Bike From Scratch

The parts for my wheels (and a few other things) have arrived! I picked up all my wheel components that I detailed out in this post. My plan was to build the front wheel one evening and then the

Parts, and stuff I'll need to make the wheel

rear sometime later (turned out to be the next night). In addition to the parts there were a few other things that I had to come up with. The two most obvious were a spoke wrench and a truing stand. I picked up the Minoura Truing Stand from one of the online stores. I’ll do a proper review of that in another post. The short of it is it works, but I wish I’d spent the cash on something else. A spoke wrench and a flat headed screw driver are the other tools I needed. Spoke wrenches can be found just about anywhere, make sure you get the one that fits your spoke nipples. I think the green one from Park Tool is the most common size, but don’t take my word for it. I picked it up at REI and lucked out that it was the right size (all spoke nipples are not the same size).

The procedure I followed was the same procedure detailed by Sheldon Brown and Lennard Zinn. I’m sure they aren’t the first to think of it or describe it, but from their work is where I learned to do it. I recommend reading the Zinn book as well as Sheldon Brown’s wheel (and everything else) page.

Step one of building the wheel is to get the rim and the hub oriented correctly. This is purely cosmetic, but worth the extra 30 seconds. Hold the hub in your hand so the label is readable (right side up, this will put the drive side on the right). Then grab the rim and make sure the label is readable from the drive side (right) of the bike. Put the hub in the center of the rim with the label facing the valve hole. This is how we want things oriented after the wheel is laced up and tensioned.

In a three cross lacing pattern there are four sets of spokes. On each side half of the spokes are pulling spokes, and half of the spokes are static spokes. Pulling spokes are where the pressure goes when you spin the pedals. The first set of spokes we lace are the drive side puling spokes.

The first thing that needs to be done when lacing spokes is lubricating the threads. This is done on all spokes EXCEPT for the drive side of the rear wheel. We don’t lube these spokes because the drive side spokes are loose enough that the lubrication may allow them to slip. This warning does not apply to rear wheels which are offset, loop all the spokes if this is what you’re working with. Pick 4 spokes from your pile, dip the threads of two spokes into the linseed oil. Rub the threads of the two wet spokes with the two dry spokes. This should get you enough oil on all the spokes to keep things loose, but not overly so. Repeat this for all your spokes except as noted above as you install them.

Pick up the hub again and look at the label. Count three holes back on the drive side (right) flange. This is where the first spoke will go. Starting from this hole drop a spoke in every other hole, from the outside of the rim in. Now pickup the rim and find the valve hole. Notice that every spoke hole cheats to one side or the other. To the left of the valve hole (counter clockwise) the hole should be towards the drive side of the rim. Lace the first spoke we talked about before (three holes back from the label on the hub) to this hole. To do this, take your linseed oil and coat the top of

This is what the wheel should look like after the first set of spokes is installed

the nipple, then slide the spoke through the spoke hole in the rim and thread the nipple on until there are three threads showing. Simple. Stick the next spoke in four holes counter clockwise from here, repeat until you get back around to the valve hole. When this is complete you should have something that looks like the picture to the left.

It’s now time to start the second set of spokes. Flip the wheel over,

Notice the first spoke of the second set is clockwise of the first spoke of the first set.

and look through the holes in the hub. Notice that they are offset (they don’t line up from one flange to the other). Stick a spoke through the hole that is one hole clockwise from the spoke you started with. The spoke you started with is the spoke to the right of the valve hole if you’re holding the rim correctly (see pictures to the right)

. Now stick a spoke in every other hole in the hub as you did before. Moving counter clockwise insert a spoke four spoke holes away from the last spoke you inserted. The hole you insert the spoke in should always be on the upper side of the rim. Each spoke you inserted will be just clockwise of a spoke in the first set. Remember to lube the nipples and spoke threads as detailed above. When all this is done you should have something that resembles a wheel, it will still be floppy and the hub will rotate in the shell, but we’re making progress. This is  a good time to get up and stretch, grab a beer, stop for the night etc.

The second set of spokes are laced to the wheel.

Dropping the third set of spokes into the hub

Time for the third set of spokes. Don’t flip the wheel over yet. Make sure the second set of spokes is facing up! This set of spokes will complete the drive side of the bike, so if you are lacing a rear wheel these spokes will be shorter and the threads should not be lubed (still lube the nipples where they join the rim though). While you still have he second set of spokes facing up drop spokes through the remaining holes in the opposite side of the hub. The spoke heads will now be on the inside of the hub (the first two sets are on the outside). After you have them all in grab them from the other side of the wheel and flip the whole thing over. Then carefully fan them out so they don’t fall back through the hub. Now grab the hub and rotate it counter clock wise as far as you can. This should like the label on the hub up with the valve hole if you followed the instructions above. More importantly this rotation starts to add the stability you expect in a bike wheel.

The third set of spokes are inserted from the underside of the flange, and the hub has been twisted.

This is the first set of spokes we deal with that have to cross anything. To do this, pick a spoke that is already laced to the rim. Count clockwise five holes in the hub flange. This should be an unlaced

Third set of spokes laced to the rim, notice the bow.

spoke. Take the unlaced spoke, cross it under the spoke you counted from and secure it to the rim two holes counter clockwise from the same spoke (the one you just crossed and counted from). The hole you’re inserting the spoke in should be on the upper side of the rim. Repeat this process for the rest of the spokes in the third set. If it feels like the spoke won’t reach the rim (things should be getting tighter now) gently push down on the spoke about an inch from the hub. When this is done the spokes look pretty bowed and not quite right. Don’t worry, this is normal. They will straighten out during the tensioning process.

Now for the fourth and last set of spokes. Flip the wheel over and repeat the process you used for the third set. After this is done you should have a wheel that looks like the picture below. When its all one the spokes will be kind of bowed out and it still won’t look quite like a wheel, close, but spokes won’t quite be straight, the hub will still move a bit etc. In part two of this post we will cover how to tension and true the wheel.

All of the spokes laced to the rim, but not tight yet

Ehow has a pretty good video series on all of this too that’s worth watching.