While working at bike shops in the 90’s and early 2000’s, I learned a lot about wheel building. I was able to put that knowledge to good use when I recently cracked a carbon rim on a ride.
Since most wheels use steel spokes, the spokes are often much stronger than the hubs and rims. They can often be re-used, avoiding the complicated and complex job of measuring and re-lacing the wheel.
The process consists primarily of a series of simple steps:
- Remove wheel
- Remove tire, valve, and rim strip
- Loosen spokes
- Strap new rim to old rim (line up valve holes)
- Migrate the spokes over one by one, starting with the one next to the valve hole
- Re-tension the new rim
- True, dish, and round
- Profit!
