Current Projects chat and miscellany

How do I work out what spoke length I'd require? I guess that depends on the lacing patten, which is where it steps outside the realm of my wheel knowledge. Hub is a 32h Surly. Also, do people who build wheels also unbulid them, to get the hub out?

Spend the next couple of days educating yourself about wheelbuilding - there are plenty of online resources, from spoke length calculators to YouTube tutorials to academic treatises. As a first project, a 32 spoke 3-cross Open Sport is a pretty easy one. Take your time over self-education and building and you're unlikely to go so far wrong that you can't rescue the situation, or get one of the more experienced wheel builders here to rescue it for you. Jobst Brandt's seminal work seems to be out of print, but is easily available either used or NOS, e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/0960723641/ref=sr_1_2_olp?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1286212428&sr=1-2&condition=used and was what most of used to learn about wheel building before teh internetz