Wheel building courses...

MTB, Road, Cyclocross, Running, walking, Rowing, Weights / Cardio, Diet, training plans
Post Reply
User avatar
weeksy
Site Admin
Posts: 26902
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:08 pm
Has thanked: 6113 times
Been thanked: 15463 times

Wheel building courses...

Post by weeksy »

https://www.ryanbuildswheels.co.uk/prod ... l-classes/

Giving some thought to this over winter as a bit of a personal project. At various race meetings i really need to be better with wheels, rather than just random tensioning, i want to be able to strip/build/re-rim a wheel on the fly in the paddock. There's times when we really really need the ability to do so and i don't have it.

I'm sure i can persuade @crust into this as well... But i'm also chatting to my LBS at Rotec to see if he wants the task instead :D
User avatar
Pirahna
Posts: 2698
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2020 7:31 pm
Has thanked: 2996 times
Been thanked: 1741 times

Re: Wheel building courses...

Post by Pirahna »

To be honest, wheel building is a doddle. I found Jobst Brant's book, The Bicycle Wheel, in my local library in the 1980's and taught myself from that. It's available now as a freebie pdf, link below.



There's a shed load of online or phone app spoke length calculators, here's one: https://spokecalc.io

As is the case with most things, buy good quality tools, in particular spoke wrenches. Having said that, I've built a wheel using the spoke wrench on a Crank Bros multi tool, because it's what I carry and I wanted to make sure it worked.

Another resource, Sheldon Browns guide is foolproof, https://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

Stay away from ally spoke nipples.
crust
Posts: 775
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:59 pm
Has thanked: 953 times
Been thanked: 709 times

Re: Wheel building courses...

Post by crust »

Yer right, I'd be up for some of that :thumbup:

I think most of my wheels have slight wobbles.
User avatar
Yorick
Posts: 19881
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 8:20 pm
Location: Paradise
Has thanked: 12555 times
Been thanked: 8517 times

Re: Wheel building courses...

Post by Yorick »

crust wrote: Tue Aug 19, 2025 1:46 pm Yer right, I'd be up for some of that :thumbup:

I think most of my wheels have slight wobbles.
Like your tummy :obscene-birdiedoublered:
Beancounter
Posts: 1122
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:20 pm
Has thanked: 3118 times
Been thanked: 680 times

Re: Wheel building courses...

Post by Beancounter »

I've got a copy of Roger Musson's book "Professional Guide to Wheel Building" I can send you.
User avatar
Yorick
Posts: 19881
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 8:20 pm
Location: Paradise
Has thanked: 12555 times
Been thanked: 8517 times

Re: Wheel building courses...

Post by Yorick »

I used to watch an old boy do spoked wheels at a bike shop in Bradford as a yoof.
He just tapped each one with metal stick and could tell by sound if too tight or too slack.
User avatar
Mr Moofo
Posts: 5906
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:41 pm
Location: Brightonish
Has thanked: 1924 times
Been thanked: 1728 times

Re: Wheel building courses...

Post by Mr Moofo »

Someone here send we a wheel building manual - but embarrassingly I can’t remember who.
That said , depending on where it was, i would be up for it.
Would it be generalist or road only?

(It was @Beancounter )
User avatar
weeksy
Site Admin
Posts: 26902
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:08 pm
Has thanked: 6113 times
Been thanked: 15463 times

Re: Wheel building courses...

Post by weeksy »

It'd be MTB build for me with a DH setup.
mboy
Posts: 707
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2020 11:34 am
Location: Worcester
Has thanked: 849 times
Been thanked: 695 times

Re: Wheel building courses...

Post by mboy »

If you were closer @weeksy would happily teach you...
User avatar
weeksy
Site Admin
Posts: 26902
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:08 pm
Has thanked: 6113 times
Been thanked: 15463 times

Re: Wheel building courses...

Post by weeksy »

mboy wrote: Wed Aug 20, 2025 11:48 pm If you were closer @weeksy would happily teach you...
Well i will be in 12 months :)
Dunxster
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2021 8:58 am
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 43 times

Re: Wheel building courses...

Post by Dunxster »

Take a look at The Bike Inn (https://thebikeinn.co.uk/courses/wheelbuilding/). I did the wheel-building course nearly 30 years ago and still use the notes I made at the time. I may even have a PDF of the magazine feature I wrote about it on a hard drive somewhere. If anyone wants to see it, let me know and I'll go and look for it.
Post Reply