DIY wheel building

[ScotRoutes]

Wherever is cheapest. One of the advantages of DIY is sourcing the bits whenever a bargain appears.

I currently have a pair of rims awaiting hubs and spokes. The hubs will likely come from one of the German shops. Spokes I normally get at Rose Bikes. Valves are the cheapest I can find in ebay/Amazon as they all work the same. I tend to stick with Stans or WTB tape, though I just used electrical tape on my fatbike rims and that's working so far.

[thenorthwind]

Just don't be surprised when your DIY build works out more expensive than an equivalent set of wheels off the shelf

[Lazarus]

yes I remember when you built wheels as it saved you money - now you need to scramble around looking for deals in order to save some money
My last one cost me £25 rim - WTB and £25 for spokes
Current one is going to be
£10 spokes
£??? for a 28 hole rim - probably £35 ish- its for my steel commuter so I dont need anything strong or light

[Gummikuh]

It is true that building wheels can be more expensive, but it does allow you the freedom to build things like dynamo hubs etc.

But bear in mind is that there can be a lot of 26" wheels out there with good hubs on for not much money.

For my last wheel build I used an XT rear hub from an old wheel and was perfectly fine after a quick service.

[thenorthwind]

Yeah, I often see old wheelsets for sale with decent parts for roughly what I could buy the parts for a single wheel build for, but maybe that's not a bad approach.

[thenorthwind]

Any spoke bargains around? Need 64 288mm spokes. You could buy a decent second hand wheelset for the RRP of a set of bog-standard branded double-butted spokes and nipples from a conventional retailer

Rose Bikes is a good shout Colin, though not sure what the delivery situation is at the moment - can't see any information on their site.

[Bearlegged]

I've always found the ACI stainless DB spokes from Cyclebasket to be cheap and reliable.

[Lazarus]

Same here and I have a ten year old set of wheels built on them still going fine

[techno]

I've bought spokes and nipples of this guy, great prices and service: https://ebay.co.uk/usr/handbuiltwheels

[thenorthwind]

Thanks all. Bought a box of 100 ACI Alpina DB from Cyclebasket, with 100 black nipples for £52 and change delivered... not much more than the correct amount and I've got enough for another wheel - I've got a matching hub, so if I use the same rim they'll fit.