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hub – have all but been eradicated from the skills needed to maintain a bicycle as loose balls, cones, and races have been replaced by sealed cartridge bearings that are pressed into place and secured with a bolt.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/”/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@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.
[dmalbum: path="/velominati.com/wp-content/uploads/readers/frank/2012.01.11.23.32.20/"/]
@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.
[dmalbum: path="/velominati.com/wp-content/uploads/readers/frank/2012.01.12.00.36.37/"/]
"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.