Wheelbuilding Part 4: De-stressing and tire installation

As the spokes come up to tension, they end up getting slightly twisted as you tighten the spoke nipple. If you ignore this aspect of the truing process, the spokes will un-twist as you ride on them, knocking the wheel out of true. In order to prevent this from happening, you have to "de-stress" the spokes, and then true the wheel again. This basically just means that you put the spokes under a lot of stress in a controlled way. There are lots of different ways to do this. Some people will simply put the wheels on a bike and ride it for a short distance. If you've got strong fingers, you can squeeze the spokes really hard. Or, you can lay the wheel flat on the floor and press on the rim.

I opted for the last choice. When I pressed on the rim, I heard a few popping noises. This was the spokes un-twisting! Fortunately, de-stressing my wheels didn't knock them out of true that much. I did one last check, and then it was time to install the tires.

Before putting on the tires, you need to install rim tape over the holes in the rim. This is so that the inner-tube doesn't expand into the holes and pop. The hole in the tape is for the inflation valve.

The rim tape needs to be pressed down firmly, and pulled very tight. Once the rim tape is installed, it's time to put the inner tube and tire on! I got Schwalbe Marathon Plus touring tires, which are beefy as heck. They're great for riding on roads and light gravel, and have a thick layer of rubber to prevent punctures.

Getting the tires seated into the rim was quite a challenge. They have a REALLY tight fit. A tight fit is good, because it makes a nice seal, but it makes it really difficult to install. I didn't take any photos of this process because I was too busy fighting with the wheel. But I got it, eventually! Hurrah for finished wheels!