Liza's comrade in the REI bike shop, John, told me about this sweet little trick. I'm sure it's old hat to most reading this, but it's new to me.
If you are going to replace a rim -- keeping the spokes and hub -- then just tape the new rim to the existing wheel, taking care to line up the valve holes, and swap the spokes over one by one.
I can't believe it. Without this nudge from John, this totally and completely obvious shortcut would've never occurred to me. There's no lacing, no counting, no thinking! My kind of solution.
I did replace about 6 drive-side spokes that had gotten a bit torn up near the elbow where the chain dropped in between the cassette and spokes. And I replaced all the nipples.
Related Question #1
The accomplished wheel-building observer will recognize all but one of the tools in the picture above. Anyone have an idea of what the cylindrical tool with the poker is for?
Related Question #2
The wheel I'm rebuilding is the Velocity Synergy with LX hub from my CX'ish RB-T. I bitched and moaned about this wheel about a month ago.
Anyway, the question: Why doesn't QBP carry the 700c version of the Velocity Synergy? They only carry the 650B version.
Stuff related to Question #2
I ended up ordering this rim from Rivendell, which is cool too. I need to stock up on my Lip Ivo and it gave me 
an excuse to order the new Riv (Pace) cap, which is orange. The Pace cycling cap is the only cycling cap that fits my fat head. And then only if my hair is mostly shaved off. Pace caps are made in LA. That's cool too.
an excuse to order the new Riv (Pace) cap, which is orange. The Pace cycling cap is the only cycling cap that fits my fat head. And then only if my hair is mostly shaved off. Pace caps are made in LA. That's cool too. Cycling caps really are ideal for keeping the sun out and keeping the waves out of your hair after a ride.
Damn. I went to snipe this orange hat pic from the Riv site and they just added a Nitto cap. That's f'ing cool. And it's made by Pace. And it's super low-key. Less writing on caps is good.
Ideally, I'd like the 8 panel Pace cap with nothing on it. But I'll shill for Rivendell, Nitto, Rawland, and maybe a couple others -- and pretty much any small builder.
Anyone have an idea of what the cylindrical tool with the poker is for?
ReplyDeleteI'm going for a true Daily Double, Alex. What is a nipple driver?
Why doesn't QBP carry the 700c version of the Velocity Synergy?
Lost it all on Final Jeopardy!
Is it for scrambling an egg while still in the shell?
ReplyDeleteHank: There's a nipple driver there, but come on. That's too easy. I"m talking about the little round tool to the right of the nipple driver.
ReplyDeleteMark: Great guess. And that may be a good secondary use for that tool. But no.
The tool looks useful for making sure the nipple gets into the proper hole. Put the tool in the hole, then place the nipple on top of the point, then remove the tool and the nipple is placed in the proper hole in the rim.
ReplyDeleteI've dropped a couple nipples into the rim where it doesn't go in the hole. Then I flip the rim over and shake the nipple out.
Drop, shake, repeat.
Dang. Looks like I never made to Final Jeopardy! in the first place. Since I'm oblivious to the obvious I'm changing my answer. It's a prod to make the mechanic work faster. It's a special tool that mechanics use to injure themselves just enough to get out of work. It's a dart used to puncture the tire of a road rage driver. It's a universal English/metric, left/right handed sharp, pokey thing.
ReplyDeleteKyle: you are the winner. You don't win anything, but you are highly regarded among the four commenteers on this post. *Highly*
ReplyDeleteYou know Hank, maybe that's what you meant by 'nipple driver?'
Anyway -- Kyle, your explaination doesn't jive exactly with how I use the tool, but the concept is sound.
The tip of the tool is knurled so I can cram the nipple on there and thread it on the spoke... through the hole. (man, reading that one out of context could get me in trouble)
Alex made the tool for me. In the days before double-walled rims, you wouldn't need this, but now you do. Dropping a nipple into the walls of the rim is not that frustrating, but it's a pain.
Mark: I dropped your cooler off on your back porch last Friday.
I found it. Thanks John.
ReplyDeleteIf I hadn't used "the google" I wouldn't have known what a nipple driver was. I have no problem with being the lowly regarded of four commenteers. :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree with the nipple holder so you don;t lose nipples inside deep box-section rims.
ReplyDeleteAs for QBP not carrying the 700c version, it's probably because they already have a huge selection of 700c rims for similar applications, yet the 650b selection on the market today is pretty limited, and so they have gone with which ever 650b's they could get their hands on. Probably has something to do with owning the Salsa brand, and thy probably have bigger profit margin on the competing Salsa 700c rims...
Or they're just dumb!
-richard
Hank: your esteemed in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteRichard: maybe you're right, but there's lots of 700c, non-salsa rims in QBP.
And the Synergy is just such a great value rim. I don't know of another similar rim that is drilled off-center, which makes for almost no dish for rear hubs. Wait. Bontrager made/makes one. At least they did for 26" wheel that I had on a bike a while back.
And compared to my other favorite value rim (Sun CR-18), the synergy is way easier (rounder?) to build up -- even for clods like me. I love this rim. And QBP carries a bunch of other Velocity Rims.
I assume that Seattle Bike Supply or J&B don't carry the 700c synergy either. There's something weird there.
So you are saying that the tool is a metal toothpick. Or alternatively a metal matchstick?
ReplyDeleteTarik: don't tell Alex that you can use a match or a toothpick to do that job. He didn't buy a full-on lathe for nothing!
ReplyDeleteThe tool in question looks like a screwdriver. The offset driver is able to rotate in the handle so that you only need to move your hand around in a circular motion to spin in the screw (or in this case a spoke). Much faster and easier on the wrist than twisting a regular screwdriver.
ReplyDelete