I tried building my own wheels 

I love how mikes content has transitioned from learning time consuming skills to doing things that hes actually passionate about

I rewatched the video where you taught Tom Scott how to ride a bike, and as an adult who cant ride a bike myself it motivated me. I started teaching myself how to ride a bike a few days ago, and im covered in cuts and bruises, but i am semi-capable at riding a bike! And in pain. Thanks Mike!

Love that you glossed over the true nightmare of wheel building that is spoke length calculations 😂

I think it would have been cool if you went to a bike shop with all the tools to see how close to perfect you got with the tape method. Anyway, great video!

beautiful bike and nice job building the wheels up. I used to watch some of your videos on learning skills, but as a big time mountain biker I'm glad to see you enjoy the sport too! The more the merrier!

I have NEVER heard such a successful 1st time wheel building story. Nice work!!

I appreciate that you talked about spoke tension. A true wheel isn't always a strong wheel if the tensions out of whack.

I've worked in a few bike shops in my time, few wheel builds though, it is truly an art and takes time. A wheel truing tip I use at home, instead of tape, is a zip tie on the seat stay cut clean, you can move it closer as you need as well, the tape could be used on the seat stay if your concerned about scratching paint. Well done man, stoked to see your stoke for mountain biking growing after your early Ben Collab's haha.

I still recall the first mountain biking videos, learning downhill .. now, building his own bike in every detail. What a great journey.

Great video Mike. As someone's whose built wheels, bicycles and motorcycles this is amazing. You can true your own wheels now. Btw you should make a video on making a truing stand. I bought a motorcycle one and used that. Works great.

When someone with a strong Scottish accent tells me that someone just send him his brandnew Claymore, the last thing I am expecting is a bicycle.

Great video! About 15 years ago I started lacing my own BMX wheels similar to this. Back then instead of using youtube, a BMX brand had a guide on their website with pictures. I used that and well, the first wheel turned out awful. As time went on I got better but I still don't aim for perfection and I don't own a truing stand too. I can still bang out pretty good wheels and most of my local town riders rode with wheels laced by me because they could not be arsed to learn it and I was cheaper than a bike shop. Great skill to have.

I learnt to build my first (and only) set of MTB wheels in 2020 for something to do during covid lockdown. I used cable ties on the frame instead of tape and the coin stack trick to get the dish right but essentially the same cheapo method you did. Oddly enough it took me just under 6 hours too! They're still straight and round now, never had to adjust either of them once!

This video is super cool to me because I used to work for we are one composites, who makes carbon fiber mtb wheels and frames. I did the rim layup from scratch- raw carbon to mould, mould to oven, and out comes a fresh hoop. It was one of the coolest jobs I've ever had, I can safely say I'm one of very very few people who has built their own wheels from scratch. That being said, the drilling, spoke lacing, and hubs were never something I dealt with- so seeing the process in a video form like this is super neat! I wish I would have been able to stick around longer to learn all that, but things happen I suppose. Now I can sit back at home with my new job in Whistler and enjoy the process without the suffering that appears to be quite common in this challenge! Thank you for that, and thanks for making great and informative and entertaining mtb videos!

I'M GONNA PUT IT OUT THERE I do this for a living and you did a quality job! reccomendations for next time would be for dishing use coins instead cause you can fine tune without it moving and use a spare spoke on either side of the frame for the overall truing as they're easier to push in and out and fine tune the true (Works more like a truing stand)

I have once rebuild a wheel while changing a hub. The biggest problem for me was to get a correct tension of the spokes, because I didn't have a spoke tension meter. At first I have built the wheel too loose. Then the spokes would go out, it was a mess. Later I was grabbing all bicycle wheels I could find to get a feel how a proper tension should feel like. After tensioning all the spokes somewhat correctly I was really happy with the result.

as a former bike mechanic i would say they look very good (even if it did take a while), but the real challenge is can you do it with cheap parts? This is way harder because the never fit as nicely as those exspensive parts and the rims are never exactly round to begin with. So Mike are you up for the challenge? Btw did you notice that the front spokes are a difrent diamenter compert to the rear?

Good job!!! One tip though is when you think you're done, put the wheel on an old car tyre and jump up and down like f.... on the spokes with soft shoes - both sides (be brutal), then true again. The spoke tension over time will deform the holes & flanges in the hubs at the spoke roots leading to loss of trueness , this jumping up and down will preset this leading to truer wheels for much much longer!!!

So excited to watch this I bet it is going to be a great video love your content

Watching you just live life and have fun making videos about thing youre passionate about is so inspiring. keep it up !!

Great video Mike. Really enjoyed this. Great hub/rim combo as well 👌

Nice Mike. I have a truing stand that I picked up cheap, but my first wheels and many repairs were done with the bike frame as my guide. My -tightarse- sensibly frugal trick was to zip tie a clothes peg to each "chainstay" (or the fork for the front wheel). You can then chuck a hex key with a ball end in the peg and slide back and forward to adjust the spacing. Centring is a case of using a ruler to check the side/side, and assuming the bike's reasonably symmetrical.

Mike I hope you take this criticism with light heart, your content after you stopped sponsors became more casual/ boring before it was sophisticated, well-made, and had Mike Boyd print all over it, It was special. But still RESPECT.

Building wheels is no dark art! It’s actually quite simple when you get down to it. I’m 22 now and have been building my own wheels for the past 4 years. Ali Clarkson had an amazing video on how to build them!

Congratulations on 3,000,000 subscribers!

I love this ❤ I build and work with e-bikes and bikes all day, and building wheels was my least favourite thing when I first learned it And shout out to Park tool for the great video on lacing 3 cross patterns (a nightmare with Ebikes), and ya boi kelvin 😂 their videos saved my ass so many times.

This is a dream watching mike boyd bring his video style to a hobby that both he and I enjoy, it's not for everyone but for us odd bunch, this is great

Great video! I have built a few wheels, and trued them in the frame like you did. If you have a steel frame/fork you can use magnets and cardboard to set up easily adjustable guides. One thing that really takes out a lot of frustration imo, is an adjustable spoke nipple bit, they cost around 20-30€, but I find that you get a great baseline very quickly, that only needs little truing after

Six hours to learn how, thread, tighten, true and be happy with the outcome? That's a win. And very fulfilling.

love to see this. ive built a few unicycle wheels myself now and its always an annoying process at one stage or another, but very very satisfying. My biggest problem is figuring out the length of spokes required since most of the online calculators aren't calibrated for uni hubs

As a bike mechanical, that absolutely loves wheel builds, awesome to see you give it a go! I am curious after a few rides if you needed to re-true the wheel since you didnt pre-tension the spokes

Those look great! Nice job. We like using a trimmed zip tie when a truing stand isn't available. Now that you've done one set you HAVE to do another right?

Great video, cheers Mike, that's given me the confidence to give it a go when I need to get a new wheel/rim 👍

you should definetly do more vids like this. idk what it is about your biking videos but there just so unique in a good way

Sorry you said no books, but the bicycle wheel by Jobst Brandt is the bible as far as i'm concerned.

Lovely looking bike there mate!

Incredible that you get to do different things. I also would like to do all these myself

The best bike wheel build tutorial I found on the RU-vid was Ali Clarkon's. I've done 4 sets now all thanks to him really, and that park tool one is also very good. 👍👍

Don‘t forget to re-true and re-tension your wheels after a few rough rides. Your new spokes, hubs and rims will probably set in a bit. After that they should be in good shape for a long while though!

Very nice video. Love that you took a time to learn. I don’t know anyone personally that can lace or even true a wheel

3:00 HAHHAHAHAHA he just causally says, "If you get it wrong, you die!"

Congrats on building your own wheels and considering the tools, how round you got them! Remember being a bit intimidated doing it the first time, but as you said, once you know what's going on it isn't that hard. Now I love it when I get to build a wheel, feels a bit like meditation to me.

Good job Mike! That was very smart to use a masking tape 👍 thanks for shearing your outside the box idea 💡👍

As someone who has worked in a bike shop, this is extremely impressive!

I love this channel, I wish I could get you to speak to some of the athletes I coach in track and XC, you are proof if you put your mind to something, you can really achieve it. It takes commitment, dedication, and time. Always love the videos.

I guess I know what I am going to have to try this summer... great content as always!

Love your content! Keep doing what your doing!❤

Love this biking content!

Really sick!!

I learnt to true my wheels with much the same method a few years back after some nasty bumps put my wheel out of true. Can be quite finiky but feels great when you finally get it :) Definitely takes a few hours to get the hang of, good stuff :)

thank you very much for this video. I was trying to build my own unicycle but got a bit stuck since i can't weld aluminium with my electrode welding machine. Now i will try to chance the hub from an old wheel into a hub of steel so i can weld my cranks to it. Thank you very much

I rebuilt a racer wheel in my teens in the late 80s (so no Internet, although I was able to talk to someone who knew the lore) and I was _really_ proud of it, long after I no longer had that bike. It's a sort of meditative process which gives you a real sense of achievement.

good job mike. surprisingly not too easy.

Hey Mike I know you did this project already since you made n uploaded this video n all that, but always watch a tutorial front to back before you even pick up a part. I've had many projects go south because I was too excited to go in head first but knowing the tutorial first is a great way of knowing which direction you're headed.

I was literally just looking into doing this today!

That process for round dishi g and radialing sounds incredibly tedious, having to tighten some here loosen some there, and do it for a crap ton of spokes is crazy! Super neat tho!

1:34 you are the first human on yt that arranged properly inner and outer spokes

Great mate!

I would love a bike maintenance series from you!

I have that exact same rear rim and hub!! 🤘🏼🤘🏼

Sweet bike!!

Not gonna lie, this was more interesting than a video about a random useless skill tried over and over, it was really cool to see the process, really enjoyed this one.

I used to work at a shop and did have to rebuild a couple of wheels. Mostly it was for warranties where they sent just a new hub or rim. We wouldn’t do it for customers because it’s such a pain and takes forever, and a whole new wheel costs the same after labor. A good learning experience though.

On the mobile app, if you click on a video and it plays an ad, tapping shorts and tapping back to home rerolls the ad (and eventually it gives up and plays the video). All that to say, I’ve heard “BYE BYE BYE BYE” quite a bit and it’s hilarious every time

mearly at three mil man youre so close and im happy youre getting into mountianbiking its so fun

The moment Mike pls something mountain bike or any bike related stuff you know it’s gonna be a good video

The way I've been taught to true wheels is by sound and tension, so I'm quite surprised that you only mentioned tension at the end and didn't put more effort into getting the spokes to equal tension. What I do is I tighten the spokes to equal tension first and then start truing it. Do a rough truing first, then squeeze (grab two spokes with one hand and squeeze hard a few times) the spokes to relieve any stresses, equal tension again, squeeze, fine truing, squeeze, equal tension, squeeze, fine truing, squeeze and then final check to make sure everything is equal tension still. Ensuring that the spokes are at equal tension all around is the most important thing to making sure that the wheel stays true in use.

5:30 probalbly a common trick but my brother uses tape in order to attach an allen key or something to the frame so he can see the wobble

Thanks for the mtb content!!

as a younger bike mechanic lacing wheels is one of the most satisfying things to do almost peaceful in a way. good stuff

Loving the mtb content!

Thanks for sharing

I’ve built my own wheels for years. Can be frustrating at first. Otherwise it’s a very satisfying experience. I’ve did something similar to the tape method with zip ties many times. I usually flip the axles to check for dishing (centering) every so often as I tighten.

the real trick is using a marker instead of the tape and just wiping it off with alcohol. spin the wheel, run the marker in all dimensions. make adjustments, flex the spokes to get out slack, wipe marker, repeat.

Oh god man, I love making wheels! Before i became ill, I use to make a couple of wheels per week, for years working in a bike shop. And for five of my seven bikes I made the wheels myself at the shop or at home watching netflix or youtube. (also made some backups because the spokes came in boxes of 150) If you have any interest in bikes at all, I can highly recommend it and I find very relaxing. -But do NOT start your first wheel with any used hubs, spokes or rims!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can get strange anomalies and trouble shooting those are a 'female dog'. Best start with no or internal hub gears, they usually have the same spoke length. Use the simplest 1 crosses 3 pattern and broader rims give you room to work. If all the spokes are in place set all the nipples at the same length A simple and fast way is to feel with your nail when the treads just disappears into the nipple. Then go round and round the wheel making full turns, increasing the tension a quarter turn per spoke at a time. Only when all spokes are in tension do you start to keep an eye on your straightness. To move the whole rim one way, always loosen one side and tighten the other, spoke for spoke, that keeps the tension the same. If you have a height wobble, loosen the four nearest spokes at the low point and than tighten the four in direct opposite. That way you keep the overall tension the same and there is less chance that you pull the rim to either side. And lastly, squish all the spokes in groups of four because the threads and nipples will need to settle and you can hear them ping. Then see if it is still straight and make adjustments if needed. The name of the game is slow and steady and it's handy to remember that most spoke patterns are multiple groups of four. When making any adjustment to the spokes on any wheel, do it slowly about a quarter turn. O boy, somehow I wrote a short howto and didn't really a comment on his video, he's doing fine.. My passion for bikes might be a side effect of being born and raised in Amsterdam in the Netherlands I guess.

another method that works well is putting a fork in a vise and using zip/twist ties like the parts of a truing stand to help center the wheel

"Hopefully they stay together and I don't die" 😂 Great job Mike!

finally another Mike Boyd video.

🔧🔥🚗 It's fascinating to witness the evolution of Mike's content and how he has shifted from learning time-consuming skills to pursuing his true passions. Seeing him explore his genuine interests adds an extra layer of authenticity and enthusiasm to his videos. It's great to witness someone doing what they love and sharing it with the world. I'm curious to see the process and challenges involved in building his own wheels. Keep up the amazing work, Mike! 🏁🔩👍

Nice work Mike :)

Spoke tension meter and a good truing stand make the process way easier. Just wait until you have to calculate spoke lengths, though!

I lace and true dirt bike and street bike rims. 5 hours isn't to bad for your first go! I don't have a truing stand either (tho would like have one to save my back). I put them on our balancer and free spin them with a zip tie as a pointer (some high end rims I use a dial indicator, but a simple pointer is almost as accurate tbh)

The way you made those wheels round is the same way you would tune a drum head. You get it close by ear, and then you use a tension gauge to get it even at each lug around the rim.

Perfect timing for motivation. I have been putting off re-spoking my rear wheel. I've worked in bicycle repair shops (learning as I go) - didn't get around to 'wheel lacing' yet :). (Busy shops - takes time to learn... yada yada) The tape thing is a good idea. I know the same trick, but with zip-ties on either side. (You can turn the zip-ties to adjust the distance to the wheel - a bit like an official truing stand) Also, I know that Park Tool video. Another person to learn a lot from: RJ The Bike Guy (on RU-vid) He fixes vintage + not so vintage bikes, and has covered just about any subject / any brand / any part you can imagine. And I agree - putting something together, or fixing something yourself - it gives you a greater appreciation of that thing. (You kinda bond with that item... be it a bike or a guitar or whatever.) Gonna try and lace my wheel this week :) thx

I've built maybe 20 wheels in my life. Every single time, you learn something new, and you get better at it. My most recent wheel was a HUGE jump in quality.

now i need to try this meself, thank you!

"that's good enough for me" is a very important step when building wheels. It won't get much better if you continue :) The reason I build wheels, I can customize like crazy. I've built wheel with spokes that I powder coated (even one wheel with spokes in four colours) and even used a twisted lace pattern. The last wheels I built were 20 inch (451 ETRO) with an 8-speed Alfine. You simply can't buy this when you want to upgrade a vintage bicycle for your kid.

Such clever problem solving here, definitely think I learnt something, despite not being interested in bikes!

The best video is done by the trails rider Ali . The best

Are you still climbing and/or bouldering? I'm really excited to see the bouldering video! After your first climbing video, it inspired my wife and I to try it! Almost 3 months later, we're members at a local gym and getting better every time!

You should have met up with Ali Clarkson for this one. He´s a great wheel builder and I´m sure the content would be fantastic. Either way, great video!

I learnt to build my own wheels on my bmx when I wanted a new back hub but didn’t want to buy all new rims and spokes. Once I figured it out I found it a rather weirdly relaxing thing to do in my spare time. Only tool I had was a flat head screwdriver and a spoke key and mine came out just fine.

Your face when you first give it a spin haha. Fond memories of my first time too

you need a wheel truing stand to do it right.. but can make your own, out of timber if you go find how to make one... there is also 3 different ways to do your spokes with its cross lace and should be something that people are aware of as each one will give a different result and depending on how many holes your rims/hubs are may also require a few mm longer if you chose one method over another

Watching a guy on RU-vid watching a guy on RU-vid! This definitely helped to dispell the mystery around wheels, nice one!

love this

Amazing how Buckminster Fuller changed the word ✨ ggs man

That's a beautiful bike.

ive been a bicycle mechanic for like 10 years... and some days i still have to watch youtube videos on how to build wheels, the hardest part is getting the correct size spokes and the correct starting hole, everything else is easy

"It's like a Rubik's cube, but if you get it wrong you die" Sounds fun!