La Vie Velominatus: Building Wheels
Self-awareness is a non-optional ingredient of leading a fulfilling life; while we should always push ourselves to explore new things, we should also be aware of our limitations and weigh expectations against them. This is why I avoid any activities involving intelligence or a blow torch, and take particular care to avoid those involving an intersection of the two.
Learning to work on our machines is a path any Pedalwan must learn to walk, starting with simple tasks – perhaps to tune a derailleur or brake – and progressing gradually to building the bike up from a bare frame, seeking out a Cycling Sensei wherever new skills required suggest the need of one. A bicycle is a paradox; though it is a simple machine where one can plainly see the workings of most components, it is nevertheless deceptively difficult to maintain properly. Cables and chains are things of tension and their proper adjustment requires a delicate touch.
Bicycle maintenance today is easier than it was in the past as some tasks that used to take care and skill – such as adjusting bearings in a bottom bracket or hub – have all but been eradicated from the skills needed to maintain a bicycle as loose balls, cones, and races have been replaced by sealed cartridge bearings that are pressed into place and secured with a bolt. Adjusting these old bits required a mechanical sensibility that one seems either born with or without and is not easily taught to those who lack them; adjusting modern bearings requires little more subtlety than setting the dial on a torque wrench.
Wheel truing and building is a skill that goes back to the origins of Cycling and one which continues to live on, at least for the time being. Wheels are a marvel of engineering, one made more miraculous when, like me, you don’t really understand how they work: thin, flexible spokes leave the hub at various angles, some leading and some trailing the rotational direction as they either push or pull the wheel as we force it around using a system of chain, gears, and pulleys optimistically attached to our feet.
The wheel is kept straight and round by a delicate balance as spokes are matched in opposite pairs and tensioned to distribute forces not only laterally, but also vertically. Furthermore, spokes really only have strength in tension; on compression, they fold like a Schleck in a time trial. A well-built wheel depends on a precise balance of 3-dimensionally opposing forces in tension; should the builder fail to take this into account and a critical mass of spokes fail to do the single task assigned to them, I imagine the rider will explore a sharp learning curve as they discover the subtleties of riding a bicycle which goes abruptly from two to one or zero functioning wheels.
I have no delusions of being particularly gifted in a mechanical sense. When I was a kid, my dad called me “Threads” due to my penchant for over-tightening the nuts and bolts on his cherished Campagnolo components, leaving the poor dears stripped and useless. On the plus side, I learned how to operate a tap and die. But I somehow have never been terrible at truing and building wheels; whether its my methodical approach to tasks or my love for symmetry and balance that rescue me from myself when wielding a spoke wrench, the wheels I touch leave the stand true and round – and tend to stay that way.
Wheel building is perhaps the most pure form of the art of bicycle maintenance, apart from actually building the frame yourself; it had been a long time since I’d built a wheel, so I took it upon myself to build my own set for Keepers Tour: Cobbled Classics 2012. In keeping with my appreciation of my own shortcomings, I knew I was going to need a Sensei, and there was none better to turn to than our own Oli who happens to be a world-class wheel builder. Oli unhesitatingly and generously offered answers to my many questions as I collected the parts I would need, and even went so far as to study photographs I sent him when things went awry. That, together with the wealth of information that seems to flow freely on these pages, safely led me through the process, although there were some bumps along the way, assuming you consider needing to build the rear wheel twice and front thrice to be a “bump”.
Iteration 1:
The first round saw a flawless execution apart from one significant fact: when determining on which side of the rim the spoke holes are drilled, it matters which way you’ve got the wheel oriented, and whether you’re looking up at the wheel or down at it. Keeper Jim’s two-year-old son consistently demonstrates that he understands this fact, but still it somehow escaped me.
Iteration 2:
I cleverly determined that I could just move all spokes one hole down and correct the problem from Iteration 1. I performed this task on both wheels before realizing I’d gone the wrong way and buggered the whole thing to the point where sending a photo to Oli resulted in the following remark:
Yes, something has gone wrong. There’s no way that you should end up with that situation no matter what rim or instructions you have.
Right, then. Moving on.
Iteration 3:
Rather than go back round and move the spokes a further two holes the other way, I decided to disassemble the wheels and start over. This didn’t bother me in the least because, as it turns out, building wheels is quite a lot of fun. You start with a pile of floppy spokes and dismembered rim and hub, go through a phase where spokes are poking out every which way, to a moment when suddenly it looks like a wheel and you feel like a genius (until you look more closely and discover you’ve balled the whole thing up). Each time through, I started with the front wheel as it is slightly less complicated owing to the fact that it uses all the same length spokes.
Experienced wheel-builders orient the rim such that the labels are readable when viewed from the right side; not wanting to upset any critical eyes, I naturally took care to follow suit. I also carefully oriented the front hub so that the “R” (Royce’s emblem) was oriented such that it, too, was readable from the right side (in addition to being visible through the valve hole).
Moving on to the rear wheel, I noticed that for some reason, Royce has the “R” inverted so it’s readable from the left side. I let out a slow sigh of resignation as I realized there was no way to avoid rebuilding the front wheel (again) such that the “R” on both hubs faced the same way.
The next day I tensioned the spokes and now the wheels sit in the basement awaiting a pair of tubulars so I can set about mounting them and start riding to ensure that any further lapses in my wheel building skills are discovered now, and not as we enter the Trouée d’Arenberg in April.
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@FRank
so, OT question here- did you take the pic? IF you did, did you edit it with some vignetting to highlight the hub, or did the lighting just bring an extra shine to the hub?
Really nice wheelset Frank.Awesome.Nice work too.Congrats!
I did take that pic and I did edit it. I loves me some contrast and drama in a photo, so I darkened the edges and kept the shiny bits and bright as I could. You can see the unedited version in the third-to-last photo.
You are exercising admirable patience and restraint in not getting tires mounted and out on the road on those. I was wondering about the vintage of the rims as mine have A-M-B-R-O-S-I-O more spaced out, one letter to a gap between spokeholes, with the middle Os covered by the Golden Ticket.
One of these days I’ll build my own wheelset, but I wasn’t going to make the Nemesis my first set as it’s a bit beyond my current mechanical abilities.
Very nicely written! Makes me want to dig around the shed for rims, spokes and hubs for a session of building! (Always step on nipples in the shed!)
This is the most important part of wheel building excellence!
Experienced wheel-builders orient the rim such that the labels are readable when viewed from the right side; not wanting to upset any critical eyes, I naturally took care to follow suit. I also carefully oriented the front hub so that the “R” (Royce’s emblem) was oriented such that it, too, was readable from the right side (in addition to being visible through the valve hole).
When I was I kid hanging out at my LBS and was taught wheel building from the owner, this was one key ingredient to get right!
Played with 40 hubs/32 rims, 1x, 2x, 3x. I remember I was so wrapped when I did my first radials for the track bike. Overall, building 3x was the most enjoyable.
It’s the best sound when building, pushing down around the rim to spread the spoke tension, the ‘tings’ then checked in the stand to even out.
The best part of all is sliding the new built wheels onto the steed and those little spoke ‘ping’ sounds from the first few rotations on the road surface, the wheels saying – “I’m alive!”
@sthilzy
The front wheel skewer is in the wrong way. (Pic from the net)
Great article Frank. Building wheels cross-legged with a glass of wine on the living room floor, class!
@napolinige
Very much so! With the artwork in the background, Frank looks like an over-achieving caveman discovering the wheel. Next he will discover how to join 8 spears together in a diamond shape, and then it’s a short step to mammoth leather in his loincloth…
It’s no wonder you buggered it, martini, wine then beer…
Nice, I will sell my DH bike then my soul for some.
I love those hubs, class iconified. Just so much “nicer” than anything on the modern factory wheelsets. Great build too, the lots of patience and a glass of wine approach is what being a home mechanic is all about.
Those look like they’ll be beautiful wheels, Frank. Can you let us know how the Royce hubs go? I want to go back to campy stuff this year – I’d considered building with the ambrosio hubs but overlooked these…
Those hubs are just lovely. English niche engineering at its finest! Dare i say much more classy than CK….
Just make sure you give them a thorough testing before you hit Arenberg!
Please take care when gluing as it’d be a crying shame to see badly glued tubs on these beautiful wheels! Vittoria Pave?
I remember when I used to photo edit… Now its a surprise if I use something other than a phone to take keepsake pics…
It seemed like the pic was more than just a depth of field management, glad I asked.
Favorite shot was #19/20, the hub etching via the valve hole.
Oh, and good job building your own wheels, BTW!
Well done Frank, and very nicely memorialized in the photos. I just recently mounted my very first set of tubular tires and took a lot of satisfaction out of getting it right the first time and experiencing the phenomenal ride quality of the tubs. Next step is to try my hand a wheel building… god help me and protect me from myself.
Great stuff, Frank! They look stunning.
Fantastic!
And great wheelset, Frank.
@Frank
As said nice wheels and nice write up. I fix Mercedes-Benz cars for a living so the wrench is quite at home in my hands and there isn’t anything on a bicycle I can’t fix. Having said that the wheel just mystifies me. I’ve read and watched videos for countless hours and I still feel like even attempting the task of truing a wheel will result in a trip to my favorite LBS to fix my fuck up. My head hurts at the thought of starting from scratch with a pile of parts. Someday though, someday.
OT Turntable? One word btw. I thought I was one of the only people who still listen to vinyl. What table do you have? I have a SOTA Sapphire with a composite arm board. I don’t remember the tone arm right off the top my head but I sent to a chap in London who cut it all apart to rewire and reweigh it and all kinds of other stuff that I don’t remember. I do remember though that he made this cheap 250$ tone arm sound and work like one costing four times as much. My friends still think I’m crazy at what I spent on it.
fasthair
@Frank. Nice job. I do love building wheels. Haven’t in some time, but this article gives me the inspiration to do it.
A particularly nice article, Frank. Thanks for sharing. The first paragraph about says it all for me. My limitations kick in when I say, “hey. Maybe I’ll do some bike maintenance….” Then I start to sweat like a Schleck contemplating a time trial….
@frank
you look like a little boy in heaven’s toyshop – I feel a shiver down my spine watching someone lost in concentration doing something fiddly like that
some day…..
Wheel building is Terra Incognita for me, since I’ve found my self to be really bad even at wheel truing, for the reasons you describe above… I can’t get my head around all these tensional counterforces you keep alluding to… Everything else on a bike, I’m all over. Nice work!
@Nate
I’ll post up a picture of the back end of the rim – you can see it a bit in the last set of photos, but it has a really gaudy Nemesis Day sticker on there which I’m oddly starting to love. I’ve noticed that about yours and @Roadslave’s rims and was wondering that myself. The both of yours also say something like Rien de Paris-Roubaix with a crown after Boonen crushed everyone on a set, so I’m thinking mine came before that. Haven’t done the research to figure out how old they are. Mine just have a sticker that has a warning in Italian which I’m assuming says “Don’t try to check these through security at the airport; these babies are the bomb!”
As for the patience, this kind of project does well if you can stand restarting and trying again. I have rushed through enough things and irreversibly messed them up to know its a losing game. Take your time, think before you start down a path you can’t back out of, and you’ll be fine.
@sthilzy
@Cyclops has an article in the queue as well about wheelbuilding, and his experience was similar to yours in terms of being taught by his manager at the shop he was working at. Very cool stuff. A wheel looks to be a complex thing and until you build one, you don’t really understand how they’re put together – it’s much more simple than you’d think. But before the internet when you could live in Seattle and ask an expert in New Zealand how to do it who’d then point you at the best resources, you had to learn it from a local guru. Cool times.
@Bianchi Denti
That made me laugh out loud! The VMH has done some crazy worldly travel in her day, and much of the art around the house comes from her travels. Its a cool thing. She lived in the desert in Africa for two years where she was the only white person all but the chief of the tribe she was moving in with had ever seen. They called her, “Their Ghost”. Talk about Rule #5.
@Chris
Not as expensive as you’d think. These are my cheapest wheels for sure (not counting the tires) though they did take something more than walking to the store and laying down a credit card.
@Spearfish
I was going to wrap Royce into this article, but they are so cool, they require a full article. Short version: I’ve been craving a set since Will Fotheringham wrote somewhere that he’d brought a set to Robert Millar during the 1993 ‘Tour who was hurting and in need of any advantage he could find. That was a while ago and this is the first time I’ve laid eyes on a set in person. Thrilled to say the least.
@Simon
Absolutely. As I just hinted, I’ll do a full write-up. Not having ridden them, these are top-rate hubs and ridden to some amazing records by both Chris Boardman and Nicole Cooke. I have no doubt they will perform to the meager dishing out of hurt I can give them.
@frank
Yes, mine say “La Reine du Nord” — Queen of the North — and have a crown emblem on them:
@936adl
No kidding!! I’ll have to beat the shit out of them STAT! I love the hubs, like I’ve said – I’ve been lusting after a set for ages.
But as to British Engineering, we have a BMW and a Land Rover. Both are amazing cars, but its amazing how many more things go wrong with the Rover versus the Bimmer…
@schmiken
The VMH surprised me with the FMB Paris-Roubaix Pro – all silk, handmade by a Velominatus…We had to get our order in back in December, because the guy who makes them gets really busy in January when the Pros start making their orders for the cobbled classics…
None of this stuff is light…the tires, rims, spokes (14 gauge)…But that’s what I’ve got the Zipps for. We’re after a different goal on these babies…
Great article and you have a beautiful set of wheels frank. Well done.
First picture of you cross legged on the floor, quick glance, I thought, jeez, that’s an unusual bong, oh, it’s a wheel truing stand.
@gaswepass
Funny you say that, I’ll edit the shots I use for the site every time (every shot in the album was edited at least a bit), and I’ll edit the ones I take with my phone even more. Photo Stream makes that easy, since all the photos wind up on my computer automatically now.
I also have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 which has nearly replaced my DLSR for photography; its got a big enough lens to give great depth perspective, and has this absolutely amazing “candlelight” setting which works great in low light. All the shots of me building wheels were taken using that and were taken at night in a dark house during a Seattle winter. Amazing.
Re: the shots – those last few shots came up because my VMH took a glance at the photos and said, “You don’t have any pics of the actual wheels, genius.” So I darted down this morning and took some more pics. If I’d taken that shot you mention before publishing the article, I’d have used that or the next one as the main shot. Oh well.
@Anjin-san
I’m equally excited to do that as I was to build the wheels – and that’s part of the reason I wrote this now, before they are mounted – I assume I’ll have another adventure with that as well!
@Oli
That means a lot coming from you! Couldn’t have done it without you, mate.
@fasthair
Its all so much easier when you do it. This spoke goes there, that spoke goes there, and before you know it the whole thing comes together like magic. Do it!
Ah, we’ve got a Technics 1200 M3D with an Ortofon needle and cartridge hooked up to a set of Martin Logan speakers (forget which model – one of the lower ones). We usually stream music via Apple AirPlay, but whenever we feel like really enjoying ourselves, we play a record. We focus on getting iconic records for it, stuff that was recorded on analog gear so the full effect is realized. I have an original pressing of Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, some great old Frank Sinatra stuff, and wonderful 180g Jazz records like Kind of Blue and Money Jungle.
A record is the audiophile equivalent of a steel frame and down tube shifters. You have to flip through the collection to find the record you want, take care to clean it, and then to flip it ever half hour or so when you reach the end. Ritualistic.
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@scaler911
Do it!
@eightzero
Well, that’s where you need the sensei – provided schedules can be arranged. If not, find another sensei. But this stuff is all so simple and complex at the same time. Its so easy but someone really does have to show you how to do it. And then you practice practice practice.
@sgt
It is a bit of a mind trip at first…the strangest thing is that a spoke “oposite” might actually be several holes away, due to the 3x system…but like has been said already, once you do it, it makes loads more sense.
@Nate
Mmmmm! Those look mighty tasty! Definitely a newer vintage…
@frank we will work out the schedule, no worries. But hey…are you a turntable kind of guy? If so, I have something for you for the pedaVVan lessons (in addition to the non-shitte beer.) But yes, practice makes permanent. Kind of like The Cobra and his IV bag, apparently.
@Nate
Here are some closeups of my gaudy labels – and the “don’t take these on a plane” warning.
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“Building Bicycle Wheels” by Robert Wright. Old school. Simple instructions, with pen and ink illustrations in my 1977 edition. You won’t find a better guide than that, except perhaps a living wheel Sensi.
@frank
They will be the most expensive wheels that I’ve brought. It would be possible to get the Nemeses with lesser, cheaper hubs but I figure that I’ve I’m going to do this then it’s going to be a bit of a one off, a Velominatic coming of age so to speak so it’d be wrong to skimp. That said, now is not the time to build my own. Trying to fit training for the Keepers Tour in with work and family will be the focus for the next few months.
I was discussing the subject of wheel upgrades with my sensei; tubulars, factory or handbuilt and the like, whilst he was initially sceptical that tubulars were the way to go unless they were to be used for racing once we got to the specifics of the matter, that tubulars aren’t that much more bother than clinchers and that factory wheelsets tend not to have a spoke count necessary for the cobbles, I could sense a shift in attitude, a “You’re ready now” moment. No doubt he’ll make this Sunday’s ride harder to make up for it.
@frank
@936adl
Feel as though I should stand up (a little bit) for UK engineering, solidarity and all that, dontchya know. Granted, cars we can be a bit crap at, but bikes we do well.
Hope technologies really impress me with their approach. You can tell these guys love what they do.
http://dirt.mpora.com/news/technology-teainside-hope-factory.html
You continue to inspire, Frank. Nice article. I’m still riding 9spd and saving pennies for a new bike rather than investing in too many upgrades on the CAAD9, but found a good price on a new Ultegra 6500 cassette the other day (the existing cassette is approaching time that it should be retired). And then got to thinking about mounting it on a new wheelset (which I don’t have). Which got me to establishing a need for new wheels. Which the budget won’t allow. Which got me to thinking about a progetto around building me some new wheels. It’s a slippery slope…
@frank
You don’t have one of the BMW era Land Rovers do you? Land Rovers are a bit like steel frames…
I’ve got a 2003 Discovery and sure, it leaks round the sun roof randomly and there’s often some warning lights telling me that the ABS might not be working but then again it might be traction control or the hill descent but, in the year and a half I’ve had it, it’s wanted nothing much more than some new tyres on the rear. And a lot of diesel.
@Chris
Sweden makes bulletproof cars (and functional, compact furniture). Recently retired a 1989 Volvo (boxy but good) with a whole array of buttons that did I don’t know what (we put stickers””no, decals””under them, reading “magic,” “cloaking device,” and “hyperspace”). But if it were a bike, I would have had no qualms in running it over cobbles.
@Steampunk
Cobbles would be nice round here. The local authority should be shot for the way that they procure the road surfacing, pay the pikey scum who “do the work” but never actually tell them to what specification or check it afterwards.
@frank
That definitely looks like an activity that causes time to stand still, I imagine it would be a very satisfying job. And a great result.
Looks great Frank!
It’s interesting how much this process sound to tying flies. Lots of patients, easy to overdue things, and allows no room for slop. In high school fly tying was one of the things I would do after a rough day of school. You sit, you relax, and finish (usually) with something you can be proud of.
The real fun is catching a fish with a home tied fly. I’m sure the first ride on home built rims would share much of the same feelings.
We need an edit feature. My grammar is terrible, my only excuse is I just woke up for work.
@ Fronk, Those are the exact rims I just scored NOS off tardme for thirty dirty New Zealand sheckels. Probably just under 20 bucks US, with the Nemesis day sticker. The cruellest twist of fate? The Nemesis day sticker matches extremely closely the colour scheme of Bretto’s Bosomworth. Heh.
Inspired by your article and effort — interested in Cobbled Classics 2013 with intent to build up a Victory Strada 36 hole set. Can you give advice on Royce 36h rear hub for Campagnolo 10s ??
@Chris
We had a rash of tar and chip paving around here. Through July and August, riding became a game of avoiding loose gravel at every turn. Roads are fine now, but you do still notice the rolling resistance in relation to the smoother paving.
@minion
I can see I need to get my retardme watching skills in order. How did I miss them? There’s a pair of 36h campag victory stradas on there now which I’d be sorely tempted by if they were NOS and 32h – in fact, I think that’s my next wheelbuilding mission – something along those lines. I have to admit to drunkenly sending Snr. Campagnolo an email berating him for stopping making rims, and telling him to get his hub-making house in order. Didn’t get a reply.
Are any other NZ velominati doing the round the mountain this weekend?
Great article Frank and oh so timely. A pair of HED Belgium C2 rims arrived today, silver White Industries hubs tomorrow, and I’m bidding on a Park Tool TS-2 truing stand on a popular auction site as we speak (get off boys!). Pix soon.