Good UK wheel builders

Ben Micklem said:

Hello,
I'm looking for a recommendation for a wheelbuilder or supplier of
hand built wheels- reliable and fairly cheap.

I hear Ben Micklem's not bad, and the price is hard to beat.

Seriously, building a wheel is something most people who have a little
bit of aptitude for things mechanical can do themselves. If you do
your own bike maintenance, you can build your own wheels. The first
one will take a while, but even the very first will be better than any
machine built wheel, and you'll be confident that you can deal with
any truing that is subsequently required.

If you hadn't considered it yourself, I'd strongly suggest you do.
So long as you're not rushed, it's quite a satisfying thing to do.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
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in message <[email hidden]>, Ben Micklem

(') said:

I'm looking for a recommendation for a wheelbuilder or supplier of hand
built wheels- reliable and fairly cheap.

I am looking for set of Deore disc hubs with Mavic A317 disc rims.

Merlin Cycles have great prices, but don't make any 700c wheels.

Any thoughts on All Terrain Cycles?

Guy used to recommend a blind wheelbuilder in the Reading area. Does anyone
know if he's still in business?

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; may contain traces of nuts, bolts or washers.

On 25/06/2007 16:45, Ben Micklem said,

Quoted message said:

Hello,

I'm looking for a recommendation for a wheelbuilder or supplier of hand
built wheels- reliable and fairly cheap.

I am looking for set of Deore disc hubs with Mavic A317 disc rims.

Merlin Cycles have great prices, but don't make any 700c wheels.

I've had a set of 26" wheels from Merlin, and I can't say I was mightily
impressed - you get what you pay for. How about Chain Reaction Cycles?
I don't know off-hand if they do 700c though, but you can have a look.
Otherwise there's (whisper it quietly) the BoB, aka St John St Cycles.
I had a dynohub wheel from them a couple of years ago. It arrived
perfectly true and is still perfectly true.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Ben Micklem said:

Hello,

I'm looking for a recommendation for a wheelbuilder or supplier of
hand built wheels- reliable and fairly cheap.

I am looking for set of Deore disc hubs with Mavic A317 disc rims.

Merlin Cycles have great prices, but don't make any 700c wheels.

Can't fault the Harry Rowlands built wheels on my Roberts audax.
http://www.rstocker.freeserve.co.uk/harry.htm
Or the front hub dynamo wheel I had from Mick Madgett (Diss).
http://www.madgettscycles.co.uk/

I believe that neither really does this new-fangled interweb stuff, so don't
let the websites put you off.

Don't know what you mean by "cheap"; for a normal wheel there is a labour
charge, but the biggest cost is the choice of hub and rim. Postage is
probably a considerable cost on a wheel.

- Nigel

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

Ben Micklem said:

I'm looking for a recommendation for a wheelbuilder or supplier of hand
built wheels- reliable and fairly cheap.

The name I keep hearing in glowing terms is Big Al at Wheelcraft, near
Lennoxtown. Of course, I've never availed myself of his services because I
build my own wheels. A copy of "The Bicycle Wheel" is a good (if dry) start
for anyone thinking about learning how it's done.

Becky

Quoting Simon Brooke <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Guy used to recommend a blind wheelbuilder in the Reading area. Does anyone
know if he's still in business?

Bob Bristow. He built a wheel for us a couple of months ago.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> Distortion Field!
Today is First Monday, Presuary.

David Damerell said:

Quoting Simon Brooke <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Guy used to recommend a blind wheelbuilder in the Reading area. Does anyone
know if he's still in business?

Bob Bristow. He built a wheel for us a couple of months ago.

Spooky. I was wandering back from lunch around two o'clock, when the
name Bob Bristow popped up in my head. (I'd failed to remember the
name from earlier when Simon posted originally,)

Are you a witch or Rupert Sheldrake?

Tim

Ian Smith said:

Ben Micklem said:

Hello,
I'm looking for a recommendation for a wheelbuilder or supplier of
hand built wheels- reliable and fairly cheap.

I hear Ben Micklem's not bad, and the price is hard to beat.

Seriously, building a wheel is something most people who have a little
bit of aptitude for things mechanical can do themselves.

Seconded. After a little practice its a piece of cake to get an ultra
reliable set of wheels. The hardest part is sizign the spokes
correctly. I'm still riding a set of wheels I built 6 years ago and
took down the Alps offroad, a set of XC rims mind, and have only had
to tweak one once for a slight wander. I'm no genius but the vast
majority of people seem to think its beyond them when it isnt.

CoyoteBoy wrote on 26/06/2007 19:31 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Ian Smith said:

Ben Micklem said:

Hello,
I'm looking for a recommendation for a wheelbuilder or supplier of
hand built wheels- reliable and fairly cheap.

I hear Ben Micklem's not bad, and the price is hard to beat.

Seriously, building a wheel is something most people who have a little
bit of aptitude for things mechanical can do themselves.

Seconded. After a little practice its a piece of cake to get an ultra
reliable set of wheels.

Thirded. I only true my wheels once when I build them. They then last
until the wheel is damaged or the rims wear out.

And if you don't want to go the whole hog to begin with buy a ready
built wheel and then finish off the truing and tensioning using the
Jobst Brandt method. Not having to thread the wheel and get it up to
basic tension and trueness makes an easy task even easier.

--
Tony

"The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there
is no good evidence either way."
- Bertrand Russell

Tony Raven said:

CoyoteBoy wrote on 26/06/2007 19:31 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Ian Smith said:

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007, Ben Micklem <[email hidden]> wrote:
> Hello,
> I'm looking for a recommendation for a wheelbuilder or supplier of
> hand built wheels- reliable and fairly cheap.
I hear Ben Micklem's not bad, and the price is hard to beat.

Seriously, building a wheel is something most people who have a little
bit of aptitude for things mechanical can do themselves.

Seconded. After a little practice its a piece of cake to get an ultra
reliable set of wheels.

Thirded. I only true my wheels once when I build them. They then last
until the wheel is damaged or the rims wear out.

4thed or whatever it should be

My first project was on the wheels that came with my Marin Muirwoods
2000, used to break spokes regulaly, so started off by replacing all
the spokes with Swiss DT (one at a time), knowing what I know now it
would have been easier to remove them all and start from scratch
Moved on to building my first wheel maybe took a week (couple of hours
per night), it ran true till the rim wore out

People don't recommend reusing the spokes, I've reused them without
problems, just look out for damaged ones
Hubs will outlast at least two hubs in my case, MTB summer and winter

Get an old wheel, take some digital photos,strip it rebuild it, do it
again. One of the most satisfying things to do with cycling, fit that
new wheel cycle a couple of yards and hear the spokes ping as all the
stresses are taken out

have a go

Steve Walford said:

Get an old wheel, take some digital photos,strip it rebuild it, do it
again. One of the most satisfying things to do with cycling, fit that
new wheel cycle a couple of yards and hear the spokes ping as all the
stresses are taken out

You might want to brush up your technique, a properly built wheel will
NOT ping

--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

M-gineering wrote on 01/07/2007 21:25 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Steve Walford said:

Get an old wheel, take some digital photos,strip it rebuild it, do it
again. One of the most satisfying things to do with cycling, fit that
new wheel cycle a couple of yards and hear the spokes ping as all the
stresses are taken out

You might want to brush up your technique, a properly built wheel will
NOT ping

Its spoke wind-up and insufficient tension which means they loosen off
enough under loading to unwind the wind-up. The easy way to learn how
to get spoke wind-up right is to put little insulating tape flags on the
spokes near the nipple but clear of the key. As you tighten a spoke the
flag will turn. You need to overturn the spoke a bit and then back off
slightly to remove the wind-up. With time you will learn how to do it
by feel of the spoke key.

--
Tony

"The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there
is no good evidence either way."
- Bertrand Russell

Ben Micklem said:

Hello,

I'm looking for a recommendation for a wheelbuilder or supplier of hand
built wheels- reliable and fairly cheap.

Paul Hewitt, of Leyland, Lancs. Incredibly cheap for a top class job.

hth,

Tony B

Tony B said:

Ben Micklem said:

Hello,

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for a recommendation for a wheelbuilder or supplier of hand
built wheels- reliable and fairly cheap.

Paul Hewitt, of Leyland, Lancs. Incredibly cheap for a top class job.

hth,

Tony B

Seconded, as an option for someone who doesnt want to try making his
own - Ive had a couple of Hewitt wheels in the past for customers that
lasted as long as I remember.