[Terri]

I bought a old road bike with new tires. The guy I bought the bike from also gave me the original rims, but there's a lot of spoke damage. There a little rusty too. How many spokes do I need and would it be worth the trouble to refurbish them? Has anybody ever built there own Rims?

[zenloki]

you can always have the rims re-chromed then re-spoked. did this with a tandem a few years back and they turned out great but I was after an original restoration.

[teambean]

The answer actually become a series of questions.
What are you planning on using the bike for? Commuting, recareational, performance training...?
How much are you looking to $$$$, and what is most important, cool factor of original or performance?
Original is cool and reusing cooler, but I just finished a project where the wheels were not salvagable and since wheels are so important had to save them for an art project.
I would consider taking them to a trusted local bike shop with the ideas of what you want to get a good idea of what you are looking for.

You can rebuild them yourself but this is a long process and you will likely need some advice/assistance from your local shop.

[cbman]

As far as building a wheel set, it's actually easier than I thought. I looked up a video on youtube of how to build a rim and followed the instructions. It went much smoother than you may think. The hardest part is truing the rim, but it's worth saving the $ if you can do it yourself.

[photosbymark]

the question is are you doing an original restoration?? If so it would probably be the right thing to do. It may or may not make sense economically. If its a rider, then Id still hang onto them in case you wanted to do them later, but I probably would just ride the ones on there.

[worthlees]

super fine steel wool & baby oil works wonders on rusty parts. found baby oil frees up
rusty parts , even shift cables frozen at exposed ends. easy on the hands & smells good. word of caution , it's slick as ice on tools.lol!

[whyeyebike]

Sounds like if the money isn't an issue, you have a good project. I have a set of old wheels that I put aside to rebuild. They aren't a set of wheels I am currently using, so if I screw them up; its no loss to me.

If you end up rebuilding them, keep us posted on your progress.