On Wed, 05 Mar 2003 16:56:13 +0000, David Nutter did issue forth:
Quoted message said:Hello,
My next project will be turning my old 10 speed into a fixed gear bike since the drivetrain has
just about expired and I fancy something more entertaining to ride than my very practical but
rather dull "fast shopping bike".
I'm thinking about going that way with an old MTB. Somehow the notion of whacking the pedals into my
shins *really* hard seems endearing. ;-)
Quoted message said:Anyway, I want to know if anyone can recommend good and relatively cheap bits of wheelbuilding
equipment as a new rear wheel built around a Sovos flip/flop will be the first task (beyond
checking the frame is sound). I have seen the Minoura kit sold by SJSCycles and Wiggle for around
66 pounds which incorporates jig, dishing guage and wheelbuilding booklet
(wiggle.co.ukproduct detail.aspOpen ↗) but this seems quite pricy.
Certainly stands and dish guages alone can be had for much cheaper than this but may lack some
fundamental features that I don't know about. Sheldon's pages don't seem to have a "what to look
for in a trueing stand" section.
The Minoura kit is pretty good. I've used the jig and the dishing stick, don't know about the book
and spoke key though.
For slightly less money, Settle Cycles will do a Park TS-7 jig with a WAG-3 dishing stick. Both are
more sturdy than their Minoura counterparts, although the jig isn't as steady on it's base as the
Minoura, but it has a couple of holes in the bottom so you could bolt it to a workbench or a lump of
wood. I find it's OK without a base, provided you don't go wild with spinning the wheel.
There's a little booklet included with the Park kit, but I didn't think much of it, and there's no
spoke key. Park spoke keys aren't bad, but I find them difficult to grip if you've got any grease on
your hands. Personally I prefer the Spokey, although these are getting a little difficult to find.
Quoted message said:Finally, is the Park (or equivalent) spoke tension guage worth having? Opinion seems divided on
the web pages dealing with wheel building.
I think it pretty much falls into the "nice but nowhere near essential" category. You can build
quality wheels without one, tensiometers help you keep a consistent spoke tension with every wheel.
I might get myself one, just because I like buying tools. ;-)
That said, jigs and dishing sticks are also nice but not essential. You can build a wheel with an
upside down bike, flipping it round in the dropouts to see if it's dished.
Also in the nice to have category is a nipple driver. These just make it a bit quicker to wind the
nipple on, and get everything to vaguely the same tension at the lacing stage. They're great for
leaving on your coffee table to confuse visitors with, but unless you're deliberately out to buy a
weird tool, I wouldn't recommend getting one for the average home wheelbuilder.
In short, you need a spoke key. Everything else isn't essential.
--
Huw Pritchard Replace bounce with huw to reply by mail
