Saturday, February 14, 2009


Laced a new bike wheel for my fixed gear Schwinn conversion. Used Jobst Brandt's book, "The Bicycle Wheel", 3rd edition, published by Avocet, Inc.

I'll dish it and true it tomorrow.



Before starting, it's important to get the spokes, nipples, spoke wrench, oil, rim, and hub organized. Dog is optional. I built my first wheel twenty some years ago, but never built a good wheel until after I got Jobst Brandt's book. I've built several since then, and haven't had any broken spokes since, and the wheels hardly ever go out of true.
If you want to buy a well built wheel, try this web site: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/. I've never bought a wheel from him, but his web site is impressive, and I believe his guarantee. Of course, you should always check first with your LBS, because they will probably have somebody that can build a dandy tire, and they are there ready to replace a spoke and retrue the wheel just in case they didn't get it exactly right.


As I built this wheel tonight, we watched "Across The Universe". What a great movie. The 60's were a really crappy time, but by God, we got through them.

Anyway, looking forward to riding my new fixed gear bike. I got a Formula flip flop hub, so I can use my new single gear freewheel, or my fixed gear.

2 comments:

GreenComotion said...

it is simply amazing that you built your own wheel. that's just too cool!!

thanks for sharing some really cool tips about it too.

peace :)

Anonymous said...

Wow I got that same book. All looks good.