Profile offroad wheelset: separate and assemble myself, or put together by a pro?

[JonnyD]

I'm becoming intested in being a future buyer of Profile cranks/hub, an alex dx32 rim, an arrow or gazz tire, and spokes. I've noticed that it's cheaper to buy these parts separately, but it's also possible to get them preassembled, and by a professional too at http://unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=560 so my question is (once i have enough money) should I, an inexperienced mechanic, buy these parts separately and try to assemble them myself, or buy them already premade by someone who actually knows what he's doing for only about $45 dollars more? and maybe less? My last option would be to have someone at the bike shop do it for me but they'd probably charge more, take longer, and anyhow, I trust them about as far as I can fling a Piano. (most likely they'd screw something up). So there you have it.

-Jon Davis

P.S. Is any kind of price estimate available on the Velo seat coming out?

[AccordNSX]

If you're not concerned about spending a few extra bucks then it's definately worth it to have the wheel built. The people of unicycle.com are in good with a local wheel builder Kovatchi. He's built almost a dozen sets of wheels for me back when I raced BMX, definately worth the bucks.

[gauss]

It is definately true that if you have never built a wheel before then you stand a good chance to screw the first few up. Down hill rims are pretty tough though, so if you do it less than perfect and aren't doing huge drops then it will probably survive the breakin. The difference between a guy who builds wheels and a professional wheelbuilder seems to be that when the pro builds a wheel, it is ready to go ride. when some dude builds it, then after riding for a few hours or days, then he needs to true the wheel. Then rides a few days and trues it again. Gradually both wheels end up in the same state (staying true, and strong, and with correct tension), but it just took longer to get it there for the non pro. If you never even trued a wheel before, then probably pay to have it built. It you are good at truing wheels and always take into consideration issues like roundness and tension, not just straightness, then I would say get a good book about it and go for it. You will learn a lot.
-gauss

[GizmoDuck]

I wouldn't practice wheel building on an expensive wheelset- you stand a good chance of screwing up the first time (or first few times).

A well built wheel is pure bliss....Hmmm. I have a set of wheels built by my fav local wheelbuilder (on my MTB)- it's lasted me four yrs and about 15-20 races, gets trued maybe once or twice a yr. On the other hand all my previous wheels needed truing every few weeks and lasts me about three months. If you want to get a bike shop to build it then ask your local MTBkers- if they have been riding a while they will have a good idea of who builds the best wheels in your area.

[dan]

Originally posted by JonnyD
I'm becoming intested in being a future buyer of Profile cranks/hub, an alex dx32 rim, an arrow or gazz tire, and spokes. I've noticed that it's cheaper to buy these parts separately, but it's also possible to get them preassembled, and by a professional too at http://unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=560 so my question is (once i have enough money) should I, an inexperienced mechanic, buy these parts separately and try to assemble them myself, or buy them already premade by someone who actually knows what he's doing for only about $45 dollars more? and maybe less? My last option would be to have someone at the bike shop do it for me but they'd probably charge more, take longer, and anyhow, I trust them about as far as I can fling a Piano. (most likely they'd screw something up). So there you have it.

-Jon Davis

P.S. Is any kind of price estimate available on the Velo seat coming out?

Johnny,

I am not a mechanic either, however I can build a bicycle wheel as good as anyone, in my opinion. I learned not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I went through several (so called) professional builders that, at leat for me, failed to build a durable wheel.

My wife and I purchased a tandem bicycle about 10 years ago. This was a time when the sport (tandem riding) was relatively new to even the experienced bike mechanic. Inherent with a tandem is twice the torque on the rear wheel. In order for the wheel to be able to withstand the torque, not only are durable components required, but also a near perfectly built wheel with all spokes tensioned properly, and evenly.

We soon were tired of wobbly wheels after each ride, so I took to learning the art of wheel building myself. I purchased a book titled " The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst Brandt. The book can be purchased at most bike shops. It is the most comprehensive book on wheel building I have seen. It is extremely user friendly (includes drawings) even for the non-mechanic. With practice, it didn't take long before I could build a very durable wheel. In addition to the book, you will need a simple truing stand. I have not priced these in a while, but they're not that expensive.

My advice is this--- If you have more time than you do money, get the book, and a stand, and learn the art of wheel building. Acquiring this skill will allow you to try different wheel, spoke, and hub combinations fairly cheap. If you plan on doing a lot of muning, building and/or truing a wheel may come in handy.

If, on the other hand, you are easy on wheels, and don't plan on doing anything that puts stress on wheel, or don't think you will ever experiment with different spokes, wheels, or hubs, then by all means, have someone else build it for you. Just know that it is not that hard!

If you need help-or want to borrow my book, truing stand, or both, you are welcome to it. I live in SLC, which is not too far from you.

Let me know if I can help

dan

On Wed, 24 Jul 2002 12:48:59 -0500, JonnyD
<JonnyD.8b42a@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

>P.S. Is any kind of price estimate available on the Velo seat coming
>out?

Roger Davies of unicycle.uk.com said that he thinks it would be about
the same as Miyata.

Klaas Bil

[JonnyD]

By the sound of it, if I wanted to get on some serious trails as fast as possible on a muni, then my best choice would be to buy the wheelset pre-maid, and as Accordnsx said, the guy who would be doing it is quite good at it. But, since I'm looking to purchase a Unicycle that is going to last durn near forever if i take good care of it, I'm going to need to now about building a wheel. Also, I don't mind spending alot on a quality unicycle, but I'm not about to throw money away on something I don't need, and it sounds pretty important to be able to be good at truing spokes, etc. anyway, thanks (I'll get back to you on your book and stand Dan)

-Jon Davis

In article <dan.8bdjz@timelimit.unicyclist.com>,
dan <dan.8bdjz@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
)
)My advice is this--- If you have more time than you do money, get the
)book, and a stand, and learn the art of wheel building. Acquiring this
)skill will allow you to try different wheel, spoke, and hub combinations
)fairly cheap. If you plan on doing a lot of muning, building and/or
)truing a wheel may come in handy.

I would go further than this. The main difference between a straight wheel
and a well-built wheel is the amount of time put into it. Bike shops do
not put the amount of time into building your wheel that you will put into
it. You may not be able to work as efficiently, but unlike them, you care
about the result.

I just bought a new road bike, which includes wheels built by
Wheelsmith, a popular Bay Area shop that prides itself on its
wheelbuilding. After less than a month of unloaded riding, I noticed
on a ride this weekend that the rear wheel was badly out of true, and
it turned out that three of the spokes had no tension whatsoever.
Even worse, my buddy bought a Pashley 26" Muni from unicycle.com, and
we realized after a while on its first ride that the wobbliness he was
experiencing wasn't due to his technique, but rather due to the fact
that the wheel had not been tensioned at all--the spokes were not even
hand-tight. (Fortunately we discovered this before the thing tacoed).

Build your own wheels. It really doesn't take very much skill; just
the willingness to spend the time to learn how it's done, and to
be patient with the process, and your result even the first time will
be better than any wheel you'll get from a bike shop.
-Tom

[Mt Uni]

hi,

the velo seat; by which, i assume you are talking about the Kris Holm signature seat, will be about the same price as a viscount. That's an estimate Kris himself gave me. But, all in all, it's pretty much up to unicycle.com and unicycle.uk, along with all of the other places that might carry it, for the price.

Ev

i just bought that wheel setup,very sweet, bomb proof.
"JonnyD" <JonnyD.8b42a@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:JonnyD.8b42a@timelimit.unicyclist.com...
>
> I'm becoming intested in being a future buyer of Profile cranks/hub, an
> alex dx32 rim, an arrow or gazz tire, and spokes. I've noticed that
> it's cheaper to buy these parts separately, but it's also possible to
> get them preassembled, and by a professional too at
> http://unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=560 so my question is
> (once i have enough money) should I, an inexperienced mechanic, buy
> these parts separately and try to assemble them myself, or buy them
> already premade by someone who actually knows what he's doing for only
> about $45 dollars more? and maybe less? My last option would be to have
> someone at the bike shop do it for me but they'd probably charge more,
> take longer, and anyhow, I trust them about as far as I can fling a
> Piano. (most likely they'd screw something up). So there you have it.
>
> -Jon Davis
>
> P.S. Is any kind of price estimate available on the Velo seat coming
> out?
>
>
> --
> JonnyD - So close, yet so far
>
> ..Can't crash now, I've been waiting for this; Won't crash now, I've
> found some encouragement. (Collective Soul, applied to Unicyling)
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> JonnyD's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/563
> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/19498
>

[cybeross]

Umm, I'm scared now! How can I tell if my wheel needs truing? I just got a Sem XLW, and have been doin a lot of side hops, and as much as 2 foot drops probably. There is some clicking in the pedals, because they are cheap and plastic, but what are signs of an untrue wheel? I don't want to taco my rim!

[jagur]

let me see....Hmmmmm.if your wheel looks like this ~~~~~~ when it spins then i would have to say thats a sign.

In article <cybeross.8eqma@timelimit.unicyclist.com>,
cybeross <cybeross.8eqma@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
)
)Umm, I'm scared now! How can I tell if my wheel needs truing? I just
)got a Sem XLW, and have been doin a lot of side hops, and as much as 2
)foot drops probably. There is some clicking in the pedals, because they
)are cheap and plastic, but what are signs of an untrue wheel? I don't
)want to taco my rim!

Being out of true in itself doesn't contribute much to taco danger.
You can check if your wheel is out of true by spinning it slowly and
watching where it passes through the fork; unless you're using a
brake, eyeballing it there will probably get you close enough for
government work.

What you need to be more worried about is the spoke tension; low spoke
tension can definitely contribute to rim failure. You can check
spoke tension by plucking each spoke with your thumbnail; you should
be able to get a decent tone from every spoke, and ideally the tones
should be about the same for every spoke. (When the spoke tension is
balanced around the wheel, it tends to stay in true longer.) Especially,
you want to fix any spokes which are loose enough to wiggle.
-Tom