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I will share with you the "secrets" to building a wheel my way.
The most important part of building a wheel the right way, the first time, every time is to know the actual measurements of the components. Whenever a new component comes out or an existing component is redesigned, it should be measured. There is nothing worse than building up a wheel, tensioning it, and finding out the spokes are 2-3mm too short or long. It's a real buzz-kill.
Hubs only have to be measured once. I measure the center to center dimensions of each flange (centerline of hub to the center of the flange) and I also measure the spoke hole diameter and diameter of the spoke hole circle. They don't vary enough from batch to batch to really effect the spoke length. Rims however, should be measured every time. I measure each and every rim, even from the same batch. I've come to find out that some alloy rims have a spread of 2-3mm from the smallest ERD to the largest ERD. I recommend measuring the rim in four different places and taking the average. You will also get a good idea of just how round the rim is before it's built as well.
I have made my own spoke rods, but the Wheelsmith spoke rods are excellent. The set I made a similar. They started as Wheelsmith 310mm blank spokes. I cut the elbow and threaded the an as normally done. I threaded a nipple onto each one (you need two rods) and locked the on with red locktite. Then, I measured the ERD of a known rim with the Wheelsmith rods and calibrated my rods. The advantage of the ones I made is that they seat in the rim the same way the spokes will in a built wheel since I'm using the same nipple I use for wheels. I also made another set of them using internipples on the ends to measure rims drilled for internal nipples. It feels good to have companies call me up and ask me what ERD I get when I receive first batch samples.
Another thing I do is account for stretch of the spokes. I use spocalc.exe which is a free tool you can download (google is your friend). Once all the accurate numbers are plugged in, I make my subtractions.
1) 2.0/1.5/2.0mm spokes (Including DT Aerolite and Sapim CX-Ray) Subtract 1mm from the calculation for the front wheel and the right side spokes of the rear wheel. Subtract 0.5mm from the calculation for the left side of the rear wheel.
2) 2.0/1.8/2.0mm spokes Subtract 0.5mm from the calculation for the front wheel and the right spokes of the rear wheel. No subtraction from the calculation for the left side spokes of the rear wheel.
Since a triplet rear wheel has almost equal tension on both sides, I make the subtractions the same as the right side for both sides.
The above steps give me the most consistent results. The cost for the tools needed to measure parts are real inexpensive. I recommend that anyone that wants to build wheels, from the hobbiest to the professional, take accurate measurements. I have talked to countless people that have had to rebuild wheels that have incorrect spoke lengths. It can get real expensive if you are building with CX-Rays or Aerolites!
Hope that helps.
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