Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

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Trikeyohreilly
Posts: 448
Joined: 16 Dec 2010, 6:06pm

Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by Trikeyohreilly »

Hi. I recently brought a bike without checking the rim wear. Silly me. Got distracted by the mostly XT group set and the Hope hubs. It was cheap, but as a donor bike for another frameset the wheels not being suitable are a big issue.

The hubs feel good, to my limited knowledge, but they are going to need re building with new rims for sure.

Is it still economical to have wheels with worn rims re built? Perhaps the deep concave of the rims (Mavics) suggest the hubs have done plenty already?

Thank you.
roubaixtuesday
Posts: 5815
Joined: 18 Aug 2015, 7:05pm

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by roubaixtuesday »

Unless abused, hubs should outlast rims many times over.
alexnharvey
Posts: 1923
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:39am

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by alexnharvey »

Particularly if you can find rims with the same effective diameter (erd) it should be an easy swap.
Last edited by alexnharvey on 1 Oct 2019, 6:03pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cyril Haearn
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Joined: 30 Nov 2013, 11:26am

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by Cyril Haearn »

A good chance to learn to build wheels, buy some identical rims and take photos of how the spokes are laced
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drossall
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Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by drossall »

No need - if the same ERD, strap new rim to old with valve holes aligned, loosen all spokes (but do not remove them), and work round wheel, transferring spokes one at a time. The lacing is maintained throughout.

On some rims, spoke holes are offset alternately to left and right. Make sure before doing the above that the offsets match (i.e. one rim is not going left when the other goes right!)
Trikeyohreilly
Posts: 448
Joined: 16 Dec 2010, 6:06pm

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by Trikeyohreilly »

Didn't think of that. I gave my wheel jig away years ago though. I didn't make a few wheels successfully before, back when you could type in your hub and rim and get spokes sent for £15. Cant remember where from though. Is there a work around/cheat?
Jamesh
Posts: 2963
Joined: 2 Jan 2017, 5:56pm

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by Jamesh »

Bring bike into lounge in an hour's time in front of TV whilst wife watches back off and in very using the front forks as a guide for front and back brakes for rear! :oops: :oops: :oops:
Trikeyohreilly
Posts: 448
Joined: 16 Dec 2010, 6:06pm

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by Trikeyohreilly »

I should have said earlier that this was a donor bike for a Big Dummy build that will be put into hard service. Just needed to do it on the cheap as Surly stuff has rocketed in price. The BD frameset on sale is now only £300 less than I paid for full bike a few years ago. Think no can do it for £300 but it has to be reliable.
Trikeyohreilly
Posts: 448
Joined: 16 Dec 2010, 6:06pm

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by Trikeyohreilly »

*Think I can do it for £300
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geomannie
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Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by geomannie »

Hope hubs? For sure it would be worth replacing the rims, especially, as others have mentioned you can find identical rims or rims with an identical ERD so that you can reuse spokes.
geomannie
Brucey
Posts: 44521
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by Brucey »

hubs and decent spokes should outlast rims several times over, so can be reused. Rims are not very expensive and re-rimming a wheel (with a similar rim) is fairly easy to do.

My tip; swap the spokes into the new rim one side at a time, rather than all at once. This way it is easier to wind the nipples onto each spoke an exactly consistent amount, which saves time when the wheel is retensioned/retrued.

BTW You can very easily make a DIY nipple setting tool (using an old spoke) which makes this whole process both swift and consistent. See this thread

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=117817

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
pwa
Posts: 17371
Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by pwa »

Hope hubs cost a lot and should outlast several sets of rims. If you are thinking of binning the hubs can you post them to me :lol:
Trikeyohreilly
Posts: 448
Joined: 16 Dec 2010, 6:06pm

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by Trikeyohreilly »

Thanks.

The rims are Mavic EX 721 26" 36 hole.

What is ERD? How would I look to find a strong/very strong touring type rim that would replace them? It seems these rims are no longer available.
drossall
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Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by drossall »

Effective Rim Diameter.

Different designs of rim take different lengths of spoke, even where the wheel size is the same, i.e. they would fit the same tyres. Check the link.

So, you can't just buy any 26" 36-hole rim. The simplest thing would be to buy more of the same brand but, if you choose another make of the same ERD (and spoke count, obviously), it should be fine to re-use your current spokes. If you're replacing the spokes, you can have any ERD as long as you buy new spokes to match (and, again obviously, that the rim is the right wheel size!)

According to Freespoke, the free spoke-length calculator, the ERD for your rims is 535mm. It lists a few others the same size, but at least one of those is for disc brakes (i.e. no braking surface for rim brakes), so it doesn't follow that they are all serious candidates as replacements.
tooley92
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Location: West Yorkshire

Re: Rims worn out. Worth re building anymore?

Post by tooley92 »

geomannie wrote:Hope hubs? For sure it would be worth replacing the rims, especially, as others have mentioned you can find identical rims or rims with an identical ERD so that you can reuse spokes.


Just make sure you check the hub flanges very carefully for hairline cracks, some of the older Hope hubs are notorious for cracking.
Remember folks 'A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!'
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