Walt Hollis said:
Is it difficult to do? Do I need a special stand to spin the wheel on to make sure it is centered?
Walt
Walt.
Yes, you do need a truing stand. It is not hard, but it is time consuming the first couple times that you do it. A little tip, before you unlace your old wheels, tie the spokes together where they cross with something. (nylon ties, string, whatever.). This keeps the spokes in thier proper position and makes it easier to line up the rim with the right spoke angle.
When you tighten the spoke nipples, do it by hand until they are all snug, (as snug as you can get them by hand), and the rim spins fairly true. Then, using the spoke wrench tighten them down.
I use the every third spoke method. Tighten every third spoke a couple turns and go one revolution around the rim. Then skip to the next spoke and tighten every third one all the way around the rim and then the next one etc, etc until all the spokes are tight. When they are tight, you should be able to take your spoke wrench and tap the spokes and get a ringing sound from each spoke. The tone of the ring will tell you which spoke is tight or loose. They should all ring at about the same tone.
Using a dial indicator connected to the truing stand will tell you exactly how much you are moving the rim when you tighten the individual spokes. You can also use a wire pointer against the rim.
Of course there is a little more to it that this and the more rims that you do, the easier it becomes.
Do a search on this subject. There are many good threads about lacing wheels.
Just my $ .02 :thumb: