How long for a wheel build?

Whats an appropriate length to wait for your LBS to build a wheel?

I've now waited 5 days....

they might have had to order the spokes

Just phone them and ask what's going on. I've had them done the same day, I've had to wait a month once (rare size spokes apparently...)

For a single wheel though, that does sound a while

Single wheel, non specific spokes, not an interesting hub...

I've called them yesterday, they just said they were really busy and will try get it done today.
What should take priority though? A 5 day wait to me says sort it out asap. I'm sick of the tube!

whats with the impatience nowadays, did you agree a time limit with them before you gave them the wheels? have they gone past the date they stipulated they'd have them done?
Rather than asking on here, would it not be best to go and have a word with them via the phone or in person to check.
I'm assuming you have wheels to continue riding on in the meantime, if so whats the rush? If not, then time to suck it up and grit teeth until it is done..

25min from the garage

i have some scraps of wood, some cardboard, an old tyre and the day off tomorrow.

want me to get the hammer out and see what i can russel up?

Agree the time of completion before the start !

In a busy bike shop a good wheel build takes a bit of uninterrupted time and that can be hard to come by.

Once you have the time, an hour will see a standard wheel done pretty thoroughly, a real slick builder can pop out 32 x 3 standards in 20 mins if she is showing off !

I just took two wheels to my local shop (not the LBS I usually use, but the one closest). Had 2 wheels that I'd built up myself and half trued, but because I don't have a trueing stand nor a tensiometer or the experience to be confident doing it by feel, I took them in to be finished off. Didn't bother asking about timescales or prices since my LBS would normally have them done same or next day and charge £5 for a true, £15 for a build from components.

I got them back yesterday after waiting 2 weeks (checked in on them twice in that time) and they charged £65! I'm not the sort to kick off and argue the price in the shop so just paid and left. I'll never step foot in there again though and advise everyone else I know to do the same.

What makes it worse is the shop is on the verge of going under from lack of custom, so it's not like they couldn't find the time. I've never once seen another customer in there when I've been in and I went into the back room when I was checking up on the wheels and they had no other bikes in for mechanical work. Every time I've been in the mechanic is just sitting round with a cup of tea.

Please name, I want to find out if they have any jobs going.

sand dancer, not on, you shouldn't have paid, you've done the hard work for them. Tensioning and truing wheels is a skill, and does take a definite eye and concentration, but thirty quid per wheel is over the odds in my mind. I'm willing to be corrected by the good folks who work in bike shops, but that sounds well and truly over the odds, or maybe the skills of the forum mechanics are being undersold.
Next time, find one of the wheel builders on here to let them true and tension, usually done for a tenner or less...

thirty quid per wheel is standard price for a wheelbuild rather than a wheel true.

but then, some shop charge a whooping £50 for a wheelbuild.

Currently half-price at EBC

£5 per wheel.

hm......can of worms.........i personally wouldnt like to finnish off anyone elses wheelbuild........

reasons: not sure about how the somebody preped the rim/nipples/spoke threads, not sure whether he laced it correctly, not sure whether he used right size spokes.......

and someones half finished wheel is same thing: all of the above plus not sure how he balanced the spoke tension overall and at the crossess.....

takes more time to offset someones mistakes then do it from scratch.......also lacing exactly is not time consuming proces for an experienced wheelbuilder so i personally wouldnt charge much less money.....

Fair point. It really depends.

If a customer has done it correctly, used the frame to get them roughly true and the tension's similar then I think full price isn't really on.

However, a good shop would have checked the wheel over first and said, "yes that's fine, we'll do the final truing and tensioning, but you get no warrantee", or "sorry those are shit, we'll have to re-do it, sorry full wack".

Basically is it taking your wheels in for a true, or asking for a full build.