I got the remainder of the parts I needed to build the wheels on Friday.\u00a0 These wheels are going on the LeMond frame, they have Campagnolo hubs (translated from Italian that means “smooth as glass”), H-Son TB-14 rims, and DT Swiss spokes.\u00a0 Their only downfall is that I’m building the wheels.<\/p>\n
It went well.\u00a0 I checked the spoke lengths and they were spot on.\u00a0 Got the Zinn book, and laced the front wheel.\u00a0 It took about a half-hour to lace and then I checked it over carefully.\u00a0 No lacing errors that I could find, so I tightened the spokes up and checked the dish.\u00a0 Amazingly, the dish was basically perfect to start with,\u00a0 so it was up to me to mess it up.<\/p>\n
I increased the tension up to “almost where it should be” and checked everything again.\u00a0 A few spokes were a little looser and a few were tighter, so I evened them out as best I could.\u00a0 Checked the dish again, still perfect.\u00a0 Set the tension to the final value and the dish is perfect, and the wheel is radially true.\u00a0 A few spots where the lateral true needed some help, but not as many as I expected.\u00a0 I would have no concerns putting rim tape on, a tube and tire, and riding this rim tomorrow.\u00a0 But I’ll save the maiden voyage\u00a0 for the LeMond once the build is finished.<\/p>\n
On to the rear wheel, this one is a little more complicated.\u00a0 I chose a 3-cross NDS pattern and a 2-cross DS pattern.\u00a0 If my research is right, this will help to minimize the NDS\/DS tension differences and help the rim to be stronger and to stay true longer.\u00a0 Lacing the NDS 3-cross was fairly simple, I’d just finished the front wheel with that pattern.\u00a0 Lacing the DS 2-cross took some thought and trial and error, but I got it.\u00a0 The rim looks centered, but I haven’t checked the dish yet and the spokes have minimal tension right now.<\/p>\n
Maybe after tomorrow’s ride I’ll try and finish it up.<\/p>\n
I’m sure that to a lot of people, building wheels is not a big deal.\u00a0 It is to me, because I’ve not finished a set before (and I guess technically this set isn’t finished yet), and there’s a sense of satisfaction in learning something that you didn’t know how to do, and then using what you learned to make something.<\/p>\n
Building stuff is fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I got the remainder of the parts I needed to build the wheels on Friday.\u00a0 These wheels are going on the LeMond frame, they have Campagnolo hubs (translated from Italian that means “smooth as glass”), H-Son TB-14 rims, and DT Swiss spokes.\u00a0 Their only downfall is that I’m building the wheels. It went well.\u00a0 I … <\/p>\n