PROJECT EXCELSIOR
1 A board with a drilled hole supports the hub while Lewis fits the first spokes. Maurice says full-width hubs are easier to start on, as the spokes are all the same length.
2 On a wheel like this, where the brake plate sits snugly over the spoke flange, all spokes have to go in from the outside. More commonly they alternate: internal/external.
3 Rim holes go four ways: left, right, back, forward. On half-width hubs, angles should differ slightly side to side. Angles are clarified by pushing a nipple through the hole.
4 Internal spokes go in first, as they cross beneath externals. Find a hole that points the right way and fit the spoke, with each subsequent one in the fourth hole along.
5 Next, Maurice advised fitting a couple of opposite-side spokes, to check we’re not a hole out. If we were, we’d find half the other-side spokes are too long and half too short.
6 Second run: keyhole fit on the other side makes building easy. Usually you have to fit both sides’ internals first; they can’t pass through the external spokes once fitted.
7 Spoke nipples lightly tightened, flip the wheel over. ‘Keyholes’ enable the spoke head to be hooked in place instead of feeding the long end through and into place.
8 Lewis finished assembly, and the wheel went in the truing jig. First job was to check the offset. The rim centre should be in line with the grease nipple in the wheel hub.
9 Maurice showed Lewis how to true eccentricity and runout. Spinning the wheel and tweaking spokes is pleasant, but takes time. Maurice’s best wheel-build time is 50 minutes.
10 That’s the easy one done! Back home, I’m stuck with a rim and a hub, and will have to work out the spoke lengths and offset dimensions for myself.
11 to ‘Offset’ means the rim is not central the spoke flanges. Fitting the hub into the forks will reveal a centre point – here, it’s marked by the grease nipple.
12 Having measured from nipple to bench surface, pack the rim centre to the same height and, using radial measurements, centralise the rim to the hub.
13 Next thing is to work out the spoke pattern by inserting some spokes and seeing where they land on the hub; this first attempt looks quite convincing...
14 ... but old photos say otherwise; this is more like it. The spoke angle is significantly different on a half width hub and I had the rim wrong side up.
15 Next thing to check is centrality. A line from the rim hole, midway between my sample spokes, to the axle bisects the cross point of the spokes.
16 With all that set up, I can measure how much longer my ‘sample spokes’ would need to be to fit, then I can calculate the length of the spokes I need.
17 After cutting the spokes to length, I rolled the threads on my Cyclo thread roller – it’s not for stainless spokes, they’re too hard and damage the dies
18 After that, it was a straightforward build. I didn’t time this one from start to finish, but I must admit I didn’t beat Maurice’s 50 minutes record!