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I've broke 6 spokes so far on the back wheel of my mountain bike, it's almost every other ride at the moment!
I obviously need some better wheels but I'm on a run of bad luck and we're proper skint.
If I was to build a wheel by following you tube videos would it be cheaper and stronger than a factory produced wheel?
I know nothing about wheels other than people often say a hand built wheel is best.
I fix and fettle my bike by watching you tube videos but I've not been brave enough to replace a spoke yet as I'm worried I'll do irreparable damage! So I keep taking it to the local bike shop and it's a fiver every time.
We all started with no experience 😆
Building a wheel is fairly easy but if you add up the cost of hubs, spokes and rims it's cheaper to buy ready built wheels.
What size wheel are you after? I have a 26" wheel to a fairly good spec that you could have for a very modest contribution to my beer fund - postage plus the price of two spoke replacements?
Simon, I've just priced up a rear wheel with deore hubs and cheap rims and you're right, siwhite thanks but I need 29".
Yes.
Buy the Wheelpro pdf book and get the necessary spokes, have a go at replacing them.
Rebuild what you have with new spokes, if it's out of warranty
What's your email address russl?
.
Ironically in some ways it's easier than straightening a bent wheel, especially with new rims and spokes- you're not fighting lots of old stuff, you're just adding new.
There's another way though- if you have a reasonably true wheel that just happens to be pinging spokes because they're old, you can replace one spoke at a time. It's a pain in the arse, very slow way to the same result but you may find it simpler. If you're replacing like with like on the spokes you can do a lot of this by ear- "ping", replace spoke, tighten until "ping". Pung, pong, pang, ping, ting, oops too far, ping
Relace with good spokes and take your time getting the tension right and your spokes will last. May take patience. Incorrect/ uneven tension, age and not great spokes will all contribute to spoke breakages.
Worst case you rebuild it and have to retension it a couple of times.
You can even just do it in the frame if you don't want to buy loads of tools.
Yes.Buy the Wheelpro pdf book and get the necessary spokes, have a go at replacing them.
+1
Replacing a spoke isn't going to do irreparable damage ... and you're currently paying the LBS so why not do it and if it doesn't work you're no worse off. (you can always resort to them fixing it)
However ... unless your riding DH on a 29er something is fundamentally wrong with the wheel
I'd perhaps be working out if the wheel(s) is/are worth spending more ... if the spokes are just rubbish (do you know the history of the wheel - was it new)... or more likely the initial build...
Lots of new wheels are just chucked together and often the spokes are not tight... I got a pair of new wheels for £100 (New Years Sales) and it would have cost me near that just for spokes... but both had to be "rebuilt".
The rear wheel I did one ride and the dish was out by around 1cm over half the wheel! I just loosened everything (kept it laced and indeed though bad practice left the tyre on at very low pressure but didn't want to lose the sealant) and it's fine after a further 3-4 rides.
I'd recommend taking the tyre off 😀 but why not just replace the broken one then slacken every spoke ... and just do the post lacing part again ?
IF you do this and the rim is not nearly straight then at least you know .. if you mess up you can still get the LBS to finish it off
Yep, I built my current 650b arch ex wheelset using the Wheelpro book. It took a few hours and a bit of trial and error but you can definitely do it yourself.
If you're constantly snapping spokes you need to replace them all IME.
Go for it, might be slightly cheaper to buy machine built but the skills will pay for themselves in the long run.
Besides you already have the hub and rim, so get some new spokes and crack on.
Get the wheelpro book and take your time over the first build. No need for a truing stand, flip your bike and use zip ties on the stays to judge true and centring. Sit on a stool.
Get a decent spoke key, and correct length spokes.