Not my first, but my first in 19 years. Forgot how satisfying it is...
My rear wheel, a Mavic 238 laced with DT spokes on a LX Parallax hub has been 'round. I built it back on the Christmas break, 1996, I think. Many miles later, the brake walls are nearly worn thru. After many years of trouble free service, suddenly I found myself having to true it after most hard rides.
My favourite local shop had a pair of Sun 0d XC rims, NOS, available, so I picked those up along with a set of double butted DT spokes and brass nipples.
The job started with stripping tire, rim strip and cassette from the old wheel. Then I went 'round the wheel twice, loosening each spoke a turn to detention the wheel. Once the bulk of the tension was out, I removed the nipples entirely with a screwdriver bit in my power drill.
Cleaned up the hub thoroughly. It'd been re-greased only a month ago when I replaced the cracked freehub body, so just a cosmetic cleaning.
With Roger Musson's wonderful guide open on my laptop, I began lacing a standard 3-cross. Only had to unlace to correct an error once, LOL, should pay more attention some days! Each nipple turned only 4 turns initially until everyone was placed, then used Roger's nipple driver design to run them all in to the same very light tension.
Next, went 'round the wheel, pressing my thumb on the outside spokes to align them properly.
Now I mounted the wheel on my bike, which would serve as my wheel jig. I adjusted the V-brake pads for normal rim clearance, and put a heavy zip-tie around the chainstays just at the edge of the rim. On that zip tie, I put two smaller ones that could act as sliding pointers, for finer measuring as I go. The zip tie arrangement can be used to keep control of both radial and lateral trueness, with a little care and imagination. I made minor adjustments to get the dish correct (a half-turn extra on the drive side was all it took), and took care to get the rim radially and laterally true at this stage. I was satisfied when the rim was radially true within about 1/2mm and better than that in lateral.
Then I began tensioning. Since the wheel's dished, the drive side spokes got a quarter turn more each tension round than the non-drive side. I did 3 circuits each tensioning round, first a half turn on each drive spoke, then a half turn on each non-drive spoke, finally a quarter turn on each drive side spoke.... Found that easier to do consistently than 2 rounds of 3/4 and 1/2 turns.... You do you.
After each round, I would check and adjust the radial and lateral trueness, dish, equalize spoke tensions and stress the spokes by squeezing parallel pairs. A few rounds, and the tension seemed about right. The squeeze test showed the spokes were of similar tension to my wife's new front wheel, built by a local well regarded mechanic, and a bit higher than the commercial stock wheels on her and my daughter's bikes.
All told, I spent 4 hours, including time for making and eating supper, on the project, so probably 3-3.5 hours of actual work, from removing the old wheel from my bike, to having the new installed, brakes adjusted etc. Lateral trueness is about a hair, I couldn't measure any more accurately with just brake blocks or zip ties.... Under .2mm for sure. Radial trueness is likewise good, well under 1/4mm... The weld on the rim is the largest deviation by far.
With luck, weatherwise, I'll get a chance to test ride it tonight. Looking like rain, sadly....
J
My rear wheel, a Mavic 238 laced with DT spokes on a LX Parallax hub has been 'round. I built it back on the Christmas break, 1996, I think. Many miles later, the brake walls are nearly worn thru. After many years of trouble free service, suddenly I found myself having to true it after most hard rides.
My favourite local shop had a pair of Sun 0d XC rims, NOS, available, so I picked those up along with a set of double butted DT spokes and brass nipples.
The job started with stripping tire, rim strip and cassette from the old wheel. Then I went 'round the wheel twice, loosening each spoke a turn to detention the wheel. Once the bulk of the tension was out, I removed the nipples entirely with a screwdriver bit in my power drill.
Cleaned up the hub thoroughly. It'd been re-greased only a month ago when I replaced the cracked freehub body, so just a cosmetic cleaning.
With Roger Musson's wonderful guide open on my laptop, I began lacing a standard 3-cross. Only had to unlace to correct an error once, LOL, should pay more attention some days! Each nipple turned only 4 turns initially until everyone was placed, then used Roger's nipple driver design to run them all in to the same very light tension.
Next, went 'round the wheel, pressing my thumb on the outside spokes to align them properly.
Now I mounted the wheel on my bike, which would serve as my wheel jig. I adjusted the V-brake pads for normal rim clearance, and put a heavy zip-tie around the chainstays just at the edge of the rim. On that zip tie, I put two smaller ones that could act as sliding pointers, for finer measuring as I go. The zip tie arrangement can be used to keep control of both radial and lateral trueness, with a little care and imagination. I made minor adjustments to get the dish correct (a half-turn extra on the drive side was all it took), and took care to get the rim radially and laterally true at this stage. I was satisfied when the rim was radially true within about 1/2mm and better than that in lateral.
Then I began tensioning. Since the wheel's dished, the drive side spokes got a quarter turn more each tension round than the non-drive side. I did 3 circuits each tensioning round, first a half turn on each drive spoke, then a half turn on each non-drive spoke, finally a quarter turn on each drive side spoke.... Found that easier to do consistently than 2 rounds of 3/4 and 1/2 turns.... You do you.
After each round, I would check and adjust the radial and lateral trueness, dish, equalize spoke tensions and stress the spokes by squeezing parallel pairs. A few rounds, and the tension seemed about right. The squeeze test showed the spokes were of similar tension to my wife's new front wheel, built by a local well regarded mechanic, and a bit higher than the commercial stock wheels on her and my daughter's bikes.
All told, I spent 4 hours, including time for making and eating supper, on the project, so probably 3-3.5 hours of actual work, from removing the old wheel from my bike, to having the new installed, brakes adjusted etc. Lateral trueness is about a hair, I couldn't measure any more accurately with just brake blocks or zip ties.... Under .2mm for sure. Radial trueness is likewise good, well under 1/4mm... The weld on the rim is the largest deviation by far.
With luck, weatherwise, I'll get a chance to test ride it tonight. Looking like rain, sadly....
J
