>So, any advice or pointers, either on my specific problem of replacing a spoke and truing a wheel, or in a more general wheel maintenance sense? </p>