Pro wheel builder tips: 1. Before you lace up a rim make sure it's flat and round by holding it up to a straight rim. 2. Grind a 1/4" drive flat screwdriver bit into the shape of a nipple driver (point in the middle) and use it in an electric screwdriver or drill. Even a nipple driver gets tiring if you're building wheels all day. 3. Get a wood or plastic dowel about the size of a pencil. Sharpen it on both ends in a pencil sharpener. Now it can be used to hold nipples and tighten them a couple of turns as you lace the wheel. 4. True a wheel by tone. Pluck the spokes like a guitar string to hear the tone, as you true the wheel try to even out the tone on all the spokes. Spokes on the same side should all sound the same. If some spokes are looser and some tighter the wheel will not stay straight as the wheel is ridden. Even if you have a tensionmeter it's faster to go by tone and then check the final tension with the meter. Repeat untill the splokes are the proper tension. Evening out the tone is similar to what the Park tension graph does visually.
i am not agree with all your points: instead flat screwdriver , take flat insert bit , 5cm long and make point in middle with 2-3 lenghts( 2mm, 4mm, 6mm) and enough wide to hold niple when insert into deep rim.different lenghts bits can be used for prime tighten, for ex, rear wheel, left niples with 6mm , right niples with 2mm, next thing is that same tension of spoke does not guarantee straight wheel,
@@makantahi3731 I did say to use a bit in an electric screwdriver, having the tip at different lengths could be useful, but if you have your spoke lengths correct shouldn't be necessary The point of evening out your spoke tension is to make the spoke tension stable over time, a straight wheel with uneven tension will ride itself out of true (the lower tension spokes will loosen) , a SLIGHTLY less true wheel with even tension will stay that way. The art of wheelsmith is to balance tension uniformity and trueness. Not trying to start an argument, just passing along some types learned from building 1000+ wheels for Ritchey, Wheelsmith, and many bike shops.
@@paulandrews7573 me too, i made about same amount of wheels for few shops, and rim is not uniform stiffness because on place where two ends are bonded, rim is stiffer, so on that place spokes must be on more tension, after i made wheel, i squeeze all spokes symetricaly and by side and then spokes sing, after that i check if wheel is still straight and correct it if needs, mostly more uniform tension on spokes is on single , soft rims, on double wall ,deep rims, with less spokes, differences can be noticable, and at the end i put one drop of elastic glue on head of niple and rim, what prevents of unscrewing but can be trued because that glue is not strong as treadlock glue
@@paulandrews7573 i put niples into cup of wd40 to reduce drag when screwing, and wd40 vapourise soon, so it does not leave to lubricate, no other prep
Aloha, this is great! This is how I did my very first wheel re-build back in the 70's. I learned a lot and it goes to show it can be done with a lot of patience. And I grew up without a lot of money but lots of time. One trick for the spoke nipples and having them "fall" or not fall inside the rim is I use an old spoke that can be threaded into the back side of the nipple. I can put one in or take one out without it falling into the rim. Thanks for putting this together, lots of great things can be done without fancy tools and having patience and time. I have to say I do have all the special tools to help speed things up AND build better wheels.
+Seth's Bike Hacks - Shoot. Yeah. There are other tricks I've picked up over the years of building so many wheels for all kinds of applications over the years. Thanks again for posting up so many helpful videos.
That old spoke is often called a "feeder spoke" or just a "feeder", and often cut down to about 4 inches to make it (a) more manageable and (b) easier to identify when you have a bench full of spokes.
Another option is to tape the old rim and the new rim together matching up the valve holes next to each other, you then move each spoke across one by one. Saves a fair bit of confusion
In my opinion simpler method is full unlace the wheel with no tape, zips and this stuff, and lace the new rim with one of lacing method. But I'm bike mechanic and I build new wheels every week ;)
Szymon Świtalski that might be actually the easiest way even for a less experienced person. I've only built one wheel so far, and it was just looking up for a tutorial on RUclips and following it. took me maybe 2 hours and the wheel turned out quite decent
Simon O Same. I have never built a wheel until now. (Actually, had to jump from the 9mm qr front hub to 20mm front hub) It took me 1 hour to lace it with the three cross pattern and true it.
This is probably the most useful truing advice found on the internet. Most people true a wheel once in a blue moon and don't want to buy expensive tools for just that one time. Thank you.
I did both wheels. In bike shop I had to wait for 2 weeks, so I decided to do it myself. Used my bicycle as a stand, and plastic ruler attached with rubber bands as a measurement. Checked spokes tension by listening to note of each spoke. Took some time, but it's totally doable with no special tools if you have some engineering skills, and musical skills too :)
Hey Seth. I love this video. I work fulltime on high end bikes somewhere in the netherlands. Just a tip so you can try this again the next time. Place the wheel in a vice so it lays flat. You can place your new rim on top of the old one. Maybe tie them together making sure that the valve holes are lined up. Now start by taking one spoke nipple out and moving the spoke to the new rim. Reinstall the nipple in the new rim. Just work your way around the rim. Dont bother with the lacing. It will stay the same if you just move every spoke to the new rim. Now you need to tension and treu the wheel. But you got that part pretty much figured out already. Just need to practise. Mastering this takes time.
I am homeless and the SAN MATEO POLICE DEPARTMENT threw away my brand new specialized bicycle that I bought with some money i saved so I could continue going to work so I could one day rent my own room or apartment. My friend gave me a EXTREMELY Rare KARPIEL disco DownHill Bicycle and the rear end keeps destroying Rear Wheels. I am going to have to build a rear wheel for that aggressive riding. Someone said I was going Banshee. Anyways, your video is going to be very helpful when I am ready to build. THANK YOU for Creating and Sharing.
Fair play to You for having a go with just a spoke key Seth :-) I learned to build wheels back in the 80's and spent a bit of time in the Netherlands in the late 90's where I learned a lot about the physics and mechanics of wheel building from a proper Dutch Fietsenmaker. He also taught me several different ways to lace wheels creating different custom spoke patterns. I still build my own wheels and even strip and completely rebuild new wheels before I use them as most 'mass produced' wheels are made to quite wide tolerances. I prefer to use tighter tolerances and know I have a good strong pair of wheels under me. The only way to get good at building, tensioning and truing wheels is to practice, a lot! Although I have built and repaired wheels with just a spoke key, it is a bit of a faff and using the proper tools does make it a bit quicker and easier. :-) All the best & keep having fun!
This is one of the few things i never bothered to learn. I figured the same thing, it takes a lot of mistakes and built wheels to get good at it. How many wheels does the average person go through in the life of a bike setup? Without doing this on the job or building for other people, i just don't see anybody realistically being putting in the hours to good at it. Then you factor in the low cost of paying someone who's already good at it and it makes literally no sense to do it yourself.
Seth's Bike Hacks hello Seth, I really hope your doing well and that your move went great.. I'm hoping if I can send you a picture of my MTB to get your feed back on it... any and all help I could get would be very helpful thanks...
cheers for the sitting the rim on some cans dishing trick seth, checked a wheel i built recently last night doing this but used a tape measure to check instead of pennies, not only had i trued it inbetween my brake blocks but i had also got a perfect dish already, amazing :)
I remember years ago when I destroyed the front wheel of my motor cycle on of the other riders gave me the name of a wheel builder. I had not even considered having it rebuilt, my first thought was to buy a complete new wheel. I priced up the difference of a new compared to Ray Halfacre's services. It was a no brainer, and instead of just an off the shelf (after being thrown around in transit) wheel my rebuilt wheel was trued and balanced. I like to think I'm pretty good at mechanical things and fixing things but total respect, the man was a true artisan I would have no idea which way to even start well done to you for having a go
Seth, I know this video is almost two years old but I just watched it again and want to commend you on your balls to do this. I love your vids, thanks for what you do.
I've built and trued several wheels, one of which was a 36-hole rim on a 32-hole hub, and thanks to RUclips and tons of tutorial videos I've found it pretty darn easy to build and true a wheel. And the only special tool I have for it IS a spoke wrench. For dishing I prop the wheel up on its rim with the outmost end of the hub just a few millimeters off the ground, measure that ground clearance and then repeat the same on the other side. For truing I just mount the wheel on the fork / frame, spin it and apporach the spinning rim with my fingernail to find the highest points. I've never had problems building pretty darn straight wheels that way. Oh, and for anyone interested in seeing that 36 / 32 wheel being built, I've got a time lapse video of that on my channel.
Seth your the man, I love your channel! A wise master mechanic advised the use of a toothpick for a nipple driver and it works pretty well in my experience. Although I totally agree with you the lacing and trueing is a pain!
I know this is from a few years ago but wheel builds cost a whole lot more than $35, over in Australia it is usually around $95 to $110 per wheel for lacing them up and about $30 for measuring the spokes (that's what was the average rate when I worked as a mechanic for a couple of years) and I imagine that it has only gone up since then
This was totally worth watching. I had no idea there was such thing as a nipple driver. Double wall rims used to tick me off, but with the proper tool it'll be nothing. Never tried taping the spokes, but when I'm respoking it's usually because I want different hubs.
I'm actually about to start one right now on my Polygon Xtrada 5. The rear stock hubs are absolutely garbage so I checked between the sofa cushions and underneath my bed for some scratch and purchased a Koozer 390 HG rear hub and the difference in mechanism between the old and new is significant. There aren't any dependable reviews I could find for this specific brand and model so I'm hoping for the best and gonna try to be optimistic. Reading some of the comments here, I've mentally prepared myself to be working on this all morning as it's about 6:30bam here in Jersey. First timer here as well, hope all goes without a hitch. Wish me luck y'all 🤘
Was about to do this exact thing, so glad I watched this...I will be going to my local bike shop. Thanks and keep it real! Love your stuff, keep it coming!
I cracked my carbon rim and purchased a replacement. I was strongly considering rebuilding the wheel myself. My local shop charges $75 to build a wheel. You have convinced me to send it to the shop.
I took a wheel apart 10 days ago, then started learning how to put it together by reading and watching videos. Your video was the one that gave me the confidence to proceed...
Needed new rer wheel for my DJ bike and laced a wheel for first time (couldn't give it to shop because I don't have any LBS). In the end after 40 minutes my wheel was centered, dished almost perfectly. Tried it up on jump and trick I smashed old wheel and it holds up fine. I don't know about others but it wasn't difficult for me to lace it up. But it still is challenge to do it on your own.
After just doing this with a rim that I can't afford to replace, and I had to get it right to be able to ride, and hours and hours of frustration, this video made me laugh so hard I peed a little, and cried. Thank you, I needed that.
Nice Video, if you do this again it is a good idea to have a spare spoke. You can thread the nipple the wrong way around onto the spare spoke and use this as a guide to put the spokes into the rim. When you thread the nipple on the spoke, it automatically unthreads fron the "guidespoke". I startes building all my wheels a few month ago, and found that all tools I need are: - Nipple wrench (I am a car mechanic, so I havr enough strength in my fingers and hands to do two wheels without any fatigue in my hand) - bladed spoke holder (because my crossbike has bladed spokes) - spoke tensiometer ("cheap" but good one from Parktools) - and some old lowers from a fork and an old rearend from a cheapo fully-bike. The tensiometer is the only specialty toll, and i think it is extremely important, because spoke-tension is very important, and if you just do it by eyeballing it, you will end up with a wheel that is visually straight but where the load is unevenly distributed between the spokes, and this can lead to snapped spokes or cracked hub-holes.
This is very true. Wheels are worth the experienced pro build. I've built a few wheels, it's not easy, requires a lot of time and tools and technique are vital. That said, if you can learn it, it's very satisfying to know you can DIY
Well done though. I've been truing my wheels without a truing stand since I've been about 13 and I'm now in my 40s, but I've never rebuilt a whole wheel. I've changed out nearly half my spokes, changed a hub and fixed wheels in most ways that you can think of, but never a whole wheel. I guess I should try soon. Regardless, you'll find that all the experience will only make things easier and make you're mountain biking experiences even better. Because I've been doing it so long, I guess I find that part fairly easy. It's weird because now, that I'm pretty much just mountain biking, I'm terrified of bleeding my brakes. What is easier for some is terrifying for others, but as I said before, I think the little things make for a better overall mountain biking experience. Great job!
I've recently taken to building and truing my own wheels, because local shops have been getting increasingly more busy and I need to have my bike available daily. I remembered this video and it also came up in my recommended just now. If you're interested in doing it at home bot don't want to spend money on a truing stand, look for "unior pocket truing tool". It's a simple tool that mounts to your fork or frame and which will do just as good of a job as a basic truing stand. The advantage is that you don't have to worry about hub size and axle dimensions. And it's super cheap. If you're doing wheel building in ghetto conditions, don't get alu nipples. Get brass ones. It's super easy to break the alu nipples even when you're careful. When you're building your wheel for the first time, it's very likely you're going to be re-doing it and even if not, you're going to have to tighten the wheel once you put some miles into it. It's easier to work on dishing in the frame/fork. You just measure the distance from each side. It honestly doesn't have to be 100%, as long as it's not enough to affect which portion of tread you're riding on. Also keep in mind that one side of spokes will be much tighter than the other. Ideally, you want to tighten that side first, and finish working on the wheel by gradually tightening the looser side, because the other side will get incredibly stiff and it may actually be difficult to tighten.
Watching this made me realize that I'm lucky that I've learned building a single wheel in 4 hrs, made my own truing stand with scrap metal and a little bit of welding knowledge, and a handmade spoke wrench made with scraps as well. I'm only 15 btw
I replaced a rim with almost this same exact method with zip-ties on the fork and all after i hit on a tree on Rabbit Ears at Alafia. it worked well, but i ended up with a slight hop in the rim also. rode it for about 2 months before i went ahead and took it to my local shop. great video as always Seth, keep up the great content
Have got to say...loved the can trick! Who knew my old Relentless cans could be usefull, though I did use 3 :) Went from about a 1.5cm difference to maybe a mm...thanks so much :)
I built my own wheels last winter using the correct tools and a great book. I didn't save any money, but gaining the knowledge was what I was seeking, so to that end, I feel it was worth it. Full disclosure: my tools are all Park Tools, with a nice DT Swiss spoke wrench, including Park Tool truing stand, nipple driver and tension gauge... Sure it's a lot of money, but I still have the tools and plan to build more as time and money permit.
I am an experienced mechanic and this video slightly horrified me. That said, kudos for jumping in and just doing it. People learn by doing, so thanks for an educational and entertaining video. BTW, one oldschool, yet very lazy method of dealing with a nipple lost in a rim during wheelbuilding is to use a grease gun and squirt some grease through an eyelet near where the nipple is rattling around. Let the grease capture the nipple and leave it there. Not the mark of a mechanic who cares, but if you've ever had a wheel that developed a low speed "tink-tink" noise, this may have been the reason. Eventually, that grease dries out. Anyhow, keep the videos coming! Cheers!
This was so helpful! Would have taken around 3 hours if I hadn't flipped the wheel around and tightened when I thought I was loosening. Its almost perfect, just a few little bumps in the Y-plane.
very very interesting!! i only trued my first wheel the other day thanks to your videos because, as you said, worst comes to worst, i have to buy a new wheel anyway!! and its amazingly satisfying!! i urge anyone to at least give it a try!!! thanks so much :)
i built a set of rims with only a spoke wrench. You can use a spare spoke to thread a nipple through double wall rims, and file 2 of the 4 sides off an old phillips head screwdriver as a makeshift nipple driver. Also dishing by eye in the frame is good enough in most scenarios. In total it took me 1.5 hours to lace and 1 hour to true each rim. Rims were Spank Oozy 295 with Miche xm50 hubs and DT Swiss competition spokes
I can agree that its easier to have your wheels built up for the price. Sometimes even a new set will do( if you aren't going to expensive on the wheel/wheel quality). the fun in building it yourself is what makes wheelbuilding, IMO, is what counts. If you find the satisfaction in it, then its worth your time and effort, but if you rather spend time out there than to sit down and do this, it may not be for you. I have not built one my self, but I really would love to learn and build it myself. Regards
Wheels are usually expensive, and I think if you can afford those, you can afford to pay someone for wheel building. Thank you for doing this video. I'm already reluctant to do learn/do wheel building on my own aside from lacking a truing stand and dishing tool, and now I'm even more reluctant.
last night was my first time to replace a freewheel to cassette, lace spokes and true a whole rear wheel. all i had is a bike stand, spoke wrench, screw driver and 3 zip ties to rebuild the wheel. i removed all spokes and laced it back to prevent scratching the rim paint. the 2 zip ties were to check for wiggle and the 3rd is for the bounce. the most tedious part is removing the old hub and spokes. had to check spoke tension every now and then so it would stay true even on the road. took 4hrs i think in total (more or less). i was able to ride it this morning w/o issues.
A solid month ago I started working in a bikeshop, I'm actually pretty excited in learning some proper wheel building in due time. Also considering getting me 1 of those nice Parktool truing stands for home. Having 3 bikes atm and growing 1 being a Dirt jumper I need to true wheels more than your average rider I think so it'll come in handy plenty. But yes I don't think building a wheel with just a nipple key is all too viable. Also when I bought my wheels online the site I got em from only charged $15 for lacing per wheel, what a bargain :D
I was terrified of doing this with just a screw driver and spoke wrench. But it wasn't that bad! I didn't build a wheel from scratch, but I had a badly egg shaped rim due to incorrect tensioning and about 10 rounded off nipples that needed to be replaced! So I had to loosen all spokes completely in order to remove those stuck 10 then re-tighten all spokes again and finally true the wheel. Took 1.5 hours and it wasn't as hard as you made it sound. Have a reasonably true wheel now and I'm happy! Though after reading some more on the subject, I will go and add equal amount of extra tension on all spokes (couple of turns) in case the initial tension I had is too little for trail riding. Edit: yep, made everything tight and aside from not getting it super true on account of not having a stand or the patience to remove any movement under 2 mm, it's all running well! Let's see how it holds to abuse!
actually i think that lacing a wheel is possible. i did about 4 laces for my mtb and unicycle... a good tip would to practice on a walmart wheel because you dont want to damage an expensive wheel. another tip that can be a solution for the nipples problem is to take the nipple, put a spoke on the OPOSITE side of it and than push it to place. this will work like a nipple driver.
Just rebuilt another wheel on Fri/Sat, took a few hours on Friday afternoon to tear down the old wheel and relaced a fresh hub and rim, then as usual I waited a day before finishing truing it today... as it's a Zen thing. I also changed my fork from a QR air fork with sod all travel, to a 15mm QLoc air fork with 140mm travel, wish I'd built it with that originally as it is so much more solid
The first wheel I ever built, i snowflaked the spokes. Strongest wheel I’ve ever built and surprisingly true. I’ve never been able to repeat it though.
i'll be replacing my rear hub next week,,, after seeing all the hassle you went thru, I might take my dremmel and turn an old flat screw driver into a nipple driver. thanks for the video.
thats a funny and slightly crazy wheelbuilding technique. you'll try anything eh?! with your chops and enthusiasm mate, it would be great to have you out for a ride in BC. you would love it.
I built mine a couple of months ago with no experience and the wheel is holding up perfect to the abuse🤩 I Weigh 95kg and i send trials drops. No loose spokes or wheel getting out of true. The hub is novatec d256 and the rim is spank spoon32
Istead of an improvised dishing gauge consider what i call "bracketing the target'". Its effectiveness depends upon how well your frame and fork are aligned. After each trip around the wheel and releasing spoke twist ("de-stressing"?) FLIP the wheel before resuming the trueing process. Each time you should be able to bring the wheel closer to being centered .a length of duct tape with the center and ideal position of the rim faces marked aid the accuracy of this technique.
I use scotch tape to hold the spokes together. You've gotta screw the nipples backwards onto an extra spoke to get them in place on double wall rims. I build wheels with just a spoke wrench, but I make "q-tips" of backwards nipples on spokes to get the last three sets in. Dishing in a fork/frame is as good as a gauge as long as everything around the wheel Is symmetrical.
Did a rear wheel the other day...i recommend re lacing as it is easier than letting the spokes in their place.if the spoke length is correct you can get it pretty straight by hand eith a bit of patience.when tightening the nipples go until the threads are just visible(works only on 12mm nipples)and make them equal,then tighten them half a turn.Do a loose spoke truing,then dish,then check for roundness then finally true...or take it to a bikeshop instead:)))
I kinda fucked up my spinal column while trueing my wheel because i was bending myself pretty strangely over the wheel to see if it's getting better. The problem probably also was that i didn't do a lot of sports before i got into trials 4 months ago and also had problems with my spinal column earlier. Keep up the good work Seth and thx for the Video :) Greetings from Austria
I also use a spoke tension meter. This helps a lot when you are doing a rear wheel. Because the drive side and nondrive side has different tensions.. Really nice video and you can swear as much as you want...LOL
Good video, I literally tried to do the same thing one time only at the very end to realize the rim was pretty much vertical to the left hub flange. LBS is definitely money well spent lol
Pro wheel builder tips:
1. Before you lace up a rim make sure it's flat and round by holding it up to a straight rim.
2. Grind a 1/4" drive flat screwdriver bit into the shape of a nipple driver (point in the middle) and use it in an electric screwdriver or drill. Even a nipple driver gets tiring if you're building wheels all day.
3. Get a wood or plastic dowel about the size of a pencil. Sharpen it on both ends in a pencil sharpener. Now it can be used to hold nipples and tighten them a couple of turns as you lace the wheel.
4. True a wheel by tone. Pluck the spokes like a guitar string to hear the tone, as you true the wheel try to even out the tone on all the spokes. Spokes on the same side should all sound the same. If some spokes are looser and some tighter the wheel will not stay straight as the wheel is ridden. Even if you have a tensionmeter it's faster to go by tone and then check the final tension with the meter. Repeat untill the splokes are the proper tension. Evening out the tone is similar to what the Park tension graph does visually.
i am not agree with all your points: instead flat screwdriver , take flat insert bit , 5cm long and make point in middle with 2-3 lenghts( 2mm, 4mm, 6mm) and enough wide to hold niple when insert into deep rim.different lenghts bits can be used for prime tighten, for ex, rear wheel, left niples with 6mm , right niples with 2mm, next thing is that same tension of spoke does not guarantee straight wheel,
@@makantahi3731 I did say to use a bit in an electric screwdriver, having the tip at different lengths could be useful, but if you have your spoke lengths correct shouldn't be necessary
The point of evening out your spoke tension is to make the spoke tension stable over time, a straight wheel with uneven tension will ride itself out of true (the lower tension spokes will loosen) , a SLIGHTLY less true wheel with even tension will stay that way. The art of wheelsmith is to balance tension uniformity and trueness.
Not trying to start an argument, just passing along some types learned from building 1000+ wheels for Ritchey, Wheelsmith, and many bike shops.
@@paulandrews7573 me too, i made about same amount of wheels for few shops, and rim is not uniform stiffness because on place where two ends are bonded, rim is stiffer, so on that place spokes must be on more tension, after i made wheel, i squeeze all spokes symetricaly and by side and then spokes sing, after that i check if wheel is still straight and correct it if needs, mostly more uniform tension on spokes is on single , soft rims, on double wall ,deep rims, with less spokes, differences can be noticable, and at the end i put one drop of elastic glue on head of niple and rim, what prevents of unscrewing but can be trued because that glue is not strong as treadlock glue
@@makantahi3731 have you tried spoke prep? Highly recommend.
@@paulandrews7573 i put niples into cup of wd40 to reduce drag when screwing, and wd40 vapourise soon, so it does not leave to lubricate, no other prep
THANK YOU FOR STOPPING ME FROM CONSIDERING THIS.
I should have seen this earlier, experienced the hard way
Same here!
Hahahaha, 4:03. It was worth a try and really worth the entertainment. Thought the gunshot in the background was your wheel exploding.
ohhhh thats a gunshot!!
Brian masterbatts n pickle parks
Aloha, this is great! This is how I did my very first wheel re-build back in the 70's. I learned a lot and it goes to show it can be done with a lot of patience. And I grew up without a lot of money but lots of time.
One trick for the spoke nipples and having them "fall" or not fall inside the rim is I use an old spoke that can be threaded into the back side of the nipple. I can put one in or take one out without it falling into the rim.
Thanks for putting this together, lots of great things can be done without fancy tools and having patience and time. I have to say I do have all the special tools to help speed things up AND build better wheels.
+G Matsushige that trick with the spoke os smart!
+Seth's Bike Hacks - Shoot. Yeah. There are other tricks I've picked up over the years of building so many wheels for all kinds of applications over the years.
Thanks again for posting up so many helpful videos.
That old spoke is often called a "feeder spoke" or just a "feeder", and often cut down to about 4 inches to make it (a) more manageable and (b) easier to identify when you have a bench full of spokes.
Even better than a spoke is to use a tooth pick !
Another option is to tape the old rim and the new rim together matching up the valve holes next to each other, you then move each spoke across one by one. Saves a fair bit of confusion
In my opinion simpler method is full unlace the wheel with no tape, zips and this stuff, and lace the new rim with one of lacing method. But I'm bike mechanic and I build new wheels every week ;)
Szymon Świtalski that might be actually the easiest way even for a less experienced person. I've only built one wheel so far, and it was just looking up for a tutorial on RUclips and following it. took me maybe 2 hours and the wheel turned out quite decent
Simon O Same. I have never built a wheel until now. (Actually, had to jump from the 9mm qr front hub to 20mm front hub) It took me 1 hour to lace it with the three cross pattern and true it.
Yup. This is the way i replaced a rim on an old dura ace/mavic open pro wheel.
Work at a bike shop. This method is awesome. Of course its better to use new Nipples.
This is probably the most useful truing advice found on the internet. Most people true a wheel once in a blue moon and don't want to buy expensive tools for just that one time. Thank you.
I did both wheels. In bike shop I had to wait for 2 weeks, so I decided to do it myself. Used my bicycle as a stand, and plastic ruler attached with rubber bands as a measurement. Checked spokes tension by listening to note of each spoke. Took some time, but it's totally doable with no special tools if you have some engineering skills, and musical skills too :)
Hey Seth. I love this video. I work fulltime on high end bikes somewhere in the netherlands.
Just a tip so you can try this again the next time. Place the wheel in a vice so it lays flat. You can place your new rim on top of the old one. Maybe tie them together making sure that the valve holes are lined up.
Now start by taking one spoke nipple out and moving the spoke to the new rim. Reinstall the nipple in the new rim. Just work your way around the rim. Dont bother with the lacing. It will stay the same if you just move every spoke to the new rim.
Now you need to tension and treu the wheel. But you got that part pretty much figured out already. Just need to practise. Mastering this takes time.
I am homeless and the SAN MATEO POLICE DEPARTMENT threw away my brand new specialized bicycle that I bought with some money i saved so I could continue going to work so I could one day rent my own room or apartment. My friend gave me a EXTREMELY Rare KARPIEL disco DownHill Bicycle and the rear end keeps destroying Rear Wheels. I am going to have to build a rear wheel for that aggressive riding. Someone said I was going Banshee. Anyways, your video is going to be very helpful when I am ready to build. THANK YOU for Creating and Sharing.
love how you don't spend time talking shit and you leave the clip for the end. keep it up, you put out great content
Fair play to You for having a go with just a spoke key Seth :-) I learned to build wheels back in the 80's and spent a bit of time in the Netherlands in the late 90's where I learned a lot about the physics and mechanics of wheel building from a proper Dutch Fietsenmaker. He also taught me several different ways to lace wheels creating different custom spoke patterns. I still build my own wheels and even strip and completely rebuild new wheels before I use them as most 'mass produced' wheels are made to quite wide tolerances. I prefer to use tighter tolerances and know I have a good strong pair of wheels under me. The only way to get good at building, tensioning and truing wheels is to practice, a lot! Although I have built and repaired wheels with just a spoke key, it is a bit of a faff and using the proper tools does make it a bit quicker and easier. :-) All the best & keep having fun!
This is one of the few things i never bothered to learn. I figured the same thing, it takes a lot of mistakes and built wheels to get good at it. How many wheels does the average person go through in the life of a bike setup? Without doing this on the job or building for other people, i just don't see anybody realistically being putting in the hours to good at it. Then you factor in the low cost of paying someone who's already good at it and it makes literally no sense to do it yourself.
I love your video´s. I hope you can make this your primary income and give us great content and you having more time for riding and video´s.
+Freddy Fox 500 me too!
Seth's Bike Hacks hello Seth, I really hope your doing well and that your move went great.. I'm hoping if I can send you a picture of my MTB to get your feed back on it... any and all help I could get would be very helpful thanks...
Freddy Fox 500 i
This video helped me a lot :) gave me more confidence to start my own wheelbuild :D
Ok
cheers for the sitting the rim on some cans dishing trick seth, checked a wheel i built recently last night doing this but used a tape measure to check instead of pennies, not only had i trued it inbetween my brake blocks but i had also got a perfect dish already, amazing :)
Lucky for us we have a local bike coop with all the tools needed to build a wheel. Thanks for the entertainment!
I remember years ago when I destroyed the front wheel of my motor cycle on of the other riders gave me the name of a wheel builder. I had not even considered having it rebuilt, my first thought was to buy a complete new wheel. I priced up the difference of a new compared to Ray Halfacre's services. It was a no brainer, and instead of just an off the shelf (after being thrown around in transit) wheel my rebuilt wheel was trued and balanced. I like to think I'm pretty good at mechanical things and fixing things but total respect, the man was a true artisan I would have no idea which way to even start well done to you for having a go
Seth, I know this video is almost two years old but I just watched it again and want to commend you on your balls to do this. I love your vids, thanks for what you do.
I've built and trued several wheels, one of which was a 36-hole rim on a 32-hole hub, and thanks to RUclips and tons of tutorial videos I've found it pretty darn easy to build and true a wheel. And the only special tool I have for it IS a spoke wrench. For dishing I prop the wheel up on its rim with the outmost end of the hub just a few millimeters off the ground, measure that ground clearance and then repeat the same on the other side. For truing I just mount the wheel on the fork / frame, spin it and apporach the spinning rim with my fingernail to find the highest points.
I've never had problems building pretty darn straight wheels that way.
Oh, and for anyone interested in seeing that 36 / 32 wheel being built, I've got a time lapse video of that on my channel.
Your videos are what saved me and my bike many times, love ur videos
you my man..... You are a f*****g legend
Good video. Thanks, taught me enough, never to try to re-spoke wheels, just replace them.
4:22 I Was like damn, that was a hard hit.. then I realized they were right next to a gun range lol
Seth your the man, I love your channel! A wise master mechanic advised the use of a toothpick for a nipple driver and it works pretty well in my experience. Although I totally agree with you the lacing and trueing is a pain!
Great video! Humility is a virtue. Cheers.
I know this is from a few years ago but wheel builds cost a whole lot more than $35, over in Australia it is usually around $95 to $110 per wheel for lacing them up and about $30 for measuring the spokes (that's what was the average rate when I worked as a mechanic for a couple of years) and I imagine that it has only gone up since then
Best video I've ever watched. Really needed the reminder to not let my ego bite off more than I can chew
This was totally worth watching. I had no idea there was such thing as a nipple driver. Double wall rims used to tick me off, but with the proper tool it'll be nothing. Never tried taping the spokes, but when I'm respoking it's usually because I want different hubs.
This is a brilliantly creative video idea, Seth! I actually snapped a spoke on my eastons last week when trying 180s ahaha
you and your informative videos are the best. I am new to mountain biking and have learned so much with your videos. keep up the good work.
I'm actually about to start one right now on my Polygon Xtrada 5. The rear stock hubs are absolutely garbage so I checked between the sofa cushions and underneath my bed for some scratch and purchased a Koozer 390 HG rear hub and the difference in mechanism between the old and new is significant. There aren't any dependable reviews I could find for this specific brand and model so I'm hoping for the best and gonna try to be optimistic. Reading some of the comments here, I've mentally prepared myself to be working on this all morning as it's about 6:30bam here in Jersey. First timer here as well, hope all goes without a hitch. Wish me luck y'all 🤘
Great video man, in awe the entire time... until I got to the end and yeah, I’ll be taking it to the shop
OMG... this is comic genius. Thanks! I look forward to watching your other videos now, and I will absolutely be sharing this one.
0:01
Seth: a good day to ri...
Tree: surprise motherf*cker
LOL
Thank you for saving me a ton of stress and frustration I was considering this.
Was about to do this exact thing, so glad I watched this...I will be going to my local bike shop. Thanks and keep it real! Love your stuff, keep it coming!
I cracked my carbon rim and purchased a replacement. I was strongly considering rebuilding the wheel myself. My local shop charges $75 to build a wheel. You have convinced me to send it to the shop.
You did a great job with this
Seriously dude you have some of the most entertaining and informative videos on Mountain biking! Keep it up love it! Jason
Great video, thank you. More information in less time than most bike repair videos, well done.
I took a wheel apart 10 days ago, then started learning how to put it together by reading and watching videos. Your video was the one that gave me the confidence to proceed...
This might be my favorite SBH video. Mainly because that crash is so relatable.
Needed new rer wheel for my DJ bike and laced a wheel for first time (couldn't give it to shop because I don't have any LBS). In the end after 40 minutes my wheel was centered, dished almost perfectly. Tried it up on jump and trick I smashed old wheel and it holds up fine. I don't know about others but it wasn't difficult for me to lace it up. But it still is challenge to do it on your own.
After just doing this with a rim that I can't afford to replace, and I had to get it right to be able to ride, and hours and hours of frustration, this video made me laugh so hard I peed a little, and cried. Thank you, I needed that.
I've been building my wheels with just a spoke wrench all my life so when my LBS said they can lace a wheel in 15 min I was in awe. Now I know why lol
I just used an old fork and rim brakes to align an out of true wheel. Works like a charm every time!
Thanks for this! I was entertaining the thought of rebuilding mine. Think I'll let the shop do it.
Nice Video,
if you do this again it is a good idea to have a spare spoke.
You can thread the nipple the wrong way around onto the spare spoke and use this as a guide to put the spokes into the rim.
When you thread the nipple on the spoke, it automatically unthreads fron the "guidespoke".
I startes building all my wheels a few month ago, and found that all tools I need are:
- Nipple wrench (I am a car mechanic, so I havr enough strength in my fingers and hands to do two wheels without any fatigue in my hand)
- bladed spoke holder (because my crossbike has bladed spokes)
- spoke tensiometer ("cheap" but good one from Parktools)
- and some old lowers from a fork and an old rearend from a cheapo fully-bike.
The tensiometer is the only specialty toll, and i think it is extremely important, because spoke-tension is very important, and if you just do it by eyeballing it, you will end up with a wheel that is visually straight but where the load is unevenly distributed between the spokes, and this can lead to snapped spokes or cracked hub-holes.
This is the exact video that got me into wheelbuilding some three years ago
This is very true. Wheels are worth the experienced pro build. I've built a few wheels, it's not easy, requires a lot of time and tools and technique are vital. That said, if you can learn it, it's very satisfying to know you can DIY
Well done though. I've been truing my wheels without a truing stand since I've been about 13 and I'm now in my 40s, but I've never rebuilt a whole wheel. I've changed out nearly half my spokes, changed a hub and fixed wheels in most ways that you can think of, but never a whole wheel. I guess I should try soon. Regardless, you'll find that all the experience will only make things easier and make you're mountain biking experiences even better.
Because I've been doing it so long, I guess I find that part fairly easy. It's weird because now, that I'm pretty much just mountain biking, I'm terrified of bleeding my brakes. What is easier for some is terrifying for others, but as I said before, I think the little things make for a better overall mountain biking experience. Great job!
Seth, I dig your hacks and tutorials, man. Strong Island!
Ha! I did the same thing until I got to the dishing part, then I lost hope. Great video! Thx from TPA.
S & M Clamping Ritual !! Pretty funny !!!
I've recently taken to building and truing my own wheels, because local shops have been getting increasingly more busy and I need to have my bike available daily. I remembered this video and it also came up in my recommended just now.
If you're interested in doing it at home bot don't want to spend money on a truing stand, look for "unior pocket truing tool". It's a simple tool that mounts to your fork or frame and which will do just as good of a job as a basic truing stand. The advantage is that you don't have to worry about hub size and axle dimensions. And it's super cheap.
If you're doing wheel building in ghetto conditions, don't get alu nipples. Get brass ones. It's super easy to break the alu nipples even when you're careful. When you're building your wheel for the first time, it's very likely you're going to be re-doing it and even if not, you're going to have to tighten the wheel once you put some miles into it.
It's easier to work on dishing in the frame/fork. You just measure the distance from each side. It honestly doesn't have to be 100%, as long as it's not enough to affect which portion of tread you're riding on.
Also keep in mind that one side of spokes will be much tighter than the other. Ideally, you want to tighten that side first, and finish working on the wheel by gradually tightening the looser side, because the other side will get incredibly stiff and it may actually be difficult to tighten.
Watching this made me realize that I'm lucky that I've learned building a single wheel in 4 hrs, made my own truing stand with scrap metal and a little bit of welding knowledge, and a handmade spoke wrench made with scraps as well. I'm only 15 btw
great
You can also check the dishing by seeing if the center of the rim is at the center of the fork.
Good video.
I'm glad I have a bike shop I trust.
Best wishes, John in the Peak District.
I replaced a rim with almost this same exact method with zip-ties on the fork and all after i hit on a tree on Rabbit Ears at Alafia. it worked well, but i ended up with a slight hop in the rim also. rode it for about 2 months before i went ahead and took it to my local shop. great video as always Seth, keep up the great content
Have got to say...loved the can trick! Who knew my old Relentless cans could be usefull, though I did use 3 :) Went from about a 1.5cm difference to maybe a mm...thanks so much :)
The tool you miss the most is the bike shop😅😅😅
I built my own wheels last winter using the correct tools and a great book.
I didn't save any money, but gaining the knowledge was what I was seeking, so to that end, I feel it was worth it.
Full disclosure: my tools are all Park Tools, with a nice DT Swiss spoke wrench, including Park Tool truing stand, nipple driver and tension gauge...
Sure it's a lot of money, but I still have the tools and plan to build more as time and money permit.
I am an experienced mechanic and this video slightly horrified me. That said, kudos for jumping in and just doing it. People learn by doing, so thanks for an educational and entertaining video.
BTW, one oldschool, yet very lazy method of dealing with a nipple lost in a rim during wheelbuilding is to use a grease gun and squirt some grease through an eyelet near where the nipple is rattling around. Let the grease capture the nipple and leave it there. Not the mark of a mechanic who cares, but if you've ever had a wheel that developed a low speed "tink-tink" noise, this may have been the reason. Eventually, that grease dries out.
Anyhow, keep the videos coming! Cheers!
This was so helpful! Would have taken around 3 hours if I hadn't flipped the wheel around and tightened when I thought I was loosening. Its almost perfect, just a few little bumps in the Y-plane.
Good idea , we need victim before to give the tutorial . Absolutely fantastic tips, thank you so much. LOL. Cheers.
I love when you do experiments like this and this one was really eye opening
I will never do that my self. Thank you for sharing.
very very interesting!! i only trued my first wheel the other day thanks to your videos because, as you said, worst comes to worst, i have to buy a new wheel anyway!! and its amazingly satisfying!! i urge anyone to at least give it a try!!! thanks so much :)
i built a set of rims with only a spoke wrench. You can use a spare spoke to thread a nipple through double wall rims, and file 2 of the 4 sides off an old phillips head screwdriver as a makeshift nipple driver. Also dishing by eye in the frame is good enough in most scenarios. In total it took me 1.5 hours to lace and 1 hour to true each rim.
Rims were Spank Oozy 295 with Miche xm50 hubs and DT Swiss competition spokes
I can agree that its easier to have your wheels built up for the price. Sometimes even a new set will do( if you aren't going to expensive on the wheel/wheel quality).
the fun in building it yourself is what makes wheelbuilding, IMO, is what counts. If you find the satisfaction in it, then its worth your time and effort, but if you rather spend time out there than to sit down and do this, it may not be for you.
I have not built one my self, but I really would love to learn and build it myself.
Regards
Yup, Matt has super reasonable prices. But the video was very useful, so thanks for making it.
Well I'm going to try and dish my front wheel, thanks for the heads up
New MTBer so watching all your old videos, love it how the gunshot coincides with the crash like a sniper took you out.
You’re the man Seth, love your vids!
Ahh, that'll buff right out!
Wheels are usually expensive, and I think if you can afford those, you can afford to pay someone for wheel building.
Thank you for doing this video. I'm already reluctant to do learn/do wheel building on my own aside from lacking a truing stand and dishing tool, and now I'm even more reluctant.
You deserve a ton more subs, easily my favorite you tuber. And I don't even do a ton of mtb, they're just entertaining
last night was my first time to replace a freewheel to cassette, lace spokes and true a whole rear wheel. all i had is a bike stand, spoke wrench, screw driver and 3 zip ties to rebuild the wheel. i removed all spokes and laced it back to prevent scratching the rim paint. the 2 zip ties were to check for wiggle and the 3rd is for the bounce. the most tedious part is removing the old hub and spokes. had to check spoke tension every now and then so it would stay true even on the road. took 4hrs i think in total (more or less). i was able to ride it this morning w/o issues.
I built a rear wheel with only a frame, and it still kicking ass after 6 months. True and solid! So FU lol!!
Amazing videos with a very adventurous taste! Thanks Seth you, i hope you can also make this your primary income!
Its useful alright.... I ain't messing with that... glad I ran into your video
dude your videos are truly entertaining. I'm so glad you don't swear anymore you don't need to.
clearly you are not from South Florida haha
+Ronald Tartaglia what are you a priest or what
what is a prist?
un cura
Ronald Tartaglia fuck
A solid month ago I started working in a bikeshop, I'm actually pretty excited in learning some proper wheel building in due time. Also considering getting me 1 of those nice Parktool truing stands for home. Having 3 bikes atm and growing 1 being a Dirt jumper I need to true wheels more than your average rider I think so it'll come in handy plenty.
But yes I don't think building a wheel with just a nipple key is all too viable. Also when I bought my wheels online the site I got em from only charged $15 for lacing per wheel, what a bargain :D
That's some dedication! These are great videos, keep the coming :)
I was terrified of doing this with just a screw driver and spoke wrench. But it wasn't that bad! I didn't build a wheel from scratch, but I had a badly egg shaped rim due to incorrect tensioning and about 10 rounded off nipples that needed to be replaced! So I had to loosen all spokes completely in order to remove those stuck 10 then re-tighten all spokes again and finally true the wheel. Took 1.5 hours and it wasn't as hard as you made it sound. Have a reasonably true wheel now and I'm happy! Though after reading some more on the subject, I will go and add equal amount of extra tension on all spokes (couple of turns) in case the initial tension I had is too little for trail riding.
Edit: yep, made everything tight and aside from not getting it super true on account of not having a stand or the patience to remove any movement under 2 mm, it's all running well! Let's see how it holds to abuse!
Nipples through an S&M clamping ritual? Since this is a family channel you must be referring to the S&M bike company.
Thanks so much for this!It was super interesting.
actually i think that lacing a wheel is possible. i did about 4 laces for my mtb and unicycle... a good tip would to practice on a walmart wheel because you dont want to damage an expensive wheel. another tip that can be a solution for the nipples problem is to take the nipple, put a spoke on the OPOSITE side of it and than push it to place. this will work like a nipple driver.
Just rebuilt another wheel on Fri/Sat, took a few hours on Friday afternoon to tear down the old wheel and relaced a fresh hub and rim, then as usual I waited a day before finishing truing it today... as it's a Zen thing. I also changed my fork from a QR air fork with sod all travel, to a 15mm QLoc air fork with 140mm travel, wish I'd built it with that originally as it is so much more solid
Man I absolutely love your videos nice job and keep going
The first wheel I ever built, i snowflaked the spokes. Strongest wheel I’ve ever built and surprisingly true. I’ve never been able to repeat it though.
i'll be replacing my rear hub next week,,, after seeing all the hassle you went thru, I might take my dremmel and turn an old flat screw driver into a nipple driver. thanks for the video.
thats a funny and slightly crazy wheelbuilding technique. you'll try anything eh?! with your chops and enthusiasm mate, it would be great to have you out for a ride in BC. you would love it.
Entertainmet? I can't wait for your first full feature full length movie.
I built mine a couple of months ago with no experience and the wheel is holding up perfect to the abuse🤩
I Weigh 95kg and i send trials drops. No loose spokes or wheel getting out of true. The hub is novatec d256 and the rim is spank spoon32
These vids are brilliant cant stop laughing at this one! Keep em coming!
Istead of an improvised dishing gauge consider what i call "bracketing the target'". Its effectiveness depends upon how well your frame and fork are aligned. After each trip around the wheel and releasing spoke twist ("de-stressing"?) FLIP the wheel before resuming the trueing process. Each time you should be able to bring the wheel closer to being centered .a length of duct tape with the center and ideal position of the rim faces marked aid the accuracy of this technique.
I use scotch tape to hold the spokes together. You've gotta screw the nipples backwards onto an extra spoke to get them in place on double wall rims. I build wheels with just a spoke wrench, but I make "q-tips" of backwards nipples on spokes to get the last three sets in. Dishing in a fork/frame is as good as a gauge as long as everything around the wheel Is symmetrical.
Did a rear wheel the other day...i recommend re lacing as it is easier than letting the spokes in their place.if the spoke length is correct you can get it pretty straight by hand eith a bit of patience.when tightening the nipples go until the threads are just visible(works only on 12mm nipples)and make them equal,then tighten them half a turn.Do a loose spoke truing,then dish,then check for roundness then finally true...or take it to a bikeshop instead:)))
I kinda fucked up my spinal column while trueing my wheel because i was bending myself pretty strangely over the wheel to see if it's getting better. The problem probably also was that i didn't do a lot of sports before i got into trials 4 months ago and also had problems with my spinal column earlier.
Keep up the good work Seth and thx for the Video :)
Greetings from Austria
I also use a spoke tension meter. This helps a lot when you are doing a rear wheel. Because the drive side and nondrive side has different tensions.. Really nice video and you can swear as much as you want...LOL
Good video, I literally tried to do the same thing one time only at the very end to realize the rim was pretty much vertical to the left hub flange. LBS is definitely money well spent lol
great video. Home made dishing stand really helped me out 🖒👌