Re:
so yesterday i returned to Downland cycles for a brush up on my wheel building, i have always been a little paranoid about my wheel building as i hadn't done a huge amount of it and also, i was self taught as my first cycle shop boss literally threw a book at me and said "sort that out will you!" with a a hub and rim!
not long after that i left that shop to manage a shop, and then manage another shop, as a result i always had a mechanic to build wheels for me, same with all the previous stuff in this thread, the advanced course that i did last year didn't include wheel building as it's actually part of the initial course which i didn't need to do as i could do most of the things within that course, but as i was still not happy with my wheel building i decided to email Julie and organise just the wheel building section.
cut to last friday night and i was heading to Canterbury, got there and settled in with the chaps already on the course and the banter was flowing! after a good nights sleep i got sorted out and headed into the training classroom, 6 students in total, Martyn taught us some basics of spokes, nipples, hubs, and how to identify the "type" of rim, did you know there was an "A" type and a "B" type? i didn't. although most are B type, it's relevant to the eyelets in the rim, 95% of rims are B type but knowing the difference is useful incase you build an older (retro?) rim.
spoke tension and how to use a tension meter was explained.
after this we started lacing wheels, something i could already do no problem but Martyn showed me an easier way to find the correct first hole on the second side of the hub which i'm always paranoid about getting wrong as obviously this means starting that side all over again!
the thing i always struggled with was getting a wheel perfectly round, side to side is no problem, getting it in dish is no problem, round is something i found hard, also having never used a tension meter before meant i was going by "feel" on tension which is not ideal.
using a combination of Martyn's advice, the tension meter, and a spoke key i happily built 4 wheels that are frankly the best i have ever built, perfectly straight, perfectly round, and even tensioned all round.
also, i stripped and rebuilt my wheels from the Orange 5, i hated the black spokes, i hated the alloy nipples (didn't even notice that they were alloy, they just looked crap after 6 months by the sea in NZ!) so i now have some lovely stainless steel spokes that look awesome!
forgot to get pics at Downland but i took a couple when i got home this evening.
IMG_4108 by
Dr. Branom, on Flickr
IMG_4109 by
Dr. Branom, on Flickr
