A few months ago, I decided to (finally) replace the front wheel on the Steamroller. The existing wheel was probably ten years old, first purchased used from the old Pennsylvania Mountain Exchange when Jen got her commuter, and finally, after much abuse both on road and off, I broke a spoke on the morning commute, and provided enough impetus to actually purchase a new wheel. I thought this would be a fine opportunity to improve my bike expertise, so I committed to building the wheel myself. Two friends have recently built their own wheelsets, and they assured me the process was easier than any mechanic would have you believe. Armed with that enthusiasm, I began to research product.

This should have been an easy decision. The rear wheel, purchased used a year ago, is a Miche pista hub, laced to a Mavic MA-3 rim with DT spokes. I should have immediately purchased the same components and been on my way. Instead, spendthrift that I am, I researched less expensive (read cheaper) hubs. A week or so later, it was apparent that the Miche hub would be the best choice. The next decision? Where to buy. It’s generally difficult to find a “deal” on pista equipment, unless someone is having some sort of closeout sale, so you can expect to pay roughly the same price for a Miche hub wherever you go. In the interest of supporting the local bike shop, I decided to simply order the hub through the shop, thus saving shipping and giving them my business.

This was my first mistake.

A few after I placed the order, I stopped in to check the status. Oops, they said, we forgot to order the hub. The person that took my order generally handles all the fixed gear special orders, but he went on vacation, and in his absence, no one bothered to check the order book. Excellent. I wasn’t in dire need of the equipment, and I didn’t even have a rim or spokes, so I wasn’t terribly upset. They placed the order the next day, and within two more weeks, I had the hub, at a bit of a discount thanks to their mistake.

The next decision would be the rim and spokes. I wanted to give my money to the shop again, but they didn’t stock any rims, and I didn’t want to wait another two or three weeks. Again, in the interest of staying local, I called a few other shops, and finally found one that had a rim comparable to the MA-3 for a decent price. I stopped by the shop, explained my situation, and they said they could also cut spokes if they didn’t have the proper size in stock.

Here’s where I didn’t do my homework.

I should have already calculated the proper spoke length for the rim they stocked with the handy spreadsheet that is freely availabe. But I didn’t. They wanted to charge me nearly $30 to calculate the spoke length. This on top of the $1 they wanted to charge me for every spoke (32 were needed). Sorry, I said, but I can do that myself. So I left empty-handed. So that’s it, I decided. Enough of supporting the local economoy. Big online retailer, here I come. I found a MA-3 rim on sale, and spokes for less than half of what the local shops wanted to charge. I was even able to upgrade to two day shipping for only $3. I was officially in business.

Or not.

It turns out the company didn’t send the purchase next day. They sent it parcel post, meaning 7-10 business days. And, they shipped the spokes apart from the rim (because of course, there’s no room for 40 spokes in a rim box, right?). The rim arrived in roughly 7 days, while the spokes went from Durham, NC, to York PA, to Memphis TN, and finally to Pittsburgh. Yesterday the package arrived, and I was excited to start the project.

After dinner, I sat down and started lacing. It was easier than expected, the only real trick being getting the second set of trailing spokes started (the guide I had printed had a page break in the middle of the diagram). As I finished the second set of leading spokes, I noticed my supply of spoke nipples dwindling faster than the supply of spokes. It seems the second bag of spokes had been ripped prior to shipping, and was missing 10 nipples. So there I was — five empty spoke holes, unable to complete the task. I wasn’t even upset, really. How could I be, given the absurdity of the entire process?

Now, I can only hope that the local economy can sell me five spoke nipples…

Posted on 6 December 2005