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hub – have all but been eradicated from the skills needed to maintain a bicycle as loose balls, cones, and races have been replaced by sealed cartridge bearings that are pressed into place and secured with a bolt.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.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Amrossios/”/]
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View Comments
@Buck Rogers
Thanks Buck. These are clinchers. I'm not to be trusted around glue. Post your photos and ride report ASAP.
@Tartan1749
Great minds, Tartan. I've a black frame, black rims, black spokes, black thoughts, black ops. The examples of Frank and others really had me hankering for some shiny bits. Buy one part and it all falls fast into place and before you know it, your saying, "How the fuck do I take a good picture of a wheel?"
@frank
@frank
@oli
Ah no, you misunderstand me. I was just pointing to that as the moment that spawned my paranoia about inadequately fastened tubs...
A sweet vid I have foudn myself watching over and over.
Lace Tension True from Ben Leighton on Vimeo.
Making a truing stand at the moment so I can get building my wheels for No. 2. Will post progress on said truing stand.
@SimonH
Nice, I'm going to have to give this a go at some point. There are a couple of old mtb wheels in the garage I could tear down and rebuild as a practice run.
@Chris
I think wheel building is the holy grail. Apart from being able to make a frame from tubing (also a distant plan but one I have started accruing the knowledge on) I think it is the final thing needed for me to be completely self sufficient.
Just gotta figure out how to strip by hubs, clean and re-grease, then I'm all ready. Again, old inexpensive wheels are great for practise.
@SimonH
With three kids who are all into their bikes in a big way wheel building is a skill that would probably save me some money in the long run. Frame building would be cool but the time and effort required means that it won't be on the radar for a few years.
I've been working on becoming self sufficient and only usually resort to the LBS if time doesn't allow or it requires a tool that cannot be justified fiducially. I'm fine with the hub service thing, mountain biking helps with that. Similarly, I'm quite happy to pull a bike apart so there's nothing left on the frame bar the headset then pop it back together with new cables etc. I'm not great at adjusting derailleurs but that's getting better. (I'd best whisper it here but I really don't get the fuss about bleeding and adjusting pad clearance etc on hydraulic brakes.)
I did bar taping for the first time last night which wasn't completely successful but was better than I was expecting.
@SimonH
Curious what that means exactly? Welding your own together, or finding a place to put the one you bought?
@Chris
Yep, being able to build wheels will defo save you trips to the LBS, and most likely save you money in so doing.
I built my last two bikes and whilst the singlespeed was a piece of piss, I spent ages in getting everything done just right from the tubless setting up of the wheel rims (SS MTB), to getting the BB centred in the shell (old school square taper Phil Ti/Magnesium BB) to make sure the chain tracked smoothly.
Also the time spent cabling just the two brakes took an age in ensuring the outers did not run on any paint when the handlebar was turned. As for the bar tape ??? Merckx have mercy !!! I threw the first lot away it was such an abortion and since it was Brooks leather it had been stretched out of shape rendering it useless.
My road bike took me two days, well one afternoon, evening and a morning due to the gears and very delicate carbon being used. Much the same though, I was methodical, checking that everything fitted just so before dismantling to grease the threads on all bolts and then torquing to the correct value, also remembering that the Ti bolt on Super Record is reverse threaded !!!
I loved the process and it filled me with great joy to know that if it fell apart it would be all my fault. Barring the usual school boy errors and first few miles of minor tweaks it runs as smooth as anything I can imagine.
I am therefore looking forward to a second road bike now. I keep thinking about getting something that will serve me for both CX and rain / winter bike but think I will be compromising my choices by trying to get somthing to be the jack of all trades but fear it be a master of none.
The purpose being that I was going to sell both MTB's ( I have a pretty sweet Lynskey Lefty 29er that I havnt used in six months and it's taking up space that could be for my N+1) and then I would have one No.1 for road and Sunday best and No.2 which would suit CX / rain & winter.
I am now thinking that if I keep my dropped bar MTB which is a singlespeed, get a geared hub and build a new rear wheel, I can switch out between SS and gears when the needs arise (which will not be too often).
Then I can concentrate on a decent bike made only for the road, I really like the thought of a skinny tubed steel frame, either lugged or fillet brazed, steel fork and mudguards (fenders?), Campy Chorus gruppo, I will stick with New Ultimate stem, seat post and bar as per No.1 and to keep it retro looing with a Brooks saddle and bar tape as per my SS.
Decisions decisions ...
@razmaspaz
Making a truing stand, from a few bits of MDF and stainless. Really simple accept that I don't have a router so I will porbably get a local wood shop to cut and shape the wood for me, I have the stainless bits already made up.
@SimonH
There is something completely zen about reducing a bicycle to a small pile of components, cleaning them up and then refitting them one by one. I can imagine building bikes up from scratch is similarly satisfying. The closest I've got to that is my BMX but that was built up over several months as I picked up cheap used parts from ebay and the like. It's just a shame that I usually have to spend a rather un-zen day clearing the garage out beforehand.
I've also got a couple of mountain bikes, a Cannondale Prophet and a Marin Quake. I couldn't bear to let the prophet go but the Quake will make be sold off to finance some aero wheels. There's no decent mountain biking round here and the Prophet is built pretty burly so it can do big days in the mountains as well as XC duties.
(went out with the kids, my brother and his kids for a hoon around his local woods for his birthday. I took the BMX as I could get in the boot of my car with the kids bikes rather than load up the trailer. It was absolutely perfect - I was frowned at alot by all people with knee pads and big Camelbaks on their long travel MTBs)
You want some Maxxis Hookworms for that dropped bar bike.
@Chris
Maxiss Hookworms are 26" only, the wheels on my SS are 700C !!! It's a big bike !!!