Is it worth me learning to build a wheel?

[John the Monkey]

It's a process, that's all.

You need to work methodically, and in an organised way - I recommend the Roger Musson book mentioned above as an excellent step by step guide, and well worth the money. It also includes plans to build a truing jig & dishing tool.


My Truing Stand - Built out of left overs from our kitchen cabinets

I bought the hardware for those, and treated myself to a nipple driver with an adjustable pin (rather than grinding down an old screwdriver). It cost way less than a truing jig alone even then.

My wheels (36 3x, Mavic A319 on Deore) have taken me on tour in Belgium, and survive daily commuting of 30 ish miles a day in and out of Manchester. If you get to building exotic, low spoke count stuff I imagine it's more complicated, but a regular 3x wheel isn't that tricky (imo, ime, ymmv).

EDIT:
Useful links;
http://miketechinfo.com/new-tech-wheels-tires.htm

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19189&sid=08d8a2c2808393ab32661b08e525c2f9&start=15

http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

In answer to the OP question

I got a job at a "toy" bike shop for work experience/saturday job in the 80s. I was shown (incorrectly) how to "true" a wheel - but it "made do", for the Emmelle and bottom-end Raleigh machines

I tought myself wheelbuilding with old rims and hubs and had that refined when I took a job as a wheel builder on a piecework contract, it wasn't that hard to make the jump from "tnkerer" to pro

What it means is that I can take a poor machine-built and poorly wheel such as on my pothole-abused 08 Virtuoso, and re-tension the thing to make it sturdier than it was ever meant to be, and straighter than it ever was

Yes, it is a good skill to have and like the proverb "it's like riding a bike" - once you have it, you will retain the knack