I resumed work today on the rear wheel for Hornsby that I’d started after a big sushi celebration on Monday. Before getting started, though, I took a moment to trial fit the completed front wheel into the fork. It fit with plenty of room to spare.

After that, I thought I could get right to work tensioning the spokes and truing the rear wheel, but something wasn’t matching up. It wasn’t apparent to me what the issue was, but I decided to unlace the wheel and start over. In the process I scrambled up the spokes for the drive side and non-drive side — what with their 1mm difference — and so I spent some time sorting the spokes before continuing.

It was a challenge then to lay the rim tape on straight, but I just made sure all the spoke holes were properly covered.

Thinking cap

I’d had quite a fight fitting the tire to the front rim, so I gave some thought to how to proceed. I usually coat the inner tube with talcum to prevent chafing, and then mount the tire dry. Based on my earlier experience, I thought it might be worth whipping up some soapy water instead, and coating the inside of the tire to help it slip over the rim. After a couple of minutes of prep work I put my theory to the test. It was still a big challenge to get the tire on, but it was much easier in the end than the first one had been.

The wheels look good, but close inspection reveals the tires are not quite seated properly. I’m going to see how it rides before making a decision about that — and that is a while off yet.