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#1
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Wheel Rebuilding
How much does it cost to have a wheel rebuilt from all of the components. Assuming i had all the parts, how much do you think it would cost for the actual labor? Any ballpark figures you can give are helpful. Also, how difficult is this? Is it something I could easliy do, and, if so, what tools would I need? Thanks -- TheObieOne3226 - Extreme Halfb*ker Grabbin your butt? That's not very lady-like! My chocolates! Come back chocolates! I didn't mean what I said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TheObieOne3226's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4851 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29592 |
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#2
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Wheel Rebuilding
Figure on about $20 to $30 labor to build a wheel. That is, if you have all of the parts it should cost you about $20 to $30 to have the wheel laced, tensioned and trued. If you do it yourself plan on about 20 to 30 wheels to learn how to do it correctly yourself. I'm too lazy to learn how to do it myself, and I don't want to experiment upon my own wheels. It's easier for me to just pay my local wheel builder to make me a wheel. I have found a really good local wheel builder who does a really great job (he is awesome). I know that every time I bring him a wheel that he'll do a great job of building it or fixing it. It's not worth it to me to learn how to do it myself given that I'd have to build 20 to 30 crappy wheels before I get the hang of building a good one. Building a good wheel is part art and part science. It takes time to learn both the art and the science part. -- john_childs - Guinness Mojo john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29592 |
#3
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Wheel Rebuilding
How did i know JC would be the one to answer this? I even typed in lowercase letters for you. Thanks though. Would my local bike shop people be able to do it or do I have to find a certified wheel builder with a Phd? I guess I'll just have to get up and walk around the corner to ask them. Boo walking boo! Edit: would they take the wheel apart for me too. I guess they would. Can't hurt to ask you, Great one. Please dont put that in your sig -- TheObieOne3226 - Extreme Halfb*ker Grabbin your butt? That's not very lady-like! My chocolates! Come back chocolates! I didn't mean what I said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TheObieOne3226's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4851 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29592 |
#4
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Wheel Rebuilding
The hard part is finding a local wheel builder who does a really good job. Many bike shops will build you a wheel for $20 to $30. Few bike shops will build you a realy good wheel. Ask the local freeriders, downhillers, mountain bikers and tandem bikers where to get a wheel built. Find who they recommend the most and go there. A good place to ask is on a discussion group (mailing list) for a local mountain bike club. I found a local shop where the wheel builder is a downhiller and freerider and he builds awesome wheels. -- john_childs - Guinness Mojo john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29592 |
#5
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Wheel Rebuilding
TheObieOne3226 wrote: *How much does it cost to have a wheel rebuilt from all of the components. Assuming i had all the parts, how much do you think it would cost for the actual labor? Any ballpark figures you can give are helpful. Also, how difficult is this? Is it something I could easliy do, and, if so, what tools would I need? * It depends what you mean by a rebuild. Presumably you want to rebuild a unicycle wheel which means you don't have to tear open a hub. This is much simpler. So, the big question is: Why the rebuild? Assuming that you want to change the mix of hub, spokes and rims there are only a few possibilities. The first step is obviously to take off the tire, tube and rim strip. You will need a spoke wrench that fits tightly on the nipples, your unicycle frame and some sort of lube (spoke prep, linseed oil, even motor oil). If you don't need the old spokes then a pair of wire cutters will speed things along. There are a few different routes you can take: 1) If you are replacing a rim with another of equal size (uses spokes of the same length), then use a spoke wrench and gradually unscrew all the spoke nipples. Make several passes around the wheel, backing off the nipples about a turn at a time until the spokes are slack. Then tape the new rim to the old rim, making sure to line up the spoke holes so they are comparable. Now, one by one, unscrew the nipples, transfer the spokes to the new rim, and screw the nipples back on. Keep doing this until you have transfered all the spokes, then get rid of the old wheel. You now have a slack wheel - go to step 5. 2) If your spokes are FUBAR - breaking for no reason, bent from crashes, etc. - then you need new spokes. 2a) If you don't care if the rim survives then just take a pair of diagonal cutters (the inner cutting faces of vice grips work too) and cut the spokes in the middle. Remove the debris from the hub. Go to step 4. 2b) If you do care about the rim, then detension the spokes first (see 1 above), and chop them out (see 2a). Go to step 4. 3) If you are changing rim size, or using a hub of a different size then you need spokes of a different length. This may be true even if both rims are the same diameter since the depth of the rims may be different. 3a) Assuming you want to keep the original spokes then detension (see step 1) and unscrew the nipples completely. Unlace the old spokes from the hub. Go to step 4. 3b) If you don't want to keep the original spokes then just chop them out (see step 2) and go to step 4. 4) Lacing the new wheel: This is much easier than it sounds. Take a good look at the holes in the hub. See how the left and right holes are offset? The right ones line up in between the left ones, and vice versa. Makes sense, eh? If it is an old hub, check the holes for wear. You'll see a deformed spot on one side of the hole where the old spoke was sitting. This is where you want the new spoke to go. No sense in deforming the hole twice - it just weakens it even further. Notice also that the odd holes have the spoke mark on the inside of the hub going either clockwise or counterclockwise, and the even holes have the mark on the outside going the other way. Take your spokes and divide them into 4 piles. All symmetric wheels use a multiple of 4 as the number of spokes - 28, 32, 36, 40, and 48 are common. One pile is the left side that leans clockwise, the next is the left side that leans counterclockwise, the next is the right side that leans clockwise, and so on. Dip the threads into spoke prep, linseed oil or some other lubricant and things will go smoothly later on. And make sure you only screw the nipples on with one or two turns at this stage. It keeps the wheel slack which means you won't have to force anything. Hold the hub so the axle is vertical. Drop a spoke in every other hole in the upper flange. Be a bit clever about it and figure out which way to do this so that the spokes will seat in the old marks if it a used hub. Thread one spoke through a spoke hole in the rim right next to the valve stem hole. Now comes the only tricky part. Get this one right and the wheel will lace perfectly - turn the hub either clockwise or counterclockwise so that the spoke sits in the old mark in the spoke hole (if it's a new hub it doesn't matter). If this tilts the spoke AWAY from the valve stem, then good. If the spoke tilts TWARDS the valve hole, then flip the rim around 180 degrees while holding the hub steady. Now the hole is on the other side of the spoke and so the spoke should be tilting away. Lace up the rest of this set of spokes, using every 4th hole in the rim from the one you started with. When you are done the lacing should be symmetric with three empty holes in between each spoke on the rim. Now take the wheel and tilt it until the hub is vertical with the empty flange on top. Twist the hub until the spoke nearest the valve hole tilts away from the valve hole. Look straight down at the point on the flange where this spoke inserts. Pick the spoke hole on the empty (upper) flange that is half a hole AWAY from the valve-hole side. Lace a spoke through this upper hole, then thread it into the rim at the 2nd hole away from the valve stem. Now drop spokes into every other hole as before and lace them into the corresponding holes in the rim. When you twist the hub correctly everything should be fairly symmetric - two empty holes in the rim, then two spokes that are sort of parallel, then two empties, and so on. Turn the wheel so the axle is vertical again and drop the next set of spokes into all the remaining holes in the LOWER flange. This is your first set of crossing spokes. This is the first intersting part about lacing up a wheel. (Hopefully you've only screwed on the nipples with a turn or two, otherwise this will be hard.) Take the hub and twist it so that the spokes near the valve stem tilt away. Shake the wheel a bit to seat the nipples and twist again. Now take one of the swinging spokes and lace it into the wheel. If you are doing a three cross this means going outside two spokes and under the third, then into the right hole in the rim. Spokes going into the rim go left-right-left-right, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which hole to put this spoke into. It should be the one exactly in between the other two spokes from that side. Continue lacing up the free spokes until you have one side laced. Now look at the wheel. Does it look like a unicycle wheel? Everything sort of symmetric? Is is obvious where the other spokes should go? Good. Drop in the last set and lace them in place. Does it look like a wheel yet? Wheels at this stage don't really look like wheels yet. Assuming that it is symmetric and laced like your other wheels the problem is that the spokes aren't lined up right. Time to "set" the spokes. Hold the hub with a flange in each hand. Use your thumbs to bend the outer spokes at the flange until they line up with the holes in the rim. Do the same with your fingers on the inner spokes. Keep at it until it looks sort of like a wheel even though the spokes are slack. Now it is ready to tension and true. Step 5) Go to a bike shop and ask for their help. Hopefully they will congradulate you on lacing the wheel properly. Tensioning and truing a wheel isn't any harder, but it takes a bit of feel that I can't describe in a post. It's also intimidating if you've never done it before. Ask if you can watch while they do it. If there isn't much going on then most bike shops will say sure. If they don't then find another shop. Most people take a long time (3-10 hours) to make their first wheel, but it comes out ok. I'd say about half the time the first wheel has a lacing mistake that becomes obvious about half-way through the process and requires a re-start (the 10 hour folks), but it gets there eventually. The next one goes a bit quicker. After you've made 20 or 30 wheels you can knock one out in about a half hour. The really good wheel builders that have delivered a few hundred or more have had feedback from customers that helps them pick the right components for a customer. Good luck, Tim -- cyberbellum - Level 0.5 rider Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is half empty. Engineers think the glass is too big. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ cyberbellum's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4550 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29592 |
#6
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Wheel Rebuilding
Bring it to me & I will either do it for you or teach you how to do it yourself.. (for free) I guess as I live in the UK it will be hard for you to take up my offer. Same applies to anyone else who want help with wheels. I have built about 60 unicycle wheels but it still takes me several hours to do a really good job on them. /\/\ -- mike.hinson - Unicyclist since Nov 2000 "...they all began to chant "You ride a baby bike!!" over and over and over. Then their chant turned into "you have no hair!!" Which made absolutely no sense at all. It was hilarious." -- Ender ------------------------------------------------------------------------ mike.hinson's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1652 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29592 |
#7
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Wheel Rebuilding
Thanks for the help Cyberbellum. That sounds hard. So, instead of sitting in front of the computer, following your steps word for word, I'm gonna go blow some cash and have it professionally done. The reason for the change is that my axle is twisting from hopping around too much. Also, the wheel needs to be trued. Thanks for the offer, Mike Hinson. I was in England last summer. I wish I'd known you then. Maybe next time -- TheObieOne3226 - Extreme Halfb*ker Grabbin your butt? That's not very lady-like! My chocolates! Come back chocolates! I didn't mean what I said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TheObieOne3226's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4851 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29592 |
#8
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Wheel Rebuilding
TheObieOne3226 wrote: * Thanks for the help Cyberbellum. That sounds hard. * Kids nowadays! No respect for hard work! Why in my day I had to trudge 2 miles through the snow just to FIND a spoke wrench, let alone someone who would tell me how to us it. And we had to make our own hubs and spokes, too! It took hours of chewing on buffalo sinuw to get even ONE spoke! Sometimes it was years before we had a buffalo with a leg bone strong enough to whittle a hub out of. Grumble, grumble, grumble... kids! Harumph!! (Wise choice, Oh-be-one ) -- cyberbellum - Level 0.5 rider Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is half empty. Engineers think the glass is too big. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ cyberbellum's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4550 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29592 |
#9
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Wheel Rebuilding
Like others here on the forum, I followed Sheldon Brown's wheel building page step by step. I printed it out and read it over a few times. It worked out very well. The axle in one of my Profile wheels was loose in the hub shell and rather than try to fix that myself, I decided to have Profile take care of it. I had to tear the wheel down and send the hub to them. (they replaced/installed a new axle for free and shipped it back at their expense! The guys at Profile are great). When I got the hub back I decided to rebuild the wheel myself. I was always a bit intimidated by the wheel building process but once you do it, it's not a big deal. It's a very rewarding experience. I've been on a few tough muni rides since the build and it's holding up very well. Still nice and true. I'll be building my own uni wheels from now on. I used my frame as a truing jig with Jagur's water bottle stand idea. (Thanks Jag). - Frank -- Frank A. - off-road "Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play." - FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, Beyond Good and Evil ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frank A.'s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1710 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29592 |
#10
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Wheel Rebuilding
Cool. Could you (or someone) give me the link to the, guide by Sheldon Brown. Also, Sheldon Brown is a Defensive Back for the PHiladelphia Egales. Well, at least someone who shares his name. -- TheObieOne3226 - Extreme Halfb*ker Grabbin your butt? That's not very lady-like! My chocolates! Come back chocolates! I didn't mean what I said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TheObieOne3226's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4851 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/29592 |
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