Wheelworks.co.nz, Handbuilt wheels by Tristan Thomas

I’ve built a few pairs of of track wheels for Andrew over the past couple of years – this pair uses DuraAce small-flange track hubs laced to Velocity A23 clincher rims. These wheels will be used for training when the track is in rough shape or covered with smashed beer bottles.

The DuraAce track hubs are simply beautiful and are extremely smooth.  Like most DuraAce hubs they’ll spin forever with a bit of occasional maintenance.

Doug is converting an old steel Eddy Merckx frame into a run-around and had opted for a Rohloff 14 speed internal hub. In order to match the original Campagnolo Roma rims I choose a Mavic Open Pro which is the closest of the modern rims to the classic box-section.

Issue 6 of NZ Road Cyclist magazine has hit shelves.  For this issue’s Workshop section I wrote a few little tips and tricks for keeping your bike clean without having to do a proper bike-wash.  Thanks to Kah (as always) for his help with the images.

If there are any workshop topics you’d like to see covered in the magazine let me know.

Also check out the awesome ad for the new Flite01 wheels.

I must confess that when magazines arrive on Friday it’s bad for productivity…I just finished reading about Pure Black’s awesome US adventure and Wheelworks cronie James Mahuta-Coyle’s review of four $2000 road bikes….

Steve sent me a red Pro2 EVO hub and a Mavic XC717 rim to be built up. Based on his weight and riding style I selected DT Swiss Competition spokes and brass nipples.

I’m generally not a fan of using silver spoke nipples on black spokes as it looks unfinished however on eyeletted rims like the 717 I prefer the look of the silver nipple matched to the silver eyelet. The red Wheelworks decal matches the shiny red hub.

This rear wheel will have a matching front built in a few weeks.

John borrowed a pair of wheels I’d built for his friend Dean, and after one ride was hooked.

This pair of light weight all-round wheels was designed for events like Taupo and the Graperide, as well as weekend riding. John’s going to keep his Mavic’s as commuter wheels and fit them with a pair of Gatorskins so I fitted a pair of GP4000s tyres and an Ultegra cassette to this new pair.

DT Swiss 240s hubs are laced with bladed Aerolite spokes and a combination of brass and alloy nipples.  The front wheel is 20 spoke, the rear is 28 2-cross.

The 27mm deep XR-270 is a great rim and is well suited to this style of ‘do all’ wheelset with good aerodynamics and excellent stiffness and durability.

Kevin wanted a pair of carbon wheels which would be lighter than his Ksyriums and would be used for 1/2 Ironman, general road riding, and Taupo.

Most of my wheels are pretty subtle with minimal branding, however Kevin liked the look of larger decals. No problem! Gary at gasproject chose a font and size which worked to compliment the Wheelworks brand and added some boldness to the wheels.

Hubs are red DT Swiss 240s with two red spokes Aerolite at each valve.

The 50mm deep rim and 1292 gram weight will make these ideal for rolling NZ road conditions.  I’ve just glued a pair of Continental Competition tubulars and fitted carbon brakepads into holders so the wheels are ready to roll…

King hubs are about as bling as you can get: great colours, loud freehub body, and a big pricetag. They’re made in Portland USA in a ‘green’ factory.

Lee will be using these wheels for XC and 24 hour racing.

Stan’s Arch rims are perfect for 24h racing – their stiff and durable and will withstand the knocks which are bound to occur after 23 hours of continuous racing and lack of sleep.

The front spokes are DT Swiss Competitions on the disc side and Revolutions on the non-disc. Single speed use means lots of out-of-the-saddle climbing at low cadence and can really highlight a wheel which isn’t stiff enough.

The wide, nearly-symmetrical flanges of the rear hub build into a very stiff wheel so I used Revolution spokes on both sides.

All spokes nipples are red aluminium DT Swiss.

Greg is a member of the Wheelworks Racing Team and when his trusty Pinarello developed a crack after one particularly hard Tuesday evening training ride it was time for a new ride.

The new Addict SL uses an Ultegra drivetrain, Rotor 3D cranks and rings, FSA bar, PRO stem, Cannondale seatpost, and 1290 gram carbon wheels.

UCI legal. Just.

Greg dropped off a “Tristan Survival Pack” when he collected the bike. Most food items are accepted currency here at Wheelworks but creamed rice and salt&vinegars are the gold standard.

These two pairs of Rohloff hubs are for PureSports new demo bikes.

Both are laced to Crest 29er rims and use DT Swiss Competition spokes.

The black ZTR front hub uses black brass nipples and a black rim. The red Pro2 front hub is laced using red alloy nipples and white rims.

Get in touch with Chris at Puresports if you’re interested in trying out a gearbox hub.

Bryce sent his wheel back for a repair – a branch jumped out at him, pushed the rear derailleur over the top of the cassette and pushed the chain into the spokes.  It happens.

One spoke was badly damaged, and two others were scratched.  I opted to only replace the one spoke as the scratches on the other two were very small and shouldn’t pose a problem.

It’s worth noting that the lacing pattern I use lays the ‘pulling’ spokes on the outside of the crossing which does two things: When under increased tension from pedaling this pattern pushes the spoke crossing away from the derailleur.  Secondly, if the chain does catch (like in this instance) the direction of the spokes helps to push the chain outwards and away from further damage the rider continues to pedal.

I used a scalpel (a beautiful 60 year old English made tool with a permanent blade) to cut a hole in the tubeless tape.

I then removed spoke tension by unwinding the nipple and removed the damaged spoke.  I kept the details of this wheelbuild in my Wheel Tracker system so I cut a new spoke (accurate to 0.1mm in length) based off the original build, applied a special anti-seize to the new aluminium nipple, and a special lubricant to the head of the nipple where it rotates on the rim.  A small flag made from electrical tape makes it clear which spoke is the new one.

Obviously with the new spoke under no tension the wheel will go out of true.  I set the dial-gauge to zero on the section of rim directly opposite from the replaced spoke – this section will be unaffected by the loss of tension.  I then rotate the wheel so the new spoke is at the dial-gauge and simply tighten the nipple until the gauge reads zero and the wheel is true.  A quick check with the spoke tension meter shows the tension on the new spoke is the same as the surrounding spokes – it should be since the wheel was well built to begin with.

Other than tightening the one replaced spoke and nipple the wheel required no other truing and after the repair was still true to less than one-tenth of a millimeter like it was when I built it.

I then taped a small section of tubeless tape to patch the spoke nipple’s hole and the wheel is ready to go.