Editor’s Note: Grannygear files his last part on the wheelbuild he attempted.
Single Speed Wheel Build: Part II: by Grannygear
In the first article I talked about the choices I made in parts and the thoughts behind them. Now, it was time to learn a bit and then build the wheels. I did some searching on the internet on wheelbuilding sites. I read over the Sheldon Brown site and the one at Mike T’s site. As well, I read the fascinating book by Jobst Brandt. See the links at the bottom of the page for that info.
I also used three spoke calculator sources to get to a spoke length. All wheels do not use the same spoke length…different rim/spoke bed diameters (ERD), hub flange diameters and spacing, nipple lengths, and spoke patterns (cross 3, cross 4, etc). I used the specs from the hub and the rim maker and plugged the numbers into the DT Swiss Spoke Length Calculator that is linked from the DT Swiss home page and called out for a standard cross three pattern.
In my case, the hub flange info for the White Industries hubs were:
Front M-16 Disc – 60mm flange diameter, center to flange left is 21mm and C/F right is 33mm.
Rear Eno Disc – 60mm flange diameter, C/F left and right are 32.5mm (non-dished hub).
The ERD for the Flow rims is listed as 600mm and one pro wheel builder suggested using 601mm ERD as the number.
Using a 12mm nipple, I ended up with 291mm spokes for both rear sizes and 291mm on the long side (non disc side) of the front hub and 290mm on the short side. There was some rounding up where 289.9mm from the spoke calc became 290mm and etc.
As well, I gave those numbers to Guitar Ted and JeffJ (our resident Clydesdale tester who builds his own wheels) and they used the spoke calc methods they employ and gave me the resulting numbers. They agreed completely, so I felt good about the spoke length numbers. One mystery out of the way.
I also opted for alloy nipples. One, they are lighter. Two, I have never had any issues over a lot of years with hand built wheels and alloy nips. Three, they come in violet (purple). Oh yeah. Back to the 90s, baby.
Weights of the hubs were: rear – 323 grams with 10mm bolts. Front – 194 grams with no QR. The freewheel is listed as 177 grams ( I did not weigh it) and the Stan’s Flows are listed as 525 grams ea. As I said before, i could have trimmed weight with Arches and something like a Hope Pro II or DT Swiss 240 SS hub, but the extra grams were OK with me.
Now it was time to get to the building part of things, and I have to say that, if it were not for local support (and distant support), I would have felt intimidated. I enlisted El Jefe, JeffJ, to come over to my casa grande (I bribed him with chicken burritos) and he brought his kit for the task. I have a pro-type Park truing stand, but his budget model truing stand fit nicer with my furniture. We had some supplies at hand…anti sieze, grease, a toothpick, a specially ground phillips screwdriver, a good spoke wrench, and all the parts I purchased.
One of the hardest parts is knowing where to begin, and as this is not a primer on HOW to build wheels, but rather my experience in doing so, I will just comment on the process. The first spoke is key as it works from the area of the valve stem and sets the pattern for the build. JeffJ set the rim so that, when you peered through the hole and in towards the hub shell, you could see the logo on the hub. Swanky. He also noted that beginning the way he did, assured that the spokes do not cross over the valve stem, providing clear access to air up and such. Watching JeffJ begin the process and explain it to me set a tone for the night, one of patience and attention to detail.
From there, it was a matter of following the pattern and being very careful to not misplace a spoke (which is exactly what I did when it was my turn to lace wheel number two…duuuooohhh!). We prepped all the spoke threads with a quality copper based anti sieze that I have used for years on all kinds of fasteners and surfaces. We also lightly greased the face of the nipple where it sat on the rim edge. That was the job of the toothpick, that of applying a bit of grease. The specially ground screwdriver with the little flag of tape fit the back of the nipple precisely and the flag of tape allowed us to count revolutions of the screwdriver/nipple.
When all the spokes were in place, JeffJ began the task of getting to even tension on the spokes, and backed each nipple off completely with the special screwdriver then turned them an even count all the way around (watching the flag of tape), and around, and etc, until it was pretty close to tensioned. The man is an exacting technician and stressed to me the process needs to be that way to get the result we are looking for. From there, it was a dance of the spoke wrench to get the rim in true side to side, dished (centered on the hub), and with no ‘hop’ to it. Between plucking the spokes like a guitar and feeling the spokes, he was able to get the wheel looking pretty good. After final tension was achieved, he laid the wheel on its side, hub end against a towel set onto the carpet, and ‘set’ the spokes a bit by pressing down on the rim with both hands in several places.
It was an interesting process. There are a lot of approaches to building a wheel; you can use a tension meter like this one and get the numbers that way and there are many ways to de-stress or relieve the spokes from wind-up or twist…all kinds of different ways to skin this cat. Part of the art of building a wheel is getting this done right, and while we may not have been pro at it, JeffJ is 260 lbs and 6’4″ of power on his 29er wheels and has not had any issues on the many wheelsets he has built. Works for me.
The Flows built up very sweetly and the anti-sieze and the grease made for a smooth feel to the final tension…no spoke twisting issues. The high quality spokes and nipples from DT Swiss had to be working for us here. The non-dished rear hub is really a great feature. Man, I wish I could do that for a geared bike (or a front hub, for that matter). Some folks run a 6 or even 7 speed ‘mini cluster’ on an SS hub to achieve this and I see the appeal, but the gearing range is iffy for me. Someday, internal geared hubs will be there and I will be all in.
I weighed the final wheels and then promptly lost the paper I wrote the numbers down on. But, I believe it was around 950g for the front and 1050 for the rear. Maybe…don’t quote me. However, I really only care what the final process gave me compared to the old set up. Weighed that way with tires, QRs/bolts, etc, I came up with a 90g savings on the rear combo and a 60g savings on the front….same tires, just tubeless. I think that actual bare wheels were almost the same as the older DT Swiss set. Not a huge weight savings, but I gained a stiffer rear wheel for sure, the ability to go to 15QR in the front, a wider footprint on the tire casing from the beefy Flow rim, obviously the tubeless-ness, and I have to say, a sweet looking wheelset.
I Stan’s yellow taped them and installed some tubes/tires overnight to set the tape. Then, I pulled the tubes and installed the Stan’s valve stems and sealant, converting to tubeless. I did need to pull the valve core and use an air compressor on the rear tire, a Continental Race King, but the front Specialized 2 Bliss Purgatory tire only needed a floor pump. I had to play around with getting the BB7 caliper over far enough outboard to work well without rubbing. I installed the Eno freewheel, making sure I anti-seized (and greased) the threads. Once that was done, I went riding.
I can feel the tubeless advantage for sure. So supple feeling. The rear wheel is quite stiff laterally and overall I believe I gained some steering precision from the better tire support and beefy Flow rims. I love the sound of the Eno freewheel. It is in between a DT Swiss hub and a Hope hub for noise level and I do feel the faster engagement over the old rear hub. And the White Industries hubs are just eye candy, all polished and such. Smooth too. Man, in the workstand those hubs spin like there is no tomorrow. They make all the other hubs I have spun lately feel like mud. I have never heard of anyone breaking an ENO freewheel…never. It is rebuildable too.
Flows, classic cartridge bearing hub, bomber freewheel, careful build….miles of smiles, I hope.
I like the result, the process, once quite a daunting mystery, is now pretty clear to me at least as far as the basics go, and I would do it again. It also gave me an appreciation of what a good wheelbuilder brings to the table. Beyond just lacing the parts together, they help you make the right decisions for what rim, hub, etc best meets your needs, then they hunch over the workbench for a bit, finally handing you a strong and balanced wheelset that could last for years to come. The science of it is understandable, but the artistry of it….making the parts into a perfect wheel…that is another thing altogether and that is the true magic in the wheelbuilders hands. Magic always costs and frankly, after having sat in the wizards chair for a bit, I think they are underpaid.
http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Wheel-3rd-Jobst-Brandt/dp/0960723668
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html
Thanks for the review. That was a fun read…
You mentioned how nicely the WI rolls. Indeed, a fantastic hub and the FW is a jewel. I was so glad when they introduced it years back.
The only ‘free hub’ hub that is comparable to the WI is DT Swiss 240. The front is actually better spinning (marginally, of course). The rear, with the 36pt ratchet upgrade, does not spin freely as the WI. Another honorable mention is, which Hadely spins rather freely with 72pt of engagement.
However, the WI imposes a very stringent chain line, namely 51.5mm.. That’s the main reason for me to stick with a FH setup. It’s flexible and I can run any crank I wish: Eno, Truvative Noir, SRAM XX (with a custom 120mm ring) and even SRAM Red (on my disk brake equipped Monstercross).
@RubberBoy
Pretty sure that the WI hub gets you 47.5mm chain line. The Paul’s hub is 51.5mm IIRC. My Shimano HT-II cranks with a 113mm BB gives me 47.5mm and I was willing to work around what you correctly point out is a limitation of the freewheel type hub, that being a fixed chain line.
So far I am diggin’ the ‘old school’ hubs.
My preference would be a WI ENO crank and tapered BB, but I might even play with a set of those XTR 960s and see what I could do for CL there.
grannygear
Indeed, I got confused with the Paul. Sorry…
Of course, as you concurred, the point is still valid.
Ya, those ‘old schoo’l hubs are eminently rad…
Lacing the wheels was the most frustrating part for me. I started with the front. Laced it 2X…DOH! Take it apart, try again. Laced it 3X, but the spokes were all off 1 hole on the rim, so I had a cross over the valve. Structurally it was fine…but it wasn’t “right” so I took it apart, again, and relaced it, again. Third time’s the charm.
Got the rear wheel laced correctly the first try.
I didn’t have any trouble bringing the wheel up to tension and getting it dished/centered. Took forever, but went smoothly. I probably spent about 6 hours total.
I used Linseed oil on the spoke threads/nipple seat. It was recommended by a local wheel builder who has a reputation for building nice wheels. Acts as a lubricant while wet, dries sticky.
So far my wheels are holding up great, after 7+ months of abuse on a rigid bike. Whenever I need another set, I’ll build them too. Everyone should give wheel building a try. it’s not hard, just takes time and patience.
GT-As always, great work! You briefly touched on the alloy nipples. Why did you use the spokes that you did? Why not straight gauge or thinner butts? Since I am an “old school” v-brake kind of guy; when switching wheels do you have to worry about the disc lining up with the caliper?
@Willie: Actually, thanks go to Grannygear. 🙂
I’ve built a number of wheels over my tenure as a bicycle mechanic, so I’ll give you my thoughts on your questions.
Alloy nips: Traditional thinking goes that brass nipples are stronger but heavier. In theory, that may be true, (certainly they are “tougher”, being more malleable a material), but I have had no issues building with alloy nipples for mountain bike wheels. Alloy nipples are generally a harder material than brass, so they can break due to stress. Stress can be managed by a careful, detailed wheel build. Alloy nipples should not be looked over for most applications. Expense plays a part though, and alloy nips are more expensive. Also, brass should have a longer life span, so if you expect your wheels to last, and last, and last, then brass may be your choice.
Spokes are chosen for application/rider/riding style reasons. You can’t go wrong with straight gauge generally, but they have extra weight where you don’t need it, and they are actually weaker than some butted spokes are.
Butted spokes and aero spokes are typically drawn through a die, which like forging, makes the metal harder and gains some strength over non-butted spokes. Again, a harder metal can be broken easier due to stress, but as with alloy nipples, a good wheel build will negate this to a great degree. Butted spokes typically build a strong, lighter weight wheel, but as with anything, you have to be careful how thin you go with the gauge. Once again, careful consideration of rider/style/bicycle type will help determine the best option here.
Wheel changes with disc wheel sets are no bother as long as you use a hub from the same manufacturer in each wheel. Different hub manufacturers have different tolerances which will cause a rider to have to make caliper adjustments with wheel changes, or in extreme cases, the wheel will be incompatible with the brake system, due to tolerance variances at the extremes.
I think grannygear did a great job of selecting the components for this build. All excellent quality bits that all complement each other. None that are needlessly overkill, nor underbuilt. Component selection is part of the art of wheelbuilding.
I had never built a rear wheel that wasn’t dished to some extent and I came away impressed with the extra strength a dishless wheel affords.
I usually use a Permatex automotive grade anti-seize for the spoke/nipple interface. I have used linseed oil and a few other things, but that nasty old. . . . . no, not old. . . . . ancient . . . . stuff in the bottom of that tub with all but illegible writing on it is pure magic. When I build my next set of wheels, I will not do so until I can source some of this magical compound. If I can’t source it myself, I will simply camp out on GG’s porch until he is so kind as to spare a couple tiny dollops.
Never even a hint of a spoke even thinking about winding up and we took these wheels up to a decently high tension. It didn’t look like anything special, but I was impressed with that stuff.
In the end I think he came away with a superb, quality wheelset that will give many miles of worry-free service. And those purple nipples look m-a-r-v-e-l-o-u-s.
@jeffj
OK about the porch camping, but the dogs may have to agree! The tub of goo is indeed blessed and magical stuff. When I run out, I will grieve accordingly.
Thanks for the sweet wheel build and teaching session, El Jefe Jeffe’.
grannygear
After cycling through a few cassette type rear wheels I have been ruminating on a dedicated singlespeed rear wheel for my Judan I am running an EThirteen crank and was looking at the new series Surly hub and Flows with an Eno freewheel. In your collective experience do you anticipate alignment issues? At 210 lbs and with overnight gear I am looking for something that will give me a few years of trouble free riding that wont break the bank any thoughts?
I do not have all the numbers in front of me for the Surly hub and the E13 crank’s chainline, but you want them to match, whatever the number.
gg