Well, I laced my first set of rims today...only took me 3 hours!

You the man.

so what.... i've been doing a pair for months now!

wanna do my 48's

3 hours isn't that bad. I usually lace up wheels while watching TV

Way to go 26er....3 hours ain't bad! I recently did my second set and they went quicker than the first.

Suddenly, the $25 per wheel charged by the average bike shop seems pretty reasonable, doesn't it?

cdswill, lately i've been assembling them and the guy at one of the local shops finish trues them for me for 20. it 's not fun since i don't have a trueing stand anymore!!

I was just thinking about starting mine but don't know where to start. Is there any hints/tips for a starter? I know you need to measure the hubs and rims for spoke length etc but where to start would be helpful.

Now I had a friend who used to lace and true them on an old set of forks held with a vice at the neck, would this do?

I just finished re-lacing a set a couple of weeks ago the only hint I have is just do one wheel at a time that way you can use the other one for a pattern of sorts... I also took them to the local shop for truing at 8.00 each I couldnt pass that up

Laced my first set about a year ago.made the mistake of not leaving one for a pattern!Man,did that s**k.Took something like 5 hours just to figure out how to start.

Here is a helpful guide that makes building wheels really easy. Wheel Building Guide

I have been lacing my own rims now for about 2 years and it still takes me about 3 hours to lace and true a set of rims. I usualy set the truing stand on the table and watch some TV. In the beginning i loved to build wheels but now it is about me least favorite thing to do on a bike!

Ok thanks guys( especially Tower and G for the info on the link) for the advice but does anyone have advice on truing the rim without a truing tool, is there a cheap alternative? Is there a way to true it with an old fork or is it more complicated than that?

Stu.