Building A New Wheel Is A Nightmare

[fooferdoggie]

White Industries is a couple of bocks away from my workshop. They make jewelry grade components, including a 48-h rear tandem hub.
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yep only about 400 or 450. Now I do work for chris king too bad they dont have hubs that would work. they are close to me. but I dont need a 450.00 hub.

 

[PedalUma]

450.00 hub

You could put it on a gold chain around your neck when you rap. Its rockin' that bling thing.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

These are only $235:

 

[fooferdoggie]

These are only $235:

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not sure what that is the hub is twice that cost

R45D Centerlock Rear

Why We Make This It’s our job to make the best riding hubs in the industry, and 142mm x 12mm rear hubs are THE standard for road disc and gravel bikes, so we poured our hearts and souls, not to mention an awful lot of engineering, into this hub. We think it’s the best all-around disc hub on the...

chrisking.com

 

[stanmiller]

I've built a few wheels. I found success going to FreeSpoke and picking a known rim and hub and using the calculated specs for spoke length.

Freespoke: the spoke calculator

Freespoke is a powerful bicycle spoke length calculator with a large database of rim and hub dimensions and detailed visual renderings.

kstoerz.com

 

[PedalUma]

These are only $235:

Mr. T would love those.

 

[sc00ter]

You would think growing up riding bmx I'd be able to build wheels. Nope! I can't even true a spoke wheel. Ive used Skyway mags, 48 spoke wheels, a set of Spin Thugs and back to dreaded spokes. I have access to two good wheel builders so they can do the hard work.

 

[PedalUma]

I think that building your first wheel is a right of passage. I have drawer full of nail polish for mixing colors and doing touch up of scratches. What I do is color code the first five spokes per side with the hub and rim. After the first five it just becomes a matter of repeating that pattern. I will count turns of the nipples starting small going all the way around. Each rotation gets the same number of turns. You can true right on the bike. One easy way is to use pastel oil crayons. Spin the wheel and lightly let a pastel brush the rim. You can then see the high spots left and right. Adjust the spokes and do it again with a different color to mark your progress. On a true rim this same idea can be used to true a tire on the rim. And look for high and low spots in a mounted tire and left and right. Just let out some air, pinch and adjust. A trued tire on a trued rim is so nice to ride. Before disregarding this technique, try it once.

 

[Marcela]

I love stuff made on cnc.

 

[fooferdoggie]

You would think growing up riding bmx I'd be able to build wheels. Nope! I can't even true a spoke wheel. Ive used Skyway mags, 48 spoke wheels, a set of Spin Thugs and back to dreaded spokes. I have access to two good wheel builders so they can do the hard work.

ya me too I tired years ago nope. so I pay someone even though it hurts my wallet. but the wheels sty trued so overall its less time for me.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

During Covid... one of my 350 rear hubs had to come to me from Poland. A couple more came from the UK. They were totally nonexistent in the USA.

I've just learnt one of the major DT Swiss factories is located in Oborniki, Greater Poland province, Poland. This is probably why you had to import the DT Swiss hubs from Poland, and it also explains why it is easy to buy the DT Swiss ware here.

The Polish distributor of DT Swiss is located in the same city as the factory.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

not sure what that is the hub is twice that cost

R45D Centerlock Rear

Why We Make This It’s our job to make the best riding hubs in the industry, and 142mm x 12mm rear hubs are THE standard for road disc and gravel bikes, so we poured our hearts and souls, not to mention an awful lot of engineering, into this hub. We think it’s the best all-around disc hub on the...

chrisking.com

I think that is just the pretty outside and not the actual hub.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I think that is just the pretty outside and not the actual hub.

thats what I was thinking too. though you would need the 270.00 tool to take your old hub apart and put that new shell on.

 

[ava1ar]

I honestly find wheel building and truing process very calming and meditative. Once I invested into proper stand and other tools I have no issues building new wheels as needed. I built new wheel once got new rear hub year+ ago, then re-build front one with new hub (6 both mount instead of central lock) and past autumn built new winter wheels set (I find changing the wheels easier than changing the tires).

 

[mclewis1]

Strangely enough, the Polish DT Swiss distributor had no 36h rim in the Hybrid e-MTB category in their offer.
...

Doesn't surprise me ... there seems to be a general shortage of 36h rims in wider (30mm+) sizes from all sources.

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I'm going to be building up a new hub motor based rear wheel for my day to day bike. Unfortunately it's a pretty big jump to start doing wheels yourself (but relatively easy once you've got a few tools, a simple setup and a little experience) and I don't really want to rely on my capabilities (both in terms of skill and how long things will take since I'm going to have to re use the existing rim that currently has the front hub motor) ... so I'll probably be having a local guy rebuild that existing wheel into a rear hub setup.

The hub motor wheel builds require a good solid rim (and usually a 36h), heavier gauge spokes (13/14), strong nipples, close adherence to the dish measurements, good even tension, and just general care in the assembly. With the lower power range hub motors (and not the big DD models) it's really just like wheel building with a slightly larger flange hub.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The latest news:
I could see my DT Swiss rear wheel built by the local mechanic. How beautifully it looked! The mechanic used 2.0 mm DT Swiss spokes (I regret I did not take any picture). Now, my Vado is in the shop for moving the brake rotor and the cassette onto the new wheel, and for the final dishing and trueing. I will report how it went when I get my e-bike back!

Meanwhile, my brother has built both DT Swiss wheels for his Giant Trance E+ himself and now is transferring them to an professional MTB shop for dishing and trueing.

One of the wheels my brother has built himself.

 

[Chargeride]

Try this one, redrilling a 32 hole rim to a 36.

 

[PedalUma]

I don't even need to see the video.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I seem to have forgotten to report how the story ended.

The parts used:

• DT Swiss 350 rear hub, BOOST 12x148 mm, 6-holes for the disk brake, 32 spoke holes, Shimano/SRAM freehub body
• DT Swiss H522 rim, 25 mm inner width, 32 spoke holes, 150 kg total system weight, ASTM 4
• Spokes and nipples: at the wheel builder discretion (2.0 mm spokes)
• Freehub body: the original DT Swiss freehub body did not match the existing Shimano cassette and was replaced by the wheel builder with their own part
• I also provided a new brake rotor later.

The new wheel as built: No issues since.

The estimated total cost of the new wheel: USD500.

P.S. My brother had designed a spare wheelset for his Giant Trance E+ himself: Two DT Swiss rims, two hubs (the standard MTB Boost sizing), and a lot of spokes and nipples. He actually built the wheels himself and only delivered the ready wheels to the wheel-builder for dishing and trueing. Now, he uses Johnny Watts tyres for general winter riding on the new wheelset, and he installed Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro tyres on the original Giant wheels for ice riding.

My brother and his Trance E+ on the new wheelset for snow riding.

 

[gromike]

For a guy that uses (almost) free bike parts, 500 bucks for a wheel seems like a lot of money. Though, I assume one gets what one pays for.