Tooling Up

While my new components are wading through the treacle of the UK’s postal system, it’s time to think about what tools I’m going to need. The only tool that you absolutely cannot do without when building a wheel is a good quality spoke wrench. Anything else can be made or bodged for free if you’ve got the time and the inclination. I don’t have the latter and I value good quality tools well above their actual cost simply because they invariably make the work easier, produce a better end result and can be a pleasure to use, so I buy what I want.

My spoke wrench is a red Buddy Spokey Pro (£5), a classic piece of design in that it mates form, function and value so perfectly that I doubt it can ever be bettered. The Pro version has a doubled nipple engagement, which effectively halves the load on the soft material of the nipple by spreading it over double the area, thus reducing the likelihood of causing damage during final tensioning. I’ve also got a Park Triple Spoke Key SW-7 (£7) which, as the name subtly suggests, also fits US and Japanese nipple sizes but I’ve never actually come across either of these.

I’ve only ever built wheels using a purpose-built jig. Mine is a very basic Minoura Wheel Building Jig T-817 (£20), which is compact and folds away, but is a bit agricultural. Since I bought this it’s been superceded by a new version which I understand is a good deal better. Minoura also used to make a jig called the Workman Pro, which was far superior but still good value and is what I now wish I’d bought instead. My biggest grumble about the jig is that it’s a monster faff to get the wheels in and out of it because the jig’s drop-outs are too close together. You have to force them apart with one hand while dropping the wheel in with the other. Also it’s in-built means of checking radial and lateral trueness lack true fine tuning ability, but it’s still better than the alternative, which is to use the bike frame as a makeshift jig. Bikes are bulky, filthy beasts and far from ideal for working with on the kitchen table!

The easiest tool to make yourself for free is a dishing gauge, which makes my Minoura Wheel Dishing Gauge FCG310 (£15) look like poor value. It works well enough though, even if it lacks any form of calibration. This means you have to obtain the correct dish by eye, but that’s not too difficult.

The only tool that I’ve bought specifically for this project is a Bicycle Research Nipple Driver (£15), which is little more than a bent screwdriver with a pointy end and loose handle. In his Wheelpro book, Roger Musson is so unequivocal about the importance of using one of these (he also shows you how to make one) that I’d feel like a naughty, disobedient schoolboy if I didn’t get one!

Other bits and bobs, mostly at Musson’s behest, are some regular lubricating oil, a rag, some cotton buds and my trusty magnetic parts dish. This last item is a god-send and anyone who ever does their own spanner work should have one. There are loads on Ebay from about £5 upwards.

Lastly I’ve got my two wheel building guides, the Wheelpro book “A Practical Guide to Wheel Building” (£5) and “The Art of Wheel Building” by Gerd Schraner (£10), which brings the total cost of my wheel building toolbox to £87. This could reasonably be cut to £30 or so if you just went with the Spokey, jig and Wheelpro book, and made the dishing tool and nipple driver yourself.