Wheel - Part I

In the process of pumping a tire up too much, it blew off the rim. The rim was pretty far gone from the event, but I trued it up enough to ride the rest of the bike racing season. I fixed the wheel with a new rim and all new spokes. That's the first wheel I ever built. I didn't have any tools except a spoke wrench. I used my rear wheel dropouts to spin the wheel as I tightened the spokes and kept it true. My only regret is that I used a really light oil (3 in 1) to lubricate the spokes. There is special spoke prep on the market which would have been better. At least I have a wheel again.

I'm experimenting with a tubeless setup that I will explain in a later post. Almost time to get out the XC skis!