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Just wondering what the going rate is for a wheel build.
Been quoted £28 for spokes and nipples. (plain guage) and £40 to build the wheel ?
Sound fair ?
Aye that was re using the old spokes mate.
In total I've been quoted the following .....
£28 per wheel for spokes and nips
£75 to build both wheels.
Does that seem a good price.
Yes, that sounds good. Last December I supplied hubs and 24 inch rims and was charged £120 for the pair to be built up.
Aye that was re using the old spokes mate.
Did you not read any of the replies? 😉
I was recently quoted £40 per wheel + 50p per spoke/nipple.
So would work out £56 per wheel or £112 the pair.
Looking at your quote I'd say build cost is fine, but spoke cost is way too high.
£30 a wheel in labour plus spokes at the moment but about time we put it up.
I paid £70 to have a hub swapped inc. new spokes. Although I felt it was a little steep
Spokes do vary a lot in price so you need to know what spokes you are getting to compare those costs
Spokes do vary a lot in price so you need to know what spokes you are getting to compare those costs
He says plain gauge, so I don't think that it should cost any more than 30p per spoke as that's about what you'd pay online. A builder should get them a lot cheaper due to buying in bulk
I just bought 2 wheels worth of ACI DB spokes and nipples for £22, and I know a local to me wheel builder charges £16 for 32 Sapim DB spokes.
I charge £30 a wheel for labour with spokes on top. If customers want to bring their own spokes that's ok with me, but I tend to charge around a £1 a spoke for decent spokes, about 50p for cheap plain gauge ones. £2.50 each for CXRay...
We charge £22 per wheel for a straight forward build (Plus the cost of the spokes if we are supplying)
Wheelbuilding is the most pleasant job to do on a bike, as long as you can spare half an hour for a couple of evenings then you'll have it done no problem and learnt a new skill.
Wheelbuilding is the most pleasant job to do on a bike, as long as you can spare half an hour for a couple of evenings then you'll have it done no problem and learnt a new skill.
Completely agree. I'm addicted to it now 🙂
I paid £42 (shipped) for 80 DT Swiss Competition (DB) spokes from Rose Bikes for the last clean build I did, and this was the cheapest place I could find. For some reason, DT spokes are really expensive in the UK! In addition, £6.50 for 72 brass Sapim nipples from The Bay.
I charge £30 a wheel for labour with spokes on top.
If you don't me asking, how long does it take you to do a wheel, including lacing, tensioning, finishing etc? I'm very much an amateur, so it takes me about 2 hours from start to finish for one wheel. This normally includes time spent re-lacing it because I screwed up the pattern, and at least 2-3 tea stops.
That said, I do aim for perfection (hey, I'm not paying for my own time!) and the finished product is as good as any wheel I've bought from a shop 🙂
^ very much depends on the build/components
'normal' stuff that all goes together well with no issues could easily have you done in <30mins on a good day.
Something odd or awkward will take a bit longer obviously, but if you're spending much over an hour on a single wheel then something has probably gone wrong, or it's something pretty special.
but if you're spending much over an hour on a single wheel then something has probably gone wrong
Or, if you're like me, you just don't do enough of them to get really quick at it. I genuinely don't believe that a lack of experience necessarily makes for a worse wheel build, but it certainly makes for a much slower one 🙂