What does, and what doesn’t make sense when considering to buy or build wheels for your bicycle. How many spokes? What lacing pattern? And similar.
Wheel-building
Optimal spoke length calculation, lacing patterns and other bicycle wheel-building related stuff
How to prevent spokes from breaking?
What lacing pattern and spokes to choose for a durable wheel – i.e. how to prevent your spokes from breaking?
Wheel truing catches and gotchas
What to look out for when you start truing wheels – the common problems that could make your job harder. How to use the frame as a turing stand.
Rohloff hub lacing pattern(s) discussed
A brief discussion of the recommended lacing pattern for Rohloff hubs.
Do spokes break from too much load? Spoke breaking under tension
A simple, short experiment on how much load a single spoke can take before breaking.
Experiment: do left hand side spokes of rear bicycle wheels carry driving load (torque)?
An experiment measuring whether the non-drive-side spokes also transfer the pedalling torque (or is it just the drive side spokes).
An experiment measuring whether the non-drive-side spokes also transfer the pedalling torque (or is it just the drive side spokes).
How the number of speeds affects rear wheel strength
![How the number of speeds affects rear wheel strength [1021]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FJxTBHqnSW2Y%2F0.jpg)
How and why using wider freehubs (the part that where the cassette is mounted) and wider cassettes makes for a weaker wheel.
Modern wheel on a vintage frame
![Modern wheel on a vintage frame [0014]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2F2oDamkiuR-g%2F0.jpg)
Mounting a modern wheel in a vintage frame with narrow rear dropouts.
Checking a bicycle wheel build quality
![Checking a bicycle wheel build quality [0008]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FWnARbR8nO4M%2F0.jpg)
Checking the quality of a built bicycle wheel (lateral and radial trueness, and spoke tension evenness).
The importance of proper wheel dishing
![The importance of proper wheel dishing [0007]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2F1m3lCHukxjw%2F0.jpg)
Why wheel dish matters – and how to measure it
How to replace a rim on a bicycle wheel
![How to replace a rim on a bicycle wheel [0011]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FOyrNdvRra-A%2F0.jpg)
How to replace a rim (without replacing the hub or any spokes)?
How to measure the effective diameter of a rim on a finished wheel
How to measure the effective rim diameter (ERD) relevant for wheel-building – on a laced (already built) wheel/rim.
Bicycle wheelbuilding tools explained
What tools do you need for building bicycle wheels (spoke/nipple wrench, truing stand, tension meter, nipple driver etc.)?
How to true a bicycle wheel
![How to true a bicycle wheel [0009]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FcvcrU3TKAC4%2F0.jpg)
An in-detail step-by-step tutorial (how-to) for truing a (laceed) bicycle wheel.
Bicycle wheel building [04] – Spoke and rim preparation, and lacing the spokes
![Bicycle wheel building [04] - Spoke and rim preparation, and lacing the spokes [1005]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FrSlydFsrIW0%2F0.jpg)
How to prepare the rim and the spokes before lacing a bicycle wheel, and how to lace the wheel.
Bicycle wheel building [03] – Measuring and calculating spoke lengths
![Bicycle wheel building [03] - Measuring and calculating spoke lengths [1004]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Fi5ywzfr_dCg%2F0.jpg)
How to measure and calculate the optimal spoke length for building a bicycle wheel.
Bicycle wheel building [02] – choosing good quality components for a bicycle wheel
![Bicycle wheel building [02] - choosing good quality components for a bicycle wheel [1003]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FoJb37xjBr9g%2F0.jpg)
What kinds of hubs, rims, and spokes should you pick to build a strong and durable bicycle wheel?
Bicycle wheel building [01] – wheel design
![Bicycle wheel building [01] - wheel design [1002]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FcPTjIF3iW1A%2F0.jpg)
Why are the spoked bicycle wheels built the way they are – a brief explanation.
Bicycle wheel building [00] – Introduction
![Bicycle wheel building [00] - Introduction [1001]](https://www.bikegremlin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FNe4yQ8O_n8c%2F0.jpg)
How to start learning to build bicycle wheels? What wheel-building books and resources do I recommend and why?
Please use the BikeGremlin.net forum for any comments or questions.
If you've found any errors or lacking information in the video(s) - please let me know by commenting on the BikeGremlin forum.
You can comment anonymously (by registering with any name/nickname), but I think it is good to publicly document all the video additions (and especially corrections) - even if their author chooses to remain anonymous.