Wheel rebuilding?

Alan Hoyle said:

I have an old 27" road bike with rusty spokes on the front wheel (the
rear hub/spokes were replaced relatively recently with a new flip-flop
hub). I thought about replacing the whole thing (maybe going with
700C), or having the shop rebuild, but I thought I might save money by
trying to do it myself. The rims and hubs are OK and I was thinking
about buying the spokes and trying to do the build myself. I remember
seeing an article somewhere describing a way to rebuild the wheel,
basically one spoke at a time, but I can't remember if it was on the
web or on usenet and it isn't immediately obvious on google searches
and (surprisingly) I didn't see rebuilding-specific advice on
Sheldon's site.

Are there any caveats with rebuilding that I need to be aware of? Can
I re-use the spoke nipples? How should I disassemble the wheel?

The one-by-one deal is for replacing the _rim_ when re-using the old
spokes.

If you're going to replace all of the spokes, it will be MUCH easier to
just chop the old ones all at once and start over.

Generally, I don't recommend that beginner wheelbuilders try to use a
used rim, this typically makes the job much harder.

Your new spokes will come with new nipples, use them.

http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuilding

Sheldon "Wheels" Brown
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge. |
| -- Benjamin Franklin |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Alan Hoyle said:

I have an old 27" road bike with rusty spokes on the front wheel (the
rear hub/spokes were replaced relatively recently with a new flip-flop
hub). I thought about replacing the whole thing (maybe going with
700C), or having the shop rebuild, but I thought I might save money by
trying to do it myself. The rims and hubs are OK and I was thinking
about buying the spokes and trying to do the build myself. I remember
seeing an article somewhere describing a way to rebuild the wheel,
basically one spoke at a time, but I can't remember if it was on the
web or on usenet and it isn't immediately obvious on google searches
and (surprisingly) I didn't see rebuilding-specific advice on
Sheldon's site.

The more common (and easier) job is replacing the rim by transferring
spokes one at a time. For your project, you'll need to determine the
length of the spokes, and buy good quality (e.g., DT brand) stainless
steel spokes and brass nipples. Don't re-use the old nipples.

Go around the wheel, loosening the spokes a turn or two at a time until
they are all very loose. Then replace the spokes one at a time, being
careful to lace them exactly the same as the original. Put a drop of
oil on the spoke threads, and on each nipple/eyelet interface. From
that point, follow Sheldon's procedure starting with initial
adjustments.
http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#initial

Art Harris