Wheel Builders

[Ratman]

I have a set of wheels that I would like to have professionally trued and tensioned. Can someone suggest a LBS in the greater DC/Baltimore area that has the staff that they would trust do the job right? I'm located in the Columbia, Maryland area if that helps to narrow down my options.

Thanks!

[lumber825]

I've never had this done but these guys are great.

http://familybikeshop.com/

They are in my backyard and I can be in Columbia in 20 minutes so they are not far from you.

[krismac]

city bikes in Chevy Chase

[Ratman]

Thanks for the replies. I know where both places are located.

The wheelset in question is a 650B wheelset that I purchased from an E-Retailer. After inspecting the wheels last night I noticed that a few (maybe 4 or 5) spokes on each wheel has a slight bend in them. Nothing too bad but I've also never seen a new wheel with spokes that didn't look perfectly straight. For all I know it could be an optical illusion which is why I wanted to have the wheels checked out by someone local. I really would hate to have to ship them back or worse ride them and risk ruining the rims.

I did a search for "bent spokes" and found a few threads started by guys with issues similar to mine. The replies were all over the map as far as how high my level of concern should be.

The wheels seem to spin true in my hand and the spokes appear to have even tension but I'd be the last guy to claim any real knowledge about the art of wheel building so I thought it might be best to look to others with more experience for advice.

Thanks again!!

[krismac]

usually then tension isn't high enough which means it needs to be brought in a shop...or the spokes are to long which means..it needs a shop...those are the 2 off the top of my head

edit: if the tension isn't high enough the spoke will bend because the nipple isn't threaded high enough into the spoke and not pulling hard enough..and the 2nd option is the opposite..the spoke is to long so the nipple is threaded all the way up and the spoke still needs to be threaded in more

[one.gear.one.love.]

take them to race pace in columbia off snowden river parkway, they are great!

[.40AET]

Or take them to the Race Pace in Ellicott City. They built 2 sets of wheels for me and both are awesome. They fixed up my neighbors I9's after a crash too.

Both shops are great.

[Ratman]

Thanks for all the suggestions.....

I dropped the wheels off at Race Pace in Columbia (Snowden River Pkwy) on Saturday. Hopefully I'll have them back by the end of this week.