Wilson!
Banner freaking day a couple of weekends ago. I built my first wheel – 29”er Salsa Delgado rim with a Surly hub and DT spokes and nipples.
Considering I’ve been riding off and on for the past 10 years, and mastered every nuance of a bike MINUS building wheels, I’ve finally got the last 5% mastered. Won a hub at the Lumberjack back in June, and decided to upgrade wheels on the Rig. As I’ve read, the Gary Fisher Rig is a great bike to explore the the 29”er revolution, but new riders will upgrade every part in the process. My first major revelation was the wheels, and the LBS only had one rim. I only had one hub. It’s a start.
I assembled the hubs and spokes to the rim. Finding the pattern wrong, I did it again. And again. And again. 2.5 hours later, I had a wheel built and trued. I nearly got the vertical wobble out, but then I noticed, one of the 3 cross spokes wasn’t crossed like the others.
Shoot. Tear it down and loosen all the spokes. Reroute the final spoke back into place and true it up again. 3.5 hours invested, and I had a wheel that was better built than what came with the bike. I am the man.
Take off the rotor and tire from the old wheel, then compare weights with the proverbial heft method. The new wheel with ENO freewheel installed weighed significantly less than the take-off wheel. Probably 1/3-1/2 lb. Unbelievable. Brand new wheel - all for about $100.
Maiden voyage at Novi Tree Farm. Beat the living crap out of that wheel on every technical section (logpile, rocks and roots) to seat and beat in the spokes. Spun the wheel afterwards, and it’s as round as it left the truing stand. Damn, I’m good. Close to 300 miles thus far and still spinning solid.
As Tom Hanks said in Castaway, "I... have created fire".
Considering I’ve been riding off and on for the past 10 years, and mastered every nuance of a bike MINUS building wheels, I’ve finally got the last 5% mastered. Won a hub at the Lumberjack back in June, and decided to upgrade wheels on the Rig. As I’ve read, the Gary Fisher Rig is a great bike to explore the the 29”er revolution, but new riders will upgrade every part in the process. My first major revelation was the wheels, and the LBS only had one rim. I only had one hub. It’s a start.
I assembled the hubs and spokes to the rim. Finding the pattern wrong, I did it again. And again. And again. 2.5 hours later, I had a wheel built and trued. I nearly got the vertical wobble out, but then I noticed, one of the 3 cross spokes wasn’t crossed like the others.
Shoot. Tear it down and loosen all the spokes. Reroute the final spoke back into place and true it up again. 3.5 hours invested, and I had a wheel that was better built than what came with the bike. I am the man.
Take off the rotor and tire from the old wheel, then compare weights with the proverbial heft method. The new wheel with ENO freewheel installed weighed significantly less than the take-off wheel. Probably 1/3-1/2 lb. Unbelievable. Brand new wheel - all for about $100.
Maiden voyage at Novi Tree Farm. Beat the living crap out of that wheel on every technical section (logpile, rocks and roots) to seat and beat in the spokes. Spun the wheel afterwards, and it’s as round as it left the truing stand. Damn, I’m good. Close to 300 miles thus far and still spinning solid.
As Tom Hanks said in Castaway, "I... have created fire".
posted by Circus Freak at 9:54 PM
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